The Alpha Who Faked Our Bond

Pain. It was the first thing that ripped through me when my eyes cracked open, a savage fire tearing down sinew and marrow as though my very wolf had been dragged across burning coals. It wasn’t just the shatter of bone or the sting of torn flesh; it was deeper, older, a soul-deep agony that made the beast within me throw back her head and wail against the void. My wolf whimpered, her presence dim, fading like a dying ember, and the hollow echo of her grief nearly unraveled me.

A doctor, human, not of the pack, rushed to my side, her touch careful but alien, lacking the grounding weight of a wolf’s essence. Her hands pressed me back into the cot, and the absence of pack energy in her aura made my instincts bristle, my wolf stirring in weak protest.

“Do not move, child. Your ankle was broken, your ribs bruised, and you had cuts and burns across your body because of the accident. You must rest.”

Her words sounded distant.

Accident?

Then it struck like lightning: Alpha Sebastian, Vera, the forged bond, the Elders’ silence, my brothers’ laughter at my humiliation, my desperate flight into the storm, and the truck that came barreling toward me when my wolf refused to answer my call.

“How long… have I been here?” My voice cracked, more broken than my body.

“Almost a day,” the healer whispered, her gaze lowering with pity. Then came the blow that shattered me more completely than steel or flame.“You were carrying life inside you… Two months along. The accident took it. I’m so sorry.”

Her words echoed, hollow and merciless. Pregnant? My wolf keened in my chest, claws raking the inside of my ribs as if she could tear the truth away. I hadn’t even known. Not once had Alpha Sebastian touched me in a way that honored the Moon’s bond; our union had been bound only by ink and lies, not by blood nor howl nor the sacred rites beneath the oak. Yet still, my body had held the spark of life, a cub that would never breathe the night air.

“I- I didn’t know…” I whispered, each syllable cutting me open.

The doctor asked if she should summon someone. My heart clenched at the thought. Alpha Sebastian, my so-called husband, had already chosen my sister as his bride beneath the eyes of the pack. Luis and Erol, my brothers who once swore blood oaths to defend me, only to sneer as I was discarded. Still, I was drowning, and drowning creatures grasped anything.

“My phone,” I rasped.

I tried calling, but disappointment greeted me when Alpha Sebastian never answered. No matter how many times I called, his voice never came. Instead, the doctor set down a basket by my bed. “A friend brought this. Food, herbs, and flowers. Said he is the one who pulled you from the wreck. A doctor, though not of my kind.”

A strange unease rippled over me. Who had pulled me back from death when even my wolf had gone silent?

Alone, I reached for my phone again. My breath caught when I saw it, photos and videos splashed across the pack’s feed. Alpha Sebastian, Vera, and my brothers. Smiling under foreign lights, their arms linked, their faces bright with joy as they feasted and celebrated. The caption read: “Finally, a real family trip. Much needed.”

Real family. The words gutted me. My wolf wailed inside me, a sound no one else could hear.

--

By morning, Alpha Sebastian finally called, his voice dripping with forced panic. “Amara! Why didn’t you tell us you were in the hospital? We would’ve come sooner.”

Us.

They arrived together, Alpha Sebastian, Luis, and Erol. Their faces painted with concern, but their scents betrayed them.

Guilt, deceit, and the lingering sweetness of Vera’s perfume cling to Alpha Sebastian’s skin.

“I tried calling you,” I said hollowly. “Where were you?”

“Business,” Alpha Sebastian replied too quickly.

Business…

As if yesterday hadn’t been the day of our anniversary. As if he hadn’t abandoned me for my sister’s arms.

He reached for me, murmuring empty promises, but before I could summon the strength to push him away, Erol burst in with a shout. “Vera fainted!”

Alpha Sebastian froze, his eyes snapping wide. And just like that, his grip faltered. He dropped me to the cold stone floor without a second glance, bolting from the room to chase after her scent.

Pain lanced through my body as I crumpled, humiliated and discarded once more. My wolf whimpered, too weak to rise.

And then, arms far steadier than Alpha Sebastian’s lifted me.

Strong. Familiar.

Through blurred vision, I saw him, dark hair, eyes that burned like embers.

“Xavier Moonveil…?” I breathed. The healer from my past. The wolf who had once cared for me then vanished without a trace.

He brushed a strand of hair from my damp face, his touch grounding. “Still stubborn enough to run headfirst into danger, I see.” His voice was low, steady, carrying the resonance of the Moon itself.

I trembled as his scent wrapped around me, cedar and earth after rain, the scent of home my wolf recognized instantly.

Xavier Moonveil leaned closer, his gaze unyielding.“Amara… will you run away with me under the Moon’s shadow, away from the chains of your pack, and run free at my side?”