The Alpha I Built Betrayed Me

"Stay behind me." I kept my voice low, scanning the thick tree line of the Black Pine Forest.

"I'm trying, Elara," my sister Ivy whispered. Her fingers dug into the heavy fabric of my jacket, tugging me slightly off balance. "It's just so dark out here."

"You asked to come on patrol." I stopped and faced her. "You told the Alpha you wanted to learn how to fight."

"I do." She huddled closer, wrapping her arms around herself. "But I didn't think we'd go this deep. The border is dangerous."

"Danger doesn't stay in the light." I adjusted my grip on my silver-coated blade. "If you want to survive in this pack, you need to know these woods. Just step where I step."

I turned back to the trail, my senses on high alert. As the older sister, keeping Ivy safe was my only job. I had spent my entire life shielding her from the harsh realities of our world. Every scar on my body belonged to a fight I took so she wouldn't have to.

I glanced over my shoulder to check her footing. Her eyes weren't squeezed shut in fear, like she pretended. Instead, her gaze darted left, then right, tracking the moss-covered rocks and the broken branches. She wasn't stumbling. She was memorizing the route.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"Nothing," she squeaked. She immediately dropped her gaze to her boots and let out a little shiver. "Just making sure I don't trip over a root."

I narrowed my eyes. "Keep your eyes on my back."

We walked another fifty yards in silence. The wind died down, leaving the forest eerily quiet. No crickets. No owls. Just the crunch of our boots on the dead leaves.

A sharp snap echoed through the woods.

Ivy's boot rested on a sunken patch of dirt. The leaves shifted. A hidden rope pulled taut against the bark of a nearby pine.

"Move!" I shoved her hard in the chest.

She stumbled backward into the brush just as the ground exploded.

Iron jaws slammed shut around my right calf. Metal teeth tore through my pants and sank deep into my muscle. The sheer force of the trap dragged me to my knees.

I bit down hard enough to taste blood, forcing the scream back into my throat. Coppery blood flooded my mouth. I refused to make a sound. Noise attracted predators.

"Elara!" Ivy shrieked from the bushes.

"Stay down," I grunted, my hands flying to the iron mechanism. I pulled at the metal, but it wouldn't budge.

Above me, the canopy rustled. A heavy, weighted net dropped from the branches, pinning me to the forest floor. The thick ropes dug into my skin, coated in a sticky, foul-smelling sap.

Fire erupted in my veins. Wolfsbane.

The poison seeped directly into my open leg wound. My vision blurred at the edges. My fingers went numb against the cold iron of the trap.

Twigs snapped in the distance. Heavy footsteps crunched over the dry earth.

This wasn't a careless hunter's trap. Hunters didn't rig nets in the canopy. This was a coordinated ambush.

"Help!" Ivy screamed, scrambling to her feet. "Someone help us!"

"Ivy, quiet," I hissed, struggling against the netting. Every movement sent a fresh wave of agony up my leg. "Hide!"

"We're trapped! By the old riverbed!" she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth.

I froze. I stopped pulling at the net.

Why was she giving them our exact location?

"Over here! Just past the ravine!" she cried out again.

Her voice didn't waver. She wasn't panicking. Each shout echoed through the trees, perfectly timed, acting as a beacon for whoever was hunting us.

"Stop shouting," I commanded. "You're drawing them right to us."

"I'm calling for the pack!" she argued. She didn't look at me. She kept her eyes fixed on the dark tree line, waiting.

"The pack is miles away. The only people hearing you are the ones who set this trap."

"Someone will come," she said flatly. The fear was completely gone from her tone.

A massive shadow broke through the brush.

My heart slammed against my ribs. Declan.

He stepped into the moonlight, his broad shoulders tense, his golden eyes scanning the clearing. Relief washed over me like a cool rain. He found us. My mate—the future Alpha—was here.

He locked eyes with me. He saw the iron trap crushing my leg, the poisoned net holding me down, the blood soaking into the soil.

His jaw tightened. He took a fast step toward me, his hands reaching for his blade.

"Declan!" Ivy wailed.

She collapsed to the ground, grabbing her perfectly fine ankle. "Declan, it hurts! I think it's broken!"

Declan stopped dead in his tracks.

The bushes rustled louder now. Three rogues stepped into the clearing, their eyes glowing with unnatural malice. They unsheathed their blades. The smell of rotting leaves and stale blood filled the air.

Declan looked at the rogues. He looked at Ivy crying on the ground. Finally, he looked back at me.

"Get her out of here," I rasped, gripping the iron jaws of the trap. "I'll hold them off. Just cut this net."

I waited for him to rip the ropes off me. I waited for him to stand by my side and fight, just like we always did. We were a team. We always protected each other.

Instead, he pivoted. He walked away from me and crouched beside my sister.

"I've got you, Ivy," he murmured, scooping her into his arms.

Ivy buried her face in his chest. Over his shoulder, she opened her eyes and looked straight at me. A small, cold smile touched her lips.

My stomach dropped. The truth landed harder than the poison in my veins.

She led me here. She knew about the trap.

Declan stood up, holding her tightly against his chest.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice shaking. "Declan, the wolfsbane is in my blood. I need you."

He didn't answer. He adjusted his grip on my sister.

"Declan." My voice cracked. It was the first time I had ever begged him for anything.

He paused. His boots dug into the dirt. The rogues took another step forward, raising their weapons.

"Please," I whispered, the poison burning a trail toward my heart. "Don't leave me."

He didn't turn his head. He didn't even shift to see my pain.

"You'll manage," Declan said, his voice flat and empty. "You always do."

He carried her into the darkness, disappearing into the shadows of the pines.

The rogues circled closer, their boots crunching on the dry leaves.

I lay in the dirt, the wolfsbane paralyzing my limbs. The cold iron bit deeper into my bone.

I didn't scream. I didn't cry.

I just stared at the empty space between the trees where my mate and my sister had vanished.

He didn't even look back.

The biggest rogue stepped over my trapped leg, a wicked grin spreading across his scarred face, and raised his silver blade high above his head.