My Alpha Rejected Me for His Mistress, Then Begged Back

I was halfway across the courtyard when I heard the screaming.

It came from the western perimeter. High and sharp and laced with panic. Then the alarm bells started ringing, that harsh clanging that meant only one thing.

Breach.

I stopped. My hand tightened instinctively over my belly as I turned toward the sound. Through the trees, I could see movement. Wolves shifting. Warriors scrambling in formations that made no tactical sense whatsoever.

Jayson's voice cut through the chaos, barking orders that contradicted each other. Send the Deltas west. No, reinforce the north gate. Pull back the scouts. No, push forward.

I watched a patrol unit split in two different directions because they'd received conflicting commands through the mind-link. Watched rogues slip through the gap that created, testing the weakened defenses like predators circling wounded prey.

My fingers curled against my palm. I knew exactly what was happening. The wards I'd maintained every single morning for eight years had finally collapsed. The intricate web of protective barriers I'd woven across every vulnerable point in this territory—gone. And Jayson had absolutely no idea how to compensate.

Someone was going to die out there.

I forced myself to turn away. Forced my feet to keep moving toward the gates. This wasn't my problem anymore. I had warned them. I had told them exactly what would happen.

They had chosen Camila instead.

Behind me, I heard the wet sound of claws meeting flesh. A wolf's yelp of pain. The metallic scent of blood carried on the wind.

I kept walking.

By the time I reached the main hall, the pack house was in complete chaos. Wolves were running in every direction. Mothers clutching pups. Elders shouting questions no one could answer. The mind-link was a mess of panic and confusion.

And then I heard her voice.

Camila stood on the raised platform at the front of the hall, her hands lifted like she was some kind of savior descending from the heavens. Her voice rang out clear and confident over the noise.

'Everyone, please! Calm down!'

The crowd quieted. Slowly. Desperately. Clinging to anyone who sounded like they had answers.

'I know you're all frightened,' Camila continued, her tone dripping with false sympathy. 'But I want you to know—you don't need to be. Because tomorrow, my grandfather, Alpha Demetrius of the Silverfang Pack, is arriving with an army of elite warriors. The Silverfang Pack is one of the wealthiest and most powerful packs in the region, and they are coming here to form an alliance with us. A legendary alliance that will make the Crescent Pack unstoppable.'

The hall erupted.

Cheers. Sobbing relief. Wolves embracing each other like they'd just been pulled back from the edge of extinction.

I stood in the doorway, watching. My bag felt very heavy in my hand.

Camila's eyes found mine across the crowd. She smiled. It was the kind of smile that said she'd won. That she'd proven herself. That I had been replaced by someone better.

'You see?' she called out, her voice carrying over the celebration. 'This is what real leadership looks like. This is what a true Luna brings to her pack. Not sabotage. Not betrayal. Strength. Protection. A future.'

The crowd turned. Followed her gaze. Saw me standing there.

The cheers died.

'Traitor,' someone hissed.

'She tried to destroy us.'

'Camila saved us. Camila is our real Luna.'

I didn't say anything. There was nothing to say. They had made their choice. They would live with the consequences.

I turned toward the courtyard gates.

That's when I saw them waiting.

Jayson's parents stood at the center of a crowd that had clearly been gathering for a while. Former Alpha Vincent and former Luna Margot, flanked by at least twenty pack members whose faces were twisted with anger and self-righteous fury.

They had positioned themselves directly between me and the only exit.

Margot stepped forward first. She was dressed like she was attending some kind of formal pack tribunal, all sharp lines and cold elegance. Her voice carried that particular tone of aristocratic disdain she'd perfected over decades of looking down on anyone she considered beneath her.

'Going somewhere, dear?'

I stopped walking. My hand settled over my belly again. 'Let me pass.'

'Let you pass?' Vincent's laugh was harsh and bitter. 'After what you've done? After you've sabotaged this pack's only chance at survival out of pure spite?'

The crowd closed in tighter. I could smell their anger. Their fear. Their desperate need to blame someone for the chaos tearing through their territory.

And I was convenient.

'You owe this pack an explanation,' Margot said coldly. 'You owe us answers. You owe us—'

'I owe you nothing.'

My voice cut through hers like a blade. Quiet. Flat. Absolutely final.

The courtyard went very still.