Alpha, I was yours before

run, Micah

The life of a new queen was actually… boring as hell.

My maids had painted this fantasy in my head, that I’d be following the Alpha to meetings, learning how to rule like a Luna, grilled by Elders about my capabilities. It sounded terrifying at first, but now? I would’ve taken terrifying over this soul-sucking boredom. I’ve been in the mansion for way too long and I was getting edgy.

“We can go see the gardens, my lady,” Nexxie offered sweetly one morning while brushing my hair.

I rolled my eyes. “Been there a hundred times. If I see another rose, I might scream.”

She giggled lightly. “Then maybe… take permission from the Alpha,or his Beta. Go to Ember City. See your family?”

I tensed immediately. Everyone in this mansion assumed I came from some pampered home where I was treated like royalty just because I was...pretty. They didn’t know the truth. They didn’t know how much maltreatment I suffered where I came from.

I shook my head.“No, Not now.”

My voice came out sharper than I intended. Nexxie went quiet behind me.

I said a silent prayer to the Goddess, if Dad ever laid a hand on my little brother again, I hoped he’d feel the bite of divine justice.

I sighed, trying to shift the mood. “What about the East Wing?” I asked casually. “It’s the only part of this quiet mansion I haven’t explored.”

The brush in Nexxie’s hand paused mid-stroke. For the first time since I met her, her cheerful hum vanished. Slowly, she lowered the brush and met my eyes in the mirror.

Her voice came low. “We’re not allowed there. No one is. Trespass the East Wing and you would definitely face he wrath of the Alpha”

“Why?” I leaned forward, my curiosity piqued. “What’s in there?”

“It’s been sealed off for years,” she whispered. “Long before I came here. And I’m one of the oldest maids.”

That only made me more curious.

“You know something,” I accused playfully.

She began threading my hair, but her fingers weren’t as steady now. “It was the former Luna’s quarters. His true mate. She… died. Tragic and sudden. The Alpha was broken. He shut himself away for weeks. The elders told him that for the pack’s sakes, he should put her memories behind him. Two options; to burn them or to lock them away.”

I froze.

I couldn’t imagine that kind of pain. And somehow… I could.

I thought of Carter. Of Lena. Of the vodka that helped me not cry that night. Of how it nearly burned a hole through me, like grief trying to chew its way out of my chest. Losing your mate came with an excruciating pain that could even kill a weak wolf.

“You okay, my lady?” Nexxie asked softly.

I nodded, blinking hard. “Yeah. Just... thinking.”

She finished my hair, and I stared at my reflection.

Gone was the Micah in ragged dresses with holes that were being chewed on by rats, the stink of old sweat and tears, the starved Micah. In her place sat someone new. Still me, but... heavier. In all the right ways. Solid. Beautiful, even.

I once wanted to run from all of this. But now?

Now I wanted to stay. To uncover the secrets of this mansion and what lurked underneath..

Secrets like what lay in the forbidden East Wing.

As Nexxie tidied my dresser, I asked one more question,testing the waters. “Has the Alpha found his second-chance mate?”

Her back was to me, but her hands stilled. “If he had,” she said quietly, “this mansion wouldn’t be so empty. It would echo with children’s laughter. And the East Wing... it would’ve been opened by now.”

……

The entire mansion was asleep. I couldn't. I was tossing and turning on bed, restless. That forbidden part of the mansion was calling to me. I groaned and buried my head in my pillow.

“The alpha barely likes you and you want to test his anger by going Into the one room he has sealed off himself.” Crispy warned me.

I stared at the beautiful hand carved design on the ceiling. There was this pull in my soul to morph. I decided to heed it. “Let's go for a run Micah.” Crispy whispered to me.

I agreed. I went to my walk in closet to pick some hiking gear. Outside my window was a very beautiful view of the Ember forests,and now deep in the night, it was so ethereal to look at. The moon was in full glow and Crispy was restless.

I slipped downstairs quietly. There was some chatter from the kitchen from the nightshift Omega wolves.

They all stood upright on sighting me. “My lady.” They bowed.

“I want to go out for a brief run.”

I saw the fear that shone on their faces. “My lady, you should go out with an experienced wolf. One that k owes the forests like the back of her hand. Somebody like Aurelie.”

“Rogue wolves still stalk at night, looking for their next prey” another chimed in.

“If they caught up to you, you wouldn't be able to hold them back. Especially as your wolf is untrained.”

I c****d my head at the speaker.

“Every Luna has her wolf trained my lady, the Alpha wouldn't always be around to protect you.” She continued.

I huffed. “I'll be fine. I'm not going into the deeper parts of the forests. I just need some fresh air.”

My room had suddenly started to feel suffocating. “But tell Aurelie that I was gone, and if I do not come back within twenty minutes alert the Gamma wolves.”

The Gamma wolves were the wolves that followed the alpha on his conquests.

Before they could blink, I slipped out into the cool night air. The mansion was a tower of fine glass that illuminated under the moonlight.

Once my feet touched the soft forest floor, Crispy came out and we ran through the trees, past boulders, past streams, turning and turning until we got lost.

“Crispy,” I whispered. We had come to a large bush clearing.

“Crispy,” I whispered.

She didn’t respond immediately. I could feel her though. She was stalking inside me, her eyes were narrowed, her nose was up, sniffing the brisk night wind. Then she whispered back.“Something’s here.”

I froze.

The wind carried nothing. No scent, no crunch of a branch, no whisper of danger. Here, even the night crickets were quiet. The hooting of the night owls was seized. The eerie silence made me shiver. “We should go back.” I told her.

“Listen.” Crispy urged me.

I turned slowly, listening. My heartbeat felt too loud in my ears.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“We’re not far from the east wing… but something feels… off.”

She didn’t need to say it. I could feel it too.

The pull returned. That tug from earlier, the one that started in the mansion. It was here now, stronger. But it was more than a pull now. It felt like a summon.

I should’ve turned back.

Instead, I followed it.

“Micah!” Crispy snapped, warning clear in her voice, but it was too late.

I stepped into a clearing… and that’s when I saw it. An old cabin, smelling of fine moist and decayed wood. Ivies overgrown in every c***k and rubble. No one has ever mentioned it. There was no way I would have known about it. Yet, it felt so familiar.

The tug returned. “You don't know what's in there.” Crispy warned.

“And that's why I want to find out.”

“If something looks dangerous you should run Micah. It's basic knowledge.”

“It's a harmless old cabin.” I shrugged it off, laughing. But even I knew that it wasn't.

The air was different, dense. There was a strange symbol carved above the cabin door. I couldn’t understand it, but it made Crispy go still.

I morphed back to my human form and touched the symbol. “Come home.” An ancient female voice said. It sounded tired. It sounded like my mom. Like a flash, I retrieved my hand from the symbol.

A gust of wind blew past me and the door creaked open by itself. The cabin swirled with blackness darker than night. And in it, something shapeless and inhuman moved.

Something in me screamed. It was Crispy.

“RUN!” she roared. “RUN, MICAH!”