The Wolfless Healer-Claimed by the Alpha King

The scent of pine and roasted meat hung heavy in the pack house. It was the annual Mating Ball, the night the Moon Goddess revealed her chosen pairs. For three years, I had run the Dark Moon Pack as Dion’s un-Shifted mate, surviving famine and rogue attacks by his side. We were supposed to make it official tonight. Instead, he stood on the raised dais, the crystal chandeliers casting a harsh light over his sharp features. His voice carried over the dead-silent room, freezing the blood in my veins. "I, Dion Blackwood, Alpha of the Dark Moon Pack, reject you, Jenna Frost, as my fated mate and Luna." The words hit me like silver driving straight through my chest. My knees hit the hardwood floor. Even without an inner wolf, the primal bond between fated mates was real—and snapping it felt like my soul was being torn in half. I couldn't breathe. My throat burned with white-hot agony. "Dion..." I choked out. "Why would I want a wolfless piece of trash as my Luna?" he sneered. His gaze held nothing but cold disgust. Before the echo of his rejection could fade, he reached into the crowd and pulled Selena up onto the dais. Selena—the sweet, delicate Omega he claimed was just a friend. He dragged her against his chest, tilting her head back, and sank his teeth into the soft curve of her throat. A claiming mark. Right in front of me. Selena collapsed against him, panting, a claiming bite already bruising on her pale skin. Over Dion’s broad shoulder, she met my eyes. A slow, triumphant smirk curved her lips. Laughter rippled through the pack. The very people I had bled to protect were pointing, whispering, mocking the broken, wolfless rogue on the floor. No one stepped forward. No one spoke for me. I didn't stay to watch the rest. I scrambled to my feet and ran. I burst through the heavy double doors into a raging blizzard. The cold bit into my skin, but it was nothing compared to the bleeding wound in my chest. I ran until my lungs screamed, until the pack house was just a memory swallowed by the snow. My legs gave out. I collapsed into a snowbank, darkness pressing against my vision like something alive. Let me die here, I thought. Just let the cold take me. Then, a tiny weight pressed against my chest. I forced my eyes open. A wolf pup, barely bigger than a heavy winter coat, was curled against my heart. His black fur was matted with blood and ice, and his breathing was dangerously shallow. Despite his injuries, his wet nose aggressively nudged my neck, seeking warmth. Seeking comfort. A stray, I thought, my numb fingers brushing over his shivering back. Thrown away, just like me. I couldn't leave him. I hauled myself up, tucking the pup inside my thin coat, and carried him to the abandoned cabin on the edge of the territory. For three days, I fed him scraps of roasted meat. I cleaned his wounds. I held him against my chest every night, letting his steady heartbeat anchor me to the living world. Every night, as the moon peaked, the pup’s bones would c***k and shift. The little wolf would melt into a human boy, no older than four or five. He would curl into my arms, burying his face directly into the crook of my neck, inhaling deeply. I thought he was just a traumatized child seeking a mother’s scent. I thought he was just being clingy. Until the third morning, when the entire werewolf world exploded. News spread through the territories like wildfire: A wolf pup leaving scent marks on a female's neck for three consecutive nights equals a completed Luna Binding Ritual! And the bigger news: That wasn't a stray pup. That was the missing younger brother of the Alpha King of the North! I didn't even have time to process the rumors. A massive, terrifying pressure suddenly suffocated the cabin. CRASH. The thick glass of my living room window shattered inward, raining deadly shards across the floorboards. A monstrous black wolf with silver runic markings woven into its fur stood in the snow, its golden eyes fixed on me. The sheer Alpha aura rolling off the beast made my knees buckle. But before the beast could step inside, the little boy in my arms wriggled free. He threw himself in front of me, barring his tiny teeth at the giant wolf. "Brother!!" Ash screamed, his voice raw. "You broke her window! It’s snowing outside! She’s going to be cold!!" "Get your paws off my floor." The moment the words left my mouth, the silence in the cabin became suffocating. It had teeth. The monstrous wolf’s front paws were still planted on my splintered floorboards. The sheer weight of his Alpha aura pressed against the back of my skull, demanding submission. My knees trembled, begging to hit the floor. But I held my ground, my arms wrapped protectively around Ash. The little boy was rigid in my embrace, his tiny body vibrating with tension. His golden eyes—slitted and feral—glared back at the beast. "Brother, did you hear her?" Ash demanded, his small voice sharp. "Sister said move." The giant wolf lowered its massive head, studying the boy. In the blink of an eye, the beast melted away. Bones cracked and rearranged in a fluid, terrifying display of power. A second later, a towering man stood in the shattered window frame. Dark hair. Eyes the color of a winter storm. Blood stained the shoulder of his tailored black shirt. He didn't spare a single glance at the destroyed window. His storm-gray eyes locked instantly onto the side of my neck. "Ash," his voice was a deep, gravelly command that vibrated in my chest. "Come." Ash immediately spun around and locked his arms around my neck in a death grip. "No." A muscle ticked in the man's jaw. His brows drew together, a dark shadow crossing his features. "You've been missing for three years," Ash yelled, his voice cracking on the last word. "Why did it take you so long to find me?" The words hit the room like a physical blow. My fingers tightened instinctively against Ash’s small