The Alpha’s Regret Under the Blood Moon

After the mating pact between Adriana and Nathanie was formally announced to the pack, whispers began to reach her ears.

It wasn’t long before she learned the truth—long before she bore his Luna mark, Nathanie had already given his heart to another she-wolf.

Olivia.

They had grown up in the same territory, trained together as pups, bled together during their first shifts. The pack often spoke of them as if their bond had been inevitable.

Nathanie never denied their history. What he denied was its meaning.

Yet his actions said otherwise.

He personally oversaw Olivia’s recovery during her unstable transformations. He made sure she was given the warmest chamber in the Alpha residence. When her wolf grew restless at night, he was the one who answered her calls.

Eventually, he brought her into the Alpha manor itself.

Adriana watched it all unfold without causing a scene.

She no longer argued during council gatherings when Olivia sat too close. She stopped asking why her mate always rushed away at the faintest hint of Olivia’s distress. She quit fighting for space in a place that should have been hers by right.

Instead, she began preparing her departure.

Quietly, without informing Nathanie, she sent an application to the Northern Territories’ Healing Corps—a role assigned to wolves who traveled beyond their homeland to treat injured packs in conflict zones.

It was dangerous work. Far from the safety of their borders.

But distance was exactly what she needed.

When the Alpha Council’s seal arrived approving her transfer, she felt neither relief nor triumph—only a steady calm.

She would leave this territory.

Leave the manor.

Leave him.

And when the time came, she would not look back.

---

She stood before Elder Rowan, the head of the Healing Council, her spine straight despite the weight in her chest.

“Elder, I am requesting deployment beyond the Western Sea. I wish to join the Border Relief Pack as a field healer.”

The elder’s brows lifted in surprise.

“With your standing and skill, Adriana, you would thrive here. Your mating ceremony is set for the next moon cycle. Leaving now will cause talk.”

Adriana understood what he truly meant. An engaged Luna abandoning her territory was more than gossip—it was scandal.

But her wolf was tired.

“I’ve thought it through,” she replied evenly, placing the blood-marked parchment on his desk. “The position has remained vacant for half a year. I’m qualified, and I’m willing. I’ve also been told returning healers are considered for High Healer rank.”

Elder Rowan’s gaze lingered on the contract.

Promotion was possible, yes.

If she survived.

The Border Relief Pack often operated near rogue-infested lands and war-torn territories. Not every healer who left came back whole.

The elder sighed.

“You don’t need to push yourself this way. As Alpha Nathanie’s mate, your future here is secure.”

There it was—the unspoken truth.

Her identity had always been tied to him.

Nathanie, the youngest Alpha in decades. The wolf who had led countless victorious battles. The pack’s pride.

And her… the healer he brought home.

Years ago, she had been nothing more than a lone wolf tending to injuries in a remote settlement near the mountains. One brutal winter night, she had found Nathanie half-dead after an ambush by rogues. She treated him, guarded him through the fever, refused to let his wolf fade.

When the Council later invited him to claim leadership of this territory, he agreed on one condition:

“The healer comes with me.”

That was how she entered this pack.

Not through heritage.

Not through rank.

Through him.

She had worked relentlessly since then, proving she deserved her place—not as Nathanie’s chosen mate, but as a capable wolf in her own right.

Still, no matter how many lives she saved, she remained “the Alpha’s fiancée.”

“Have you spoken to Nathanie about this?” Elder Rowan asked.

The question snapped her back.

Her jaw tightened, but her voice stayed steady.

“I’ll inform Alpha Nathanie myself.”

She clasped her hands to stop them from trembling. She could already picture his reaction—the hard set of his shoulders, the flash of dominance in his eyes, the command in his voice when he told her she wasn’t leaving.

For the first time, she wondered if he would even try to stop her.

And when the full moon finally rose weeks later, Adriana left the Alpha manor without ceremony.

All Nathanie received was a dissolved mating bond filed with the Council—and a single sentence written in her hand:

“Nathanie, my wolf no longer chooses you.”