When My Alpha Chose Her, I Chose Myself

I stared at him in disbelief, my heart pounding in my chest.

He had never spoken to me like this before. No matter the situation, he used to say, "Maeve, you're my mate, my Luna, and you'll always come first." Throughout all our years together, he had never raised his voice at me, let alone used his Alpha tone to assert dominance. Yet now, because of Siena, he called me disgusting, his words laced with a venom that cut deeper than any physical wound.

["She deserves it; she brought it upon herself."]

["Alpha Nathan wouldn’t have gotten angry if she hadn’t insisted on rejecting the mate bond."]

["Exactly, what’s the point of fighting for a life that feels like it’s slipping away?"]

The whispers of the pack members around me echoed in my ears, their voices cold and judgmental. A bitter laugh escaped my lips as blood surged up, forcing me to cough it out. Nathan didn’t notice; he was too busy carrying Siena out of the lab, his focus entirely on her. The stark white floor was stained with my blood, a stark reminder of my frailty. Beside me, the machines beeped urgently, signaling my irregular heartbeat.

Am I going to perish? I still have so much to do. I mustered all my strength to get up, only to be stopped by one of Nathan’s Deltas.

"Luna Maeve," he said, his tone formal but firm, "Alpha Nathan has instructed that you cannot leave."

"Why?" I asked angrily, my voice trembling despite my best efforts.

What right does he have to imprison me? I’m his mate, his Luna, even if he seems to have forgotten that.

"Because… Alpha Nathan said Delta Siena just took her medication and is still under observation. Seeing you could unsettle her."

I stumbled backward, overwhelmed. It’s Siena, always Siena! And what about me? What am I to him? Nathan once told me he couldn’t bear to see Siena suffer, not after everything she’s done for the pack. That’s why he brought her into the lab. But ever since that day, Nathan’s every action has revolved around her. Whenever there’s something good, he thinks of her first, as if I’m nothing more than an afterthought.

My wolf whined softly in the back of my mind, a sound of pain and confusion. *Why does he treat you like this?* she asked, her voice tinged with sorrow. *You’re his mate. He should protect you, not push you aside.*

I didn’t have an answer for her. All I knew was that the bond between us, once so strong and unbreakable, now felt like a chain, binding me to a man who no longer seemed to care.

The room felt suffocating, the weight of the pack’s judgment pressing down on me. I could feel their eyes on me, their silent accusations. To them, I was weak, unworthy of being their Luna. And maybe they were right. Maybe I was just a pebble under their feet, something to be discarded without a second thought.

But I couldn’t give up. Not yet. I still had a spark of defiance left, a refusal to let Nathan or anyone else dictate my fate. I wiped the blood from my lips and straightened my shoulders, determined to fight for myself, even if no one else would.