My Alpha Begged Me Back

The crystal flutes trembled on the silver tray as I navigated the crowded ballroom. The air inside the Silverclaw Pack House was thick with the scent of pine, roasted venison, and the overpowering, cloying perfume of expensive wolves. It was the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, and while the rest of the pack celebrated in velvet and silk, I wore the rough, gray cotton of a servant.

"More champagne, Omega," a Gamma commanded, not even bothering to look at my face.

"Yes, sir," I whispered, keeping my head lowered. Seven years. It had been seven years since Gideon rejected our mate bond, seven years since I was demoted from a fated mate to a glorified maid. My hands, red and chapped from scrubbing floors, tightened around the tray.

I moved toward the VIP section, where the Alpha and his chosen Luna held court. Gideon stood by the fireplace, a glass of whiskey in his hand. He looked regal, powerful—everything a Silverclaw Alpha should be. He was laughing at something a visiting dignitary said, the sound vibrating through the floorboards and straight into my chest. My wolf, or the dormant shadow of her, didn't even whimper anymore. She had gone silent years ago, crushed under the weight of his betrayal.

Athena stood beside him, her hand resting possessively on his arm. She wore a gown of shimmering crimson, looking every bit the perfect Luna. As I approached to refill the dignitary’s glass, Athena’s eyes locked onto mine. A cruel, predatory smirk curled her red lips.

Just as I stepped forward, her foot hooked sharply around my ankle.

It happened in slow motion. I stumbled, the heavy tray tipping. I tried to correct my balance, but it was too late. The tray crashed onto the table, sending a cascade of sticky, golden champagne all over the dignitary’s pristine white suit.

The music stopped. The laughter died. The silence that followed was deafening.

"Oh, Maia!" Athena gasped, her voice dripping with fake concern that didn't reach her cold eyes. "Look what you've done! You clumsy, useless thing."

I scrambled to pick up the shards of glass, the champagne soaking into my knees. "I... I'm sorry, Luna. I tripped. I didn't mean to—"

"You didn't mean to?" Athena’s voice sharpened, cutting through the room like a whip. "You embarrassed us in front of our guests. Is this how you repay the pack that feeds you? By acting like a feral dog?"

I looked up, desperate, my eyes finding Gideon’s. *Help me,* I begged silently. *You saw her. You know she did it.*

Gideon’s jaw tightened. He looked at me—really looked at me—for a heartbeat. I saw the flash of guilt, the ghost of the boy who had once promised to love me. But then he looked at the angry dignitary, and then at his father, the former Alpha, scowling from the corner.

Gideon turned his back on me. He took a sip of his drink, signaling to the room that I was nothing.

My heart didn't break; it had already been dust for years. But the coldness that settled in my chest was new.

"Get her out of my sight," Athena hissed, leaning down so only I could hear. "Since you like to cause a scene, you can cool off. Guard the North Gate. Outside."

"But... it's a blizzard," I stammered, my blood running cold. The temperature outside was twenty below zero. "I don't have a coat."

"Then maybe the cold will teach you some discipline," she sneered. "Go. Now."

No one spoke up for me. Not the Beta who used to be my friend. Not Gideon.

Ten minutes later, I was standing in the snow. The wind howled like a dying animal, tearing through my thin uniform. The cold was a physical assault, biting into my skin, turning my fingers numb within seconds. I hugged myself, shivering violently, pacing in front of the heavy iron gates just to keep my heart beating.

Through the large glass patio doors, the party continued. The golden light spilled out onto the snow, mocking me. It looked so warm in there. So safe.

I pressed closer to the glass, my teeth chattering so hard my jaw ached. I just wanted to see him. My son.

And there he was. Andy.

He was sitting near the fireplace, holding a cup of hot cocoa. He looked so much like Gideon, with his dark hair and strong brow. He was seven now. Old enough to understand kindness. Old enough to know his mother.

I tapped weakly on the glass. "Andy," I mouthed, though he couldn't hear me over the storm.

He turned. His eyes found mine in the darkness.

For a second, hope flared in my chest. He would see me. He would see his mother freezing to death and tell someone. He would cry for me.

But Andy didn't cry. He didn't run to Gideon.

Slowly, deliberately, my seven-year-old son curled his lip. It was a perfect mirror of Athena’s expression—a look of pure, unadulterated disgust. He sneered at me, the wolfless servant, the embarrassment. Then, he turned back to the fire, taking a sip of his cocoa, leaving me to the dark.

That was the moment the last tether snapped. The bond to Gideon, the love for my pack, the desperate hope that my son would one day love me back—it all shattered under the weight of that one look.

I sank to my knees in the snow. I couldn't feel my feet anymore. The darkness was creeping in at the edges of my vision. I was going to die here. I was going to freeze to death on the doorstep of the man who promised to cherish me, while my son watched and laughed.

*No,* a voice whispered inside me. *Not like this.*

I closed my heavy eyelids, reaching deep into the void where my wolf should have been. I didn't reach for Gideon. I reached further, past the pack borders, past the pain.

*Rosemary,* I projected the thought with every ounce of life I had left. *Coordinates: North Gate, Silverclaw. I’m dying. Please.*

The mental link was faint, a thin thread in a hurricane. I didn't know if she heard me. I didn't know if the Alpha of the Obsidian Pack would even care about a servant she hadn't seen in years.

The cold embraced me, softer now. The pain faded into a numb, white silence. I fell forward, my cheek pressing against the ice, and the world went black.