I don't come back to my Alpha again

Kevin ground his heavy sneaker into the floorboards. The silver links snapped. The moonstone cracked into a dozen jagged fragments.

I stared at the ruined heirloom. The only piece of my mother I had left.

"Kevin," I whispered.

He stepped back, his chest heaving. "Don't say my name."

My right bicep throbbed violently. When he had barged into the room and snatched the chain from Rebecca's fingers seconds ago, his shoulder had slammed directly into my fresh rogue bite. Hot blood seeped through my ruined shirt. A red drop slid down my elbow and splashed onto the hardwood, landing right next to a broken shard of moonstone.

"You're bleeding on the floor," Rebecca pointed out, her tone disgusted. She tightened the silk robe around her waist.

I ignored her. I kept my eyes on my son. I looked at the hand that had just ruined my mother's necklace. In my mind, it still belonged to the eight-year-old boy who used to hold my fingers. But the tall teenager standing in front of me held zero warmth.

"That was your grandmother's," I said, my voice barely audible.

"A woman who stayed in the forbidden zone doesn't deserve to be my mom!" Kevin yelled, kicking a piece of the shattered stone toward my bare toes. "Nor does she deserve grandma's necklace!"

I flinched. The words hit harder than the physical blow to my arm.

"I survived the forbidden zone," I replied, forcing myself to stand tall. "I survived it for you. Every day in the dark, I thought about coming back to you."

Kevin scoffed. He turned his back to me, facing the woman who had destroyed my life. "Mom, tell that woman to clean up this garbage."

The air in the room vanished.

"Mom."

"That woman."

My lungs refused to expand. I looked at Marcus. Surely the Alpha, the man who knew I birthed this boy, would correct him.

Marcus just crossed his arms. He didn't say a word.

"I will, sweetie," Rebecca cooed. She stepped forward, her perfectly manicured fingers brushing through Kevin's dark hair. "Don't let her upset you. You know she isn't right in the head."

"I want that woman out of our house," Kevin demanded, leaning into Rebecca's touch. "She smells like dirt. She's ruining everything."

"We'll handle it," Marcus finally spoke up. He placed a heavy hand on Kevin's shoulder. "Go downstairs. Dinner is ready."

"Make her pick up the pieces first," Kevin insisted.

"She will," Marcus promised.

I stared at the three of them. Marcus, my fated mate. Rebecca, my former best friend. Kevin, my own flesh and blood. They stood in a tight circle, united against the outsider. Me.

"You know the truth, Kevin," I said, my voice trembling.

Kevin stiffened. He glared at me over his shoulder. "What truth?"

"You know I didn't kill them," I pushed on, ignoring Marcus's warning growl. "Why did you lie to the guards? Who told you to say those words?"

"Nobody told me anything!" Kevin shouted, his face turning red. "I saw you! You had the bloody artifact in your hands!"

"I was framed!" I screamed.

"You're a monster!" Kevin yelled back.

My knees gave out.

I hit the floor. The stoic shell I had carefully built over five years of freezing mud and raw survival shattered into a million pieces, just like the necklace.

A pathetic, broken sob tore from my throat. I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Oh, great," Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Now she's crying. What a victim."

I curled inward, clutching my bleeding arm to my chest. Tears spilled over my lower lashes, burning my dirty cheeks. The betrayal from Marcus hurt. The framing by Rebecca stung. But this? My own son erasing me from his life? It destroyed me completely.

"Bella, stop crying," Marcus ordered. His voice held zero pity.

"He called her Mom," I choked out, gasping for air.

"Because she raised him," Marcus snapped. "You were gone."

"You locked me away!" I screamed, my voice cracking.

"Because you are a danger to this pack," Marcus stated coldly. "Look at you on the floor. You're unstable."

"Are you really going to let her stay here?" Kevin asked, disgusted by my tears.

"Just until the Gala," Marcus replied. "Then we'll figure out what to do with her."

"She's pathetic," Rebecca scoffed. She leaned against Marcus, slipping her arm around his waist. "Let's just leave her here, Marcus. The roast will get cold."

"Yeah, let's go," Kevin agreed, not looking at me again.

"Clean up the mess before you go to your room, Bella," Marcus commanded.

The three of them turned around. Marcus kept his arm around Rebecca. Rebecca held Kevin's hand.

They walked out of the master suite.

I stayed on the floor, watching their retreating backs. They moved in perfect synchronization. A real family of three.

Their laughter drifted up from the grand staircase. The clinking of plates echoed from the dining room below.

I was entirely alone.

I pressed my forehead against the cold floorboards. My tears soaked into the wood. I reached out with a trembling hand and brushed my fingers against a broken shard of moonstone.

The sharp edge cut my index finger. I didn't care. I squeezed the fragment in my palm, letting the sharp pain ground me.

I closed my eyes.

I pushed past the blinding grief blocking my mind. I reached deep into my consciousness, searching for an energy signature I hadn't touched in five years.

Before the forbidden zone, before the betrayal, there was another Alpha. A man who warned me about Marcus. A man who offered me a place in his pack if I ever needed an escape.

"Alpha Arthur," I pushed the thought out, targeting the Blue Moon Pack's frequency.

Silence answered me.

I tried again, pouring the last ounce of my strength into the mental link. "Arthur. Are you there?"

A deep hum vibrated at the base of my skull. It wasn't a voice yet, just a connection establishing itself across the miles of territory.

"Does your previous offer to go to your Blue Moon Pack still count?" I sent the message, my mental voice shaking but resolute. "I've decided to leave."

The hum in my mind sharpened. A heavy, masculine presence flooded my senses, wrapping around my bruised consciousness like a warm blanket.

"Bella?" Arthur's deep voice echoed in my head, thick with disbelief. "Is that really you?"

"It's me," I replied.

"Stay exactly where you are," Arthur commanded, his tone shifting into pure, lethal authority. "I'm coming to get you."