My Alpha Refused to Save My Father from Rogues

The rain didn’t just fall; it felt like the sky was trying to crush me. I stood outside the heavy oak doors of the Blackwood Pack House, water streaming down my face, mixing with the heat of my humiliation. In my hands, the velvet box containing a custom-engraved watch—a gift for the tenth anniversary of the day Adrian and I first met—was now a sodden, pathetic lump.

“I’m sorry, Selene,” the enforcer at the door muttered, not meeting my eyes. He was a Delta I had known since we were pups, but his stance was unyielding. “Alpha Adrian’s orders. No visitors.”

“I’m not a visitor, Mark,” I said, my voice trembling against the thunder rolling overhead. “I’m the Gamma’s daughter. I’m his…”

*His mate.* The words died in my throat. We hadn’t completed the ceremony. We hadn’t marked. For ten years, I had waited, believing the Moon Goddess had destined us for each other, ever since he saved me from that rogue attack when I was a child. But tonight, the truth felt as cold as the rain soaking through my dress.

The heavy door creaked open, but it wasn’t to let me in. Adrian stepped onto the porch, sheltered by the overhang. He looked impeccable, his dark hair perfectly styled, his scent—cedar and storm—drifting toward me. But instead of warmth, his eyes held nothing but irritation.

“Go home, Selene,” he snapped, his voice cutting through the downpour. “You’re upsetting Kayla. She’s sensitive to your aura right now. She says it smells… desperate.”

My heart stuttered. “Kayla? But today is—”

“I know what day it is,” he interrupted, crossing his arms. “It’s the day you decided to start following me around like a lost puppy. Look at you. You’re a mess. A future Luna needs to have dignity, not stand in the rain begging for scraps.”

He didn’t even look at the gift in my hands. With a scoff, he turned on his heel and slammed the door. The sound echoed like a gunshot, sealing my fate. I wasn’t his fated mate; to him, I was just a nuisance.

I retreated to my father’s small cottage on the edge of the territory, shivering violently. I tried to convince myself it was just the cold, but deep down, I knew it was the fracture in my soul. I curled up in my bed, staring at the wall, waiting for the numbness to take over.

It didn’t. Instead, terror arrived.

It hit me at two in the morning—a jagged, mental scream that tore through my consciousness.

*Selene! Trap! Rogues—too many—*

My father’s voice in the mind-link was garbled, drowning in pain. I shot up, gasping, clutching my chest. The bond between a parent and child is strong, but this… this felt like he was being ripped apart.

“Dad!” I screamed back mentally, but there was only static and the sickening sound of snarling wolves.

I didn’t think. I didn’t grab a coat. I sprinted barefoot out of the cottage, tearing across the wet grass toward the Pack House. My lungs burned, but fear drove me faster than I had ever run before. I burst past the startled night patrol, ignoring their shouts, and scrambled up the stairs to the Alpha floor.

I didn’t knock. I threw Adrian’s door open, my chest heaving.

“Adrian! Help!”

The scene before me brought me to a screeching halt. The room was warm, lit by the soft glow of the fireplace. Adrian was lounging on his massive bed, a bowl of strawberries in his lap. Leaning against him was Kayla, giggling as he fed her one. She wore one of his shirts, her bare legs tangled with his.

They froze as I stumbled in, dripping wet and wild-eyed.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Adrian roared, standing up and spilling the bowl. “Get out!”

“It’s my father,” I choked out, rushing forward and grabbing his arm. His skin was hot, alive. “Please, Adrian. He mind-linked me. It’s an ambush. Rogues. The northern ridge. You have to send the warriors. You have to send help now!”

Kayla shrank back against the headboard, letting out a high-pitched, theatrical whimper. “Adrian, she’s scaring me! My heart… it’s beating too fast.”

Adrian shoved me back. I stumbled, catching myself on the dresser. “Calm down, Selene. You’re hysterical.”

“I’m not hysterical! He’s dying!” I screamed, tears finally spilling over. “Authorize the funds for a ransom, send the enforcers—do something! He’s your Gamma!”

Adrian looked at Kayla, who was clutching her chest with wide, faux-innocent eyes. Then he looked back at me, his expression hardening into cold indifference.

“Gamma Greene knows the risks of patrol,” Adrian said dismissively, turning back to comfort Kayla. “If he got caught, it’s because he was careless. I’m not sending my warriors into a trap just because your father can’t defend himself. Look what you’ve done to Kayla. She’s shaking.”

“Careless?” I whispered, the word tasting like ash. “He’s served this pack for thirty years. Adrian, please. I’m begging you.”

“Get out, Selene. That’s an Alpha command.”

I reached for him again, desperation clawing at my throat. “Adrian, no—!”

*SNAP.*

The sound wasn’t in the room. It was inside me. A violent, sickening crack echoed in the center of my chest, followed instantly by a hollow, freezing silence. The tether that had connected me to my father since birth… it was gone. Just gone.

My knees hit the floor with a thud. I couldn’t breathe. The world tilted on its axis, gray and muted.

“Finally,” Adrian muttered, sitting back down on the bed and stroking Kayla’s hair. “Maybe now you’ll learn some boundaries.”

He didn’t know. He didn’t care. As I knelt there, staring at the floorboards through a blur of agony, I realized two things simultaneously: my father was dead, and the wolf in front of me wasn’t my mate. He was a monster.