back. Something akin to raw agony flashed in the man’s eyes, cutting through his cold exterior. He took a half-step forward. Ash instantly bared his canines, a low growl tearing from his small throat. "Don't yell at her." "I am not yelling at her," the man replied, his tone dangerously level. "You tore her window out." "I will pay for it." "You were looking at her neck just now. You looked like you wanted to bite her." Silence stretched between them like a wire about to snap. Finally, the man shifted his stormy gaze back to me. "I am Rowan. Alpha King of the Northern Court." I dipped my chin in acknowledgment, keeping my voice steady. "Jenna. The recently exiled former Luna of the Dark Moon Pack." "Not former." His gaze dropped back to my throat. A heavy, suffocating tension filled the small space. "The three-layer scent mark is complete," Rowan declared, his voice leaving no room for argument. "By the laws of the Moon Goddess, you are now recognized by the Royal Court as a Luna." The air punched out of my lungs. Before I could process the weight of his words, loud footsteps crunched through the snow outside. "Ridiculous!" The door slammed open. Dion shoved his way into the cabin, trailing a dozen of his elite guards. Selena clung to his side, draped in my old winter shawl. Her eyes were wide and glossy with carefully manufactured tears. "Dion, how could you say that?" Selena murmured, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. Her fingers dug tighter into his bicep. "Jenna is pitiful enough. She has no inner wolf. It isn't her fault she got entangled with some wild feral pup." Ash’s head snapped up. His golden eyes flashed with pure rage. "You're the feral one!" Selena flinched, the color draining from her face. She pressed closer to Dion. Dion sneered, his chest puffing out with false bravado. "Shut your mouth, little mutt. This is Dark Moon territory. You don't get to run wild here." Rowan slowly lifted his gaze. Instantly, a wave of suffocating, crushing Alpha command rolled through the room. Every Dark Moon guard present dropped to their knees, choked whimpers tearing from their throats. Dion froze. His face went stark white, but he forced his spine straight, fighting the urge to submit to the Alpha King. "Your Majesty," Dion ground out through clenched teeth. "I respect you, but Jenna is a banished, wolfless rogue from my pack. She has no right to be anyone's Luna. As for this pup... who knows if she didn't just steal him?" Ice crawled up my spine. The cold in my chest had nothing to do with the winter air. Three years. For three years, I had balanced the pack ledgers. I had negotiated with the stubborn Elders. I had rationed our food through two brutal winter famines to keep his people alive. And now, with a single breath, he reduced me to a kidnapper. I met Dion's gaze squarely. "Dion, you know I would never steal a child." "I only know that you would do anything to crawl back into my bed," he spat. Selena immediately covered her mouth with a delicate gasp. "Jenna, why would you do something so desperate? If you wanted to come back, you could have just begged Dion. You shouldn't have used a child." A dry, bitter laugh scraped its way up my throat. "Beg him?" I tasted ash on my tongue. "Beg him so I can have the privilege of watching the two of you sleep in my bedroom?" Dion’s expression shuttered. "Watch your tongue, Jenna." Ash was trembling against my chest, but his small voice rang out fierce and clear. "She didn't steal me. She saved me." Tears spilled over Selena’s lower lashes, leaving perfect, glistening trails down her cheeks. "Little Prince, did she feed you something? You're so young... you can't even tell the good people from the bad." As she raised her hand to wipe her tears, the sleeve of her shawl slipped back. A silver bell bracelet gleamed against her wrist. The moment the silver caught the light, Ash’s body went completely rigid. His sharp little nails dug so deeply into my shoulder they drew blood. "Ash?" I whispered, my heart slamming against my ribs. He didn't answer. He just buried his face desperately into the curve of my neck, shaking violently. A dark, fleeting smile curved the corner of Selena’s lips before she masked it with concern. Dion seized the moment like a hunting dog tasting blood. "See that? He’s terrified of people. Jenna, what the hell did you do to him?" Rowan’s stormy eyes tracked the movement, landing dead on the silver bell. His expression was unreadable, but the air pressure in the room suddenly dropped. "Take that bell off," Rowan ordered. His voice could have frozen steel. Selena let out a pathetic whimper and shrank completely behind Dion. "I'm scared." Dion threw his arm protectively around her waist. "Your Majesty, you cannot insult my Luna just because of the ramblings of some pup with unknown origins." "She is not your Luna," I said quietly, my voice raw. "I was." Dion didn't even look at me. "You aren't anymore." Rowan stepped forward, filling the small room with his imposing presence. "If you insist on playing this game," the Alpha King murmured softly, "then we take this to the Moon Goddess Hall." Dion blinked, caught off guard. "What?" "A public trial," Rowan continued, his eyes locked on Dion. "A public inspection of his scars. A public interrogation." Selena’s sobbing choked off instantly. I tightened my arms around Ash, but dread coiled thick and heavy in my gut. Because when Dion finally looked at me, that familiar, gut-wrenching disgust was back in his eyes. "Fine," Dion sneered. "And when it's proven that you deceived the Royal Court, I want you on your knees in front of the entire pack, confessing to the world that you are a wolfless, thieving rat." Ash raised his head from my neck. His golden eyes glowed with pure, unadulterated murder. "If you make her kneel," the tiny boy growled, his voice thick with a dark, primal promise, "I'll rip your throat out."