My Mate is the Broken Alpha

"Sister-in-law?" Lydia's laughter was a sharp, grating sound that shattered the quiet. The wine glass in her hand tilted, a drop of crimson splashing onto the hem of her designer dress, but her eyes were fixed purely on me. "Winnie, have you been rotting in that old hunting cabin for so long that you've forgotten how things work in Silver Pine?" Arthur sat on the Alpha's throne, his broad hands resting on the carved armrests. His expression was a wall of ice. No one in the hall dared to breathe, let alone agree with me. Beside me, Aiden's hand shifted against mine. His palm was calloused, the skin rough and freezing cold against my own, but his grip was unyielding. He didn't let go. Arthur leaned forward, a dark, arrogant smirk playing on his lips. "It's been three years, Winnie. I see you've finally learned how to use pack laws to try and scare me." I pulled Aiden forward with me, taking a deliberate step closer to the dais. "I'm not trying to scare you," I said, my voice steady despite the frantic beating of my heart. "I'm reminding you. The Council Enforcer is right there." I nodded toward the side table where the Enforcer sat. "The mate decree is still valid. According to the Silver Pine Codex, I am your brother's legal mate." Lydia leaned her head against Arthur's shoulder, her smile sickeningly sweet. "But your mate doesn't even have the right to attend a formal pack banquet. A runt and a wolfless omega. You two really are a match made in heaven." She lifted her hand to cover her mouth in a mock gasp, deliberately letting the silver-moon bracelet slide down her wrist. It was the Luna's bracelet. The one that was supposed to be mine three years ago. Arthur didn't stop her. He didn't even flinch. The Enforcer sat at the side table, a silver-gray Council badge pinned over his heart. He remained silent, his pen hovering over his notepad. I watched the Pack Elders exchange knowing glances out of the corner of my eye. They were waiting for me to back down. To cower. And three years ago? I would have. I had backed down all the way to the drafty, rotting hunting cabin at the edge of the territory. Backed down to paying extortionate "protection fees" every month just to breathe pack air. Backed down to watching Aiden limp on his ruined leg just to collect our rations of moldy bread. But today? Today, I couldn't back down. Not anymore. Fight. The word was just a whisper in my mind—a ghost of the wolf I didn't have—but it was enough. Arthur lazily flicked his fingers. A pack guard immediately stepped forward, shoving a rolled-up parchment against my chest. "Since you're so obsessed with that decree," Arthur bit out, "let's clear the air in front of everyone." He unrolled a copy of the parchment on his knee, his voice utterly flat. "That reassignment decree from three years ago? It was nothing more than a temporary placement document. A charity case so you wouldn't freeze to death in rogue territory. It holds zero legal weight as a mate bond." My nails bit into Aiden's hand. He was twisting his humiliation into an act of mercy. Lydia chimed in immediately. "You should be thanking Arthur, Winnie. If it weren't for him, a wolfless burden like you would have been chased out by the border patrols years ago." I turned my gaze to her, my blood boiling. Thank him? "Should I thank you, too?" I asked softly. "Should I thank you for sending your guards to our cabin every month to steal half our meager rations?" Lydia's smile slipped, just a fraction. "That's a protection fee. Silver Pine keeps you safe. You can't expect to live off the pack for free." Aiden's voice broke the tension. It was low, raspy from disuse, but rang crystal clear across the silent hall. "The firewood at the cabin? I chopped it," Aiden said. "The meat? Winnie traded her healing salves for it. We haven't taken a single silver coin from the Alpha's treasury." Arthur's gaze snapped to Aiden, his aura flaring violently. "You don't have the right to speak in this hall." Aiden's grip on his wooden crutch tightened until his knuckles turned white. His bad leg was trembling, struggling to support his weight. I could feel him leaning more heavily against my side, but he kept his chin high. Snickers echoed from the crowd. "Look at the crippled wolf trying to protect his little wife," someone jeered. "Sister-in-law? She really has some nerve." "Wolfless trash dreaming she's royalty." The severed mate mark on my chest burned. It was a vicious, phantom agony—the permanent backlash of Arthur rejecting me. Every time he was near, the wound in my soul throbbed like it had just been torn open. Lydia saw the color drain from my face, and her eyes lit up with vicious amusement. "What's wrong, Winnie? Lost your voice? You were playing the high-and-mighty sister-in-law so well just a minute ago." Arthur leaned back against his throne. "Get on your knees, Winnie. Admit that your relationship with Aiden is invalid. The Council Enforcer is right here. If you submit, I might just grant you a spot as an Omega Healer." The hall went dead silent. A healer's spot. Three years ago, that offer would have broken me. A wolfless omega had no combat value. Being a healer meant food. It meant not having to apologize when the pack's pups shoved me into the mud for fun. But for the last three years? Aiden had pushed his bowl of meat stew across the table to me, drinking only broth himself. When the backlash of the severed bond dropped me to the floor in screaming agony, he had used what little spiritual energy his broken body had left to soothe my pain, ignoring the pack's mockery. I stared right into Arthur's cold eyes. "And if I refuse to kneel?" Arthur's jaw clenched. He flicked his hand again. A guard tossed a rusty iron key onto the marble floor. It clattered against the stone. The key to the old hunting cabin. "Then neither of you is going back there tonight," Arthur snarled. Aiden shifted forward, half a step in front of me. The tip of his crutch slammed against the floor. "You can banish me, Arthur," he growled, "but you cannot banish her." Lydia clapped her hands together, a delicate, mocking sound. "Oh, how touching! Too bad Winnie hasn't even managed to give you a pup in three years. Even the Moon Goddess thinks you two are a pathetic joke." The laughter in the hall erupted, louder and crueler than before. Aiden's shoulders went rigid. I tightened my grip on his hand, grounding him. Arthur glared at me, his patience completely shredded. "I'm giving you one last chance, Winnie. Kneel, and stay in the Pack House. Or stand there, and roll out of Silver Pine with that crippled deadweight." At the side table, the Council Enforcer flipped a page in his ledger, his pen pausing in mid-air. Every wolf in the room was holding their breath, waiting for me to break. I slowly bent down, picking up the rusty cabin key. I wiped the dust off the cold metal with my thumb and closed my fist around it. "The hunting cabin is the home Aiden and I built for the last three years," I said, my voice ringing out clearly. "It's not some dog kennel you graciously allowed us to sleep in." Arthur's face turned thunderous. I met his glare head-on. "You want to banish us? Fine. But first, the Council Enforcer needs to read the exact wording of that reassignment decree you forced me to sign three years ago." Beside Arthur, Lydia's posture stiffened. Her smug smile finally vanished. Arthur slammed his hand down over the rolled-up parchment on his knee, a lethal warning flashing in his eyes. "Don't push it, Winnie," he warned, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl. "Don't destroy the last way out you have."