My Alpha Chose Her Over Me

Marcus showed up at my cabin door three days after Jessica's arrival.

I'd been watching the Pack House from my window, tracking Dariel's movements like some pathetic stalker. I'd seen him walking with her through the gardens. Seen them laughing on the terrace. Seen the way he touched the small of her back, guiding her like she was something precious that might break.

He'd never touched me like that.

"Nora." Marcus didn't even try to hide his discomfort. He stood on my rotting porch like he might catch poverty from breathing my air. "The Alpha has issued new territory guidelines."

I wrapped my cardigan tighter around myself, trying to hide the way my hands shook. "Guidelines?"

"Jessica Palmer is an honored guest of the pack." His voice was flat, rehearsed. "To avoid any... incidents, you're forbidden from entering the Pack House or the Alpha's floor until further notice."

The words hit like a slap. "I need to speak to Dariel about something important. It's medical—"

"The Alpha is busy." Marcus wouldn't meet my eyes. "Any concerns can be submitted in writing to my office."

"Marcus, please." My voice cracked. "I just need five minutes—"

"Those are the orders, Nora." He turned to leave, then paused. "Also, your allowance has been... redirected. Pack resources are being allocated elsewhere."

He was gone before I could respond, leaving me standing in the doorway with my hand pressed against my stomach and the world crumbling around me.

No money. No access. No way to tell him about the pup growing inside me.

I was being erased.

Two days later, I walked the three miles to the pack's general store with my last twenty dollars and a desperate plan. I needed prenatal vitamins. The pregnancy books I'd borrowed from the pack library said they were essential, especially in the first trimester.

The store was nearly empty when I arrived, thank the Moon Goddess. I found the vitamin aisle and grabbed the cheapest bottle, my fingers trembling as I read the label. Folic acid. Iron. Everything the baby needed.

Everything I couldn't give it on my own.

At the register, I handed over my pack allowance card—the one Dariel had given me months ago with a careless "buy whatever you need." The cashier swiped it once. Twice. Three times.

"I'm sorry, miss. This card's been declined."

Heat flooded my face. "That's not possible. Can you try again?"

She did. Same result. "Says the account's been closed."

Behind me, someone laughed.

I turned and felt my stomach drop. Jessica stood there in designer jeans and a cashmere sweater that probably cost more than my cabin. And beside her, wearing a cruel smile I knew too well, was Adaline.

My stepsister. Of course she'd come to watch me suffer.

"Oh my God, Nora?" Adaline's voice dripped with fake concern. "What are you doing here? I thought you were living in some fairy tale with your Alpha."

Jessica's eyes swept over me—my worn clothes, my unwashed hair, the vitamin bottle clutched in my hand. "Prenatal vitamins? How... optimistic."

I tried to speak, but my throat had closed.

"Here." Adaline pulled out a black credit card, sliding it across the counter to the cashier. "Ring up that sad little bottle for my sister. And add this." She grabbed a bottle of expensive wine from the display. "We're celebrating Jessica's return."

The cashier processed the transaction while I stood there, humiliation burning through my veins. Adaline handed me the vitamin bottle like it was charity.

"You're welcome," she said sweetly. Then, quieter, so only I could hear: "You really thought he'd choose you? You're nobody, Nora. You've always been nobody."

They left laughing, arm in arm, while I stood frozen with my cheap vitamins and cheaper pride.

I should have known it would get worse.

The storm hit that night with a violence that shook the cabin's walls. Thunder cracked like the sky was splitting open, and I curled into a ball on my bed, hands pressed over my ears.

I'd been terrified of storms since I was six, since the night my mother died in a car accident during weather just like this. Alpha John used to hold me through them, his strong arms the only thing that made me feel safe.

But Alpha John was three hundred miles away, and I'd burned that bridge when I chose Dariel.

The roof gave first—a horrible groaning sound followed by a crash as part of the ceiling caved in. Rain poured through the gap, flooding the floor, soaking everything. Lightning illuminated the cabin in stark flashes, showing me just how close I was to losing even this pathetic shelter.

I was shaking so hard I could barely think. The baby. I had to protect the baby.

I did the one thing I'd sworn I wouldn't do.

I reached for the mind-link, that invisible thread that connected me to Dariel whether he wanted it or not.

*Dariel, please. The cabin's flooding. The roof collapsed. I'm scared. Please, I just need somewhere safe until the storm passes.*

Silence. Long, horrible silence.

Then, finally, his voice in my head—distracted, annoyed.

*I'm busy, Nora. Figure it out.*

The link snapped closed.

I sat there in the dark, in the cold, in the water rising around my ankles, and felt something inside me break that I didn't think could ever be fixed.