My Alpha Used My Blood to Crown His Luna

The needle pierced my skin with a familiar sting. I flinched, but couldn't move—Dante's Alpha command held me frozen in place, my body betraying me once again.

"Stop," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "Please, Dante."

His fingers tightened around my scarred left arm as he steadied the needle. The vial beneath my elbow slowly filled with dark red blood—my blood.

"This is the only part of you worth keeping," he said, his voice cold and distant. "Your blood will live forever in 'The Alpha's Empire.'"

I watched the liquid that had once saved his life now being taken to glorify another woman. Three days. Three days before what should have been our Mating Ceremony.

"The portrait needs something special," Dante continued, his eyes fixed on the filling vial. "Amaya deserves to be immortalized properly when she becomes Luna."

My heart thundered in my chest, each beat a painful reminder that I was still alive, still feeling, still hoping despite everything. "You promised," I managed to say as tears blurred my vision. "You promised I would be your Luna."

His laugh was sharp, cutting through me like glass. "A wolfless Omega? The pack would never accept you." He removed the needle, pressing a white cloth against the puncture wound. "But your blood—your blood is still valuable."

I couldn't look away from the vial as he held it up to the light, examining it like a treasure. Ten years ago, I'd given him my wolf's vitality to save him from Wolfsbane poisoning. Now he was taking what little remained of me to celebrate replacing me.

---

The Great Hall buzzed with excitement. Pack members crowded the space, their voices echoing off the high ceilings. I stood at the back, trying to make myself invisible in my plain grey dress.

"Tonight marks a new era for Shadow Ridge," Dante's voice boomed across the hall as he took center stage. The crowd fell silent, all eyes turning to him—and to the stunning woman beside him.

Amaya Gray stood tall in a white ceremonial gown that made my heart stop. I recognized it immediately—the Luna's gown that had been designed for me.

"This beautiful woman," Dante continued, his hand possessively at Amaya's waist, "has agreed to become my Luna and lead our pack alongside me."

Applause erupted. I felt dozens of eyes shift to me, then quickly away—as if my pain was something to be ashamed of, not caused by them.

"Eva," Dante called out suddenly, his voice softening into something almost gentle. "Join us."

My feet moved before I could think, carrying me forward to stand on the lower dais. Amaya's smile widened as she took in my simple grey dress, her eyes gleaming with triumph.

"Eva will serve as our Pack Ward," Dante announced, his words falling like stones into still water. "And she will continue as Pack Healer, providing her... services to those who need it."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Pack Ward—a position so vague it meant nothing. A placeholder for someone who no longer had a place.

"Eva," Dante leaned close as the elders approached to greet Amaya. His breath tickled my ear as he whispered, "You will remain here. You will not leave the territory. And you will be available to me whenever I desire."

I stood frozen as he straightened, his arm sliding around Amaya's shoulders. "She'll be my secret comfort," he added, loud enough for only me to hear. "The one thing no one else can ever replace."

---

Back in my small room in the servants' quarters, I pulled out the bottle I'd hidden beneath my mattress. Wolfsbane suppressants—stolen from the infirmary one pill at a time over months.

My hands trembled as I counted them. Enough to stop my heart. Enough to mask my scent. Enough to make it look like I'd burned alive in that cabin.

A soft knock startled me. The door opened before I could respond, revealing Marcus Chen, the pack Beta.

"I can't do this anymore," he whispered, closing the door behind him. "What he's doing to you—what we're all allowing—it's wrong."

He placed a heavy bag on my bed. Inside was a body—a rogue wolf he'd procured from the morgue.

"The pack will be at the Grand Canyon territories tomorrow night for the pre-gala celebration," Marcus said, his voice tight with guilt. "No one will notice if you're gone."

He handed me a lighter, a fake ID, and a plane ticket to Europe. "This is the only way, Eva. You have to become someone else."

I stared at the items in my hands—my escape, my rebirth, my death.

"Can you do it?" he asked softly. "Can you kill yourself to be free?"

I touched the ticket, thinking of the wolfsbane pills that would stop my heart. "Yes," I whispered. "I think I've been dying for years."

As Marcus turned to leave, I caught his arm. "Thank you," I said, meaning it with every fiber of my being.

He nodded once, his eyes damp. "I should have helped you sooner."

As the door closed behind him, I opened the bottle of pills, staring at the means to my end—and my beginning.