Chapter 3: The choice I made
1066 Words
(Liam’s POV)
The night should have ended in celebration.
Instead, it tasted like ash.
I stood on the balcony of the Alpha quarters, hands braced against the stone railing, staring into the dark forest beyond the pack lands. The moon hung low and pale now, no longer blood-red, as if even it wanted to forget what had happened beneath its watch.
The pack was still celebrating somewhere below music, laughter, cheers drifting faintly upward but none of it reached me.
Because my chest hurt.
Not a sharp pain.
Not a wound.
An ache.
Low. Persistent. Unwelcome.
I clenched my jaw and inhaled deeply, drawing strength from the night air. I had done the right thing. That was what mattered. An Alpha could not afford hesitation or sentimentality. The Blood Moon Pack needed a strong Luna, one respected by the council and accepted by the higher ranks.
Not an omega.
And yet…
My mind betrayed me, pulling up an image I had not invited.
Silver-grey eyes.
Wide. Shattered.
The way she hadn’t begged.
I growled under my breath and straightened. Enough. Weakness came in many forms, and reflection was one of them. I had acted according to pack law, according to reason.
So why did my chest tighten every time I thought of her standing there alone?
Footsteps approached behind me. I sensed her before I heard her.
Selena.
She slipped an arm around my waist, her body warm and familiar. “You disappeared,” she said softly. “The pack is asking for their Alpha.”
“I needed air,” I replied.
She tilted her head, studying my face. “You did what you had to do tonight. The council will approve. Everyone saw it.”
“Yes,” I said.
She smiled, clearly pleased, and rested her head against my shoulder. “You looked strong.”
I didn’t answer.
Because strength hadn’t felt like strength tonight.
It had felt like loss.
Without another word, I gently disengaged her arm and stepped away. Selena frowned slightly but said nothing as I turned back to the forest, dismissing her with a silent authority she was used to obeying.
When she left, the silence closed in again.
I closed my eyes.
And then,
Pain struck.
I sucked in a sharp breath as something clenched around my chest, fierce and sudden, like invisible claws digging deep beneath my ribs. I staggered back a step, confusion flaring through me.
“What the—”
The sensation pulsed once. Twice.
Then faded.
I pressed my palm against my heart, breathing steadily until the world stopped swaying. That had not been normal. I had fought wars. Endured wounds that would cripple other wolves.
This was different.
This was… personal.
I knew that feeling.
The bond.
I stared at my hand, memories flooding back unbidden the brief moment during the ceremony when the air had shifted, when my instincts had roared to life without permission.
Mate.
I had felt it.
I had ignored it.
Because it didn’t make sense.
She was an omega. Quiet. Unnoticed. Fragile.
Not Luna material.
Not for my pack.
And yet…
I had known her longer than I cared to admit.
She had grown up on the edges of the Blood Moon lands, always keeping her head low, always working harder than necessary. She rarely spoke unless spoken to. I couldn’t recall her ever meeting my gaze directly.
Except once.
Years ago, when she had looked at me with those strange silver-grey eyes during a patrol gathering. Something had flickered in her expression hope? Longing? before she’d looked away quickly.
I had forgotten it.
Or thought I had.
The ache returned, dull but insistent.
I turned sharply, fighting the urge to pace. “It’s over,” I muttered to myself. “The bond is broken.”
So why didn’t it feel like it?
Sleep eluded me.
When dawn arrived, it brought no peace.
At the morning council meeting, I sat stiffly in my chair while elders discussed alliances, upcoming hunts, and ceremonial plans. Selena stood beside me, poised and elegant, her presence drawing approving nods.
I watched her smile, respond, command attention.
And still
My thoughts drifted.
To the omega.
No one mentioned her name.
No one asked what became of her.
As if rejection had erased her existence.
Something about that unsettled me more than it should have.
When the meeting ended, I dismissed the elders quickly and headed for the training grounds, desperate to shake the restlessness crawling beneath my skin.
I pushed myself harder than usual sparring match after sparring match until sweat soaked through my shirt and my muscles screamed. The wolves watched with wide eyes, unwilling to challenge their Alpha further.
Finally, I stopped, chest heaving.
And saw her.
She stood near the edge of the grounds, barely noticeable among the lower-ranked wolves head bowed, shoulders tense, a faint bruise darkening one cheek.
My chest clenched violently.
Bruise?
My gaze snapped to her face before I could stop myself.
Silver-grey eyes lifted slowly and met mine.
The world seemed to still.
There was no pleading in her gaze.
No hope.
Only something cold. Wounded. Resolute.
She looked… changed.
For a heartbeat, something deep inside me surged instinct screaming, recognition roaring louder than reason.
Mate.
The ache flared again, sharper this time.
She broke eye contact first.
And walked away.
A strange emptiness followed in her walk, like the absence of something vital I had never known I needed until now.
“Alpha?”
Selena’s voice pulled me back.
I turned toward her, forcing control back into my posture. “What is it?”
She gestured subtly in the direction the omega had gone. “Is there a problem?”
“No,” I said immediately.
Too quickly.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, suspicion flickering beneath her composed expression. “Good. Because the pack is watching closely now. You don’t want confusion.”
Confusion.
That was one word for it.
That night, alone again, I stood by the window, haunted by silver-grey eyes that refused to leave my mind.
I had chosen strength over instinct.
Duty over destiny.
And yet the bond had not vanished.
It had merely been wounded.
I curled my fingers slowly, unease settling deep in my gut.
For the first time since becoming Alpha, I wondered
What if the mistake I made last night was not choosing her?
But rejecting her?
- Writer
