THE ROGUE LUNA'S RETURN

Chapter Four: The Alpha's Regret- Albert's POV

Five years of guilt tasted like ash in my mouth, coating every meal, breath, moment of every endless day since I watched Andrea die. I stood at my office window overlooking Silverpine territory, the pack thriving and peaceful under my leadership, but felt empty because none of it mattered without her.

"Alpha, the patrol reports are ready for your review," Benita's voice came from the doorway, still sweet and helpful after all these years, still playing the role of loyal Beta, and I wanted to rip her throat out every single time I heard her speak.

I did not turn around, could not bear to look at her face without seeing Andrea's terrified expression in the moments before the poison took her. "Leave them on the desk and get out, Benita. I do not want to see you right now."

"You have been saying that for months, Albert," Benita said, and I heard her move closer despite my clear dismissal. "When are you going to accept that Andrea is gone and move forward with your life, with the pack's future?"

The casual way she said Andrea's name, like she had not orchestrated an innocent woman's murder, like she had not destroyed everything good in my world. I spun around, crossing the room in three long strides, slamming Benita against the wall with my hand around her throat.

"Do not ever say her name again," I snarled. "You do not have the right to speak of her, you do not have the right to exist in the same world she should still be living in."

Benita's eyes widened, real fear flickering across her face for the first time since Andrea's execution, but she recovered quickly, her hands coming up to grip my wrist. "Albert, please, I did what I had to do for the good of the pack. Andrea was weak, she would have destroyed everything you built."

"She was my mate!" I roared, throwing her away from me. "She was everything this pack needed in a Luna, and you murdered her because you wanted her position and because your jealousy mattered more than an innocent life."

Benita straightened, smoothing her hair, her expression shifting from fear to cold calculation. "You have no proof of that, Albert. The evidence clearly showed Andrea was guilty, multiple witnesses testified against her, even her own best friend confirmed her confession."

"Witnesses you blackmailed and manipulated," I said bitterly, moving back to the window because looking at Benita made my skin crawl. "I know the truth now, Benita. It took me three years to find it, three years of investigating quietly while you thought you had gotten away with murder, but I know everything."

"If you truly knew everything, I would be dead or exiled by now, yet here I stand, still as your Beta, still running your pack. You know why, Albert? Because you need me, because without me, this pack would fall apart, and deep down, you know Andrea really was too weak to be your Luna."

I wanted to deny it and prove her wrong, but the terrible truth was that Benita had made herself indispensable over the past five years, had woven herself so deeply into pack operations that removing her would cause chaos, and I was too broken and guilty to fight that battle. "Get out, Benita, before I do something we will both regret." I said defeated.

I remained alone with my ghosts and regrets, staring at the territory that felt like a prison. My wolf whined miserably inside me, mourning our lost mate, the bond that should have been forever but was severed by my own foolish pride and blind trust.

A knock on the door interrupted my spiral into darkness, and Solomon's voice called out, "Alpha Albert, there is someone here to see you, it is urgent and cannot wait."

I almost told him to send them away, but duty dragged me back from the edge of despair like it always did, the responsibility of being Alpha overriding personal pain. "Send them in," I said, composing myself, burying the grief and rage under the mask of strong leadership that I wore every day.

The wolf who entered was a stranger, a rogue by the look of his worn clothes and wary eyes, and my hand went automatically to the knife at my belt because rogues on pack territory usually meant trouble. "State your business quickly, before I have you removed."

"I have information you will want to hear, Alpha Albert it is about Andrea, your former mate who you executed five years ago."

My heart almost stopped. "Andrea is dead and buried. I watched the poison take her by myself. There is no information about her except that I failed her in the worst way possible."

The rogue smiled, cold and knowing. "Are you certain about that, Alpha? Because my leader, Philip of the Wasteland rogues, asked me to deliver a message, and the message is this: Andrea lives, she is Moonblessed, and she is coming for everything you took from her."

The world tilted sideways, and I gripped the edge of my desk to keep from falling, my mind refusing to process what I just heard because it was impossible. Andrea died. I felt our bond break when the poison stopped her heart. "You are lying," I managed to force out through my throat. "This is some rogue trick, to destabilize the pack."

"Believe what you want, Alpha," the rogue said, pulling something from his pocket and tossing it onto my desk, a small carved wooden wolf that I recognized instantly because I had made it for Andrea on our first anniversary.“Philip thought you should know what is about to come, though you deserved the warning before his army reached your borders. "

The rogue left before I could demand more answers or confirmation, and I stood frozen, staring at the wooden wolf, my hands shaking as I picked it up and saw Andrea's initials carved on the bottom in my own handwriting. She was alive, somehow impossibly alive, and she was coming back, not for forgiveness or reconciliation but for revenge.

I should have felt fear and started preparing defenses and calling allies, but all I felt was overwhelming relief because if Andrea lived, then maybe I could fix the worst mistake of my existence and prove to her that I never stopped loving her despite the unforgivable thing I did.

"Solomon!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the packhouse. "Gather the council immediately, and find me everything we have about Philip and the Wasteland rogues. Everything!"

As pack members scrambled to obey, I held the wooden wolf close to my chest, feeling something like hope stirring in my dead heart for the first time in five years, dangerous and desperate hope that I could somehow earn Andrea's forgiveness even though I knew I would never.

But at least she was alive, somewhere in this world, my mate was still breathing and fighting. That knowledge changed everything.