The Alpha's Last Choice

The wind howled through the trees, carrying the distant scent of the pack I once called home. The moon was beginning its descent, casting silver light over the forest path ahead, but the road behind me was already gone. I had nothing left to return to.

I had lost everything. Amber. My rank. My purpose. Rafael had discarded me as if I had never meant anything to him.

I pressed my hand against the side of my face, where his slap had left a sting beneath my skin. The physical pain was nothing compared to what he had done to my heart. He had looked at me with disgust, chosen them over me, as if I were nothing more than a forgotten memory.

No longer his mate. No longer his Luna. No longer his.

I gritted my teeth and tightened my grip on the satchel slung over my shoulder. Inside, I carried the only things that mattered anymore—the last remnants of Amber’s life. Her tiny cloak, the wooden wolf figurine she had carved, the pieces of her childhood that I refused to let be swallowed by time. Rafael could take everything else—his title, his pack, his kingdom of lies.

But he would never take her from me.

And this? This wasn’t over. My legs ached from walking, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. My mind was a whirlwind of the past, each moment twisting into something more unbearable than the last. I had spent years at Rafael’s side, believing in him, loving him. And what had it meant? Nothing.

I reached into my cloak and pulled out a rune stone, the edges smooth against my fingers. Closing my eyes, I pressed my thumb against its surface. A familiar pulse of magic burned through my veins before a voice echoed in my mind.

“Didn’t expect to hear from you again.”

“Raoul,” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. “I need your help. I need to disappear,” I murmured. “Completely.”

A slow exhale. “So you finally see it, huh?”

“Just tell me you can do it.”

“Leave it to me.”

The rune stone cracked, the magic severing as I tossed it to the ground. There was no turning back now. By sunrise, the world would believe I was gone. But I wasn’t running. I was preparing for war.

Raoul was waiting for me at the edge of a forgotten road, his cloak drawn tight against the chill of the early morning. His silver eyes studied me as I approached, taking in my ragged state without a word.

“You look like death,” he muttered, tossing a waterskin in my direction.

“Fitting,” I replied, catching it.

He smirked, but there was something sharper behind his amusement. “Everything’s ready.”

I followed his gaze to the wagon behind him. My stomach clenched as I pulled back the cloth covering its cargo. A body.

A young woman, similar in size, close enough in appearance that no one would question it once the flames did their work. She had been dead before I arrived, her fate sealed long before I decided to take advantage of it.

The weight in my chest threatened to crush me, but guilt had no place here. This was survival.

Raoul watched me carefully. “Last chance to back out.”

“There’s no going back,” I said, voice flat.

He studied me for a long moment before nodding. “Then let’s make you a ghost.”

The cliffs were silent except for the river raging below, its currents merciless against the jagged rocks. A fitting place to stage a tragedy.

Raoul worked swiftly, dousing the wagon and the corpse in oil laced with wolfsbane. It would burn fast and hot, leaving no room for doubt. By the time anyone found what remained, there would be only one conclusion—Camilla Wolfhart had died here.

But before the fire consumed the last of my old life, I had one final thing to do.

One last message. I pressed my fingers against the blood rune on my wrist, summoning the remnants of the bond that still tied me to him.

For a moment, nothing. “Rafael isn’t available,” a voice purred, dripping with venom.

My stomach twisted. “Lyra.”

Her soft laugh curled around me like smoke. “Still clinging to the past?”

“Put him on,” I said, forcing the command into my voice.

“Why?” she taunted. “So he can remind you what you are? So he can tell you how easily you were replaced?”

I gritted my teeth. “You think this is over?”

Lyra sighed dramatically. “Oh, Camilla. It already is.”

I stayed silent, waiting. And then she delivered the killing blow. “Strange, isn’t it? The way your daughter died?” Her voice was coated in amusement. “Considering Elias was never sick.”

The world slowed. My breath hitched. “What did you say?”

She giggled, delighted. “We made it up. And Rafael? He never even questioned it.”

Something deep inside me snapped. Amber had died for nothing.

Rafael had given her blood away for a child who hadn’t even needed it. They had murdered my daughter with lies.

The bond severed. Silence rang in my ears. My vision blurred, the night tilting as white-hot rage overtook everything.

I didn’t scream. I didn’t weep. I only burned.

Raoul’s gaze sharpened as he took in my expression. “Still sure about this?”

I met his eyes, my voice deadly calm. “Light it.”

He didn’t hesitate. The spark flew, and the flames erupted instantly, consuming the wagon in seconds. Heat roared against my skin, but I didn’t move, watching as the fire devoured the past.

By the time anyone found what was left, there would be no doubt.

Camilla Wolfhart was gone. And Rafael would feel nothing because this wasn’t about him.

This was about me. About Amber.

About every single moment I had wasted loving a man who had never deserved me.

By the time dawn crested over the horizon, I was gone. Raoul moved fast, slipping me through the rogue networks where no Shadowfang scout would find me.

A new name. A new purpose. A new beginning.

I stood before the mirror of a nameless inn, running my fingers through my now raven-black hair. My once-golden strands, the ones Rafael had always twined around his fingers, whispering empty promises, were gone. That woman was gone.

I leaned in closer, my lips curling at the sight of the stranger before me.

The world thought Camilla Wolfhart had perished in the fire. But the woman who rose from the ashes was just getting started.