The Alpha’s Regret

SERA The sting burned across my cheek, so sharp and sudden that for a moment I didn’t even register what had happened. I stumbled back, my palm flying to the skin that Rhys—my Rhys—had just struck. The gasp that tore from my throat was drowned by the murmurs of the crowd gathering around us. “Rhys,” I whispered