The Alpha's Mistake Is Letting Me Go

Chapter 1

Maya’s POV

The day I lost my pup and nearly lost my wolf, my mate was in another woman’s arms, comforting her because she had an allergic reaction to moonflower pollen.

“I’m sorry, Luna Maya. The pup didn’t survive the rogue attack. You’re fortunate your wolf healing kicked in when it did, or you would have lost your ability to bear future pups,” the pack healer’s words crashed over me.

That morning had started like any other. Damon had actually slept in our bed for the first time in weeks instead of staying in his office. My forty-year-old mate had returned from the neighboring pack negotiations the night before, and I had prepared his favorite venison stew. He kissed my forehead goodbye and left for his Alpha duties.

Hours later, he mind-linked me urgently. “Maya, I need you to collect moonflower herbs from the cursed woods. Bring them to the pack house immediately.”

I froze. Moonflower herbs only grew in areas with natural silver deposits, and they were dangerous for werewolves to handle. Damon knew I was sensitive to silver. But before I could respond, he cut off the mind-link.

Like the dutiful Luna I was, I shifted into my wolf form and headed to the cursed woods. The silver in the air made my wolf whimper, but I pushed through. Damon needed this for pack business.

I managed to gather the moonflower herbs, but the silver traces on the plants were already making me dizzy. As I ran back toward the pack house, a rogue attack came out of nowhere.

Five rogues surrounded me in the clearing. My wolf was already weakened from the silver exposure, and I couldn’t fight them all. They clawed at me, their dirty claws leaving deep wounds across my sides and belly.

I felt something precious inside me break as a rogue’s claw tore across my stomach. My wolf howled in agony, and I mind-linked Damon desperately.

“Damon… help me… rogues…”

“How could you be so useless, Maya?” Damon’s cold voice echoed in my mind. “Moonflower herbs! It was simple. I take care of you, give you everything, and you can’t even do this one thing for the pack!”

“Damon, please… I’m hurt…”

“Stop making excuses! Elena could have done this without complaining. Don’t contact me again until you’ve completed your task!”

He severed the mind-link completely, leaving me alone as the rogues circled closer. I screamed through the pack bond, but no one came. They all thought I was just being dramatic again.

My wolf collapsed as the silver poisoning spread through my system. The rogues laughed, thinking I was already dead, and left me bleeding in the dirt.

Hours later, a patrol found me unconscious and carried me to the pack healer. That’s when I learned the truth that shattered what remained of my heart.

“The silver poisoning caused a miscarriage,” Healer Thomson explained gently. “You were six weeks pregnant. I’m sorry, Luna.”

I stared at the ceiling, empty. My pup was gone before I even knew it existed. The future alpha I had carried for weeks was dead because my own mate sent me into danger.

“Should I inform Alpha Damon?” the healer asked.

I looked at my phone. Fifty missed calls and thirty messages in the past three hours. All from me to him. Not one response.

“Luna?” the healer pressed.

I shook my head, tasting blood in my mouth. How could Damon abandon me like this? I was his mate, his Luna, the mother of his heir.

“I’ll leave you to rest,” the healer said, adjusting his supplies. “Beta Marcus and your sister-in-law Sarah wanted to see you, but I told them to wait until tomorrow.”

My sister-in-law Sarah. Damon’s younger sister who had always made it clear she thought I wasn’t good enough for her precious brother. She probably heard about my “failure” already.

As the healer reached the door, he paused. “If you need emotional support, there’s a counselor in the neighboring pack who specializes in trauma.”

I barely heard him leave. I picked up my phone and tried Damon’s number again. Through the pack bond, I sensed he was nearby, maybe just down the hallway in the pack house.

Hope fluttered in my chest. Maybe he was here to see me, to apologize, to grieve our lost pup together.

But when I tried to feel his emotions through the mate bond, all I got was… contentment? Warmth? How could he be happy when I was dying and we’d lost our baby?

I forced myself to stand, ignoring the pain shooting through my body. I wrapped a blanket around myself and stumbled out of the healer’s den, following Damon’s scent.

His phone was ringing from the room at the end of the hall. I dialed his number again, and yes, that was definitely his ringtone - the sound of wolves howling that he’d customized himself.

My bare feet made no sound on the wooden floor as I approached the door. I could hear voices inside, soft and intimate. My hand shook as I reached for the handle.

The door creaked open, and what I saw destroyed the last piece of my soul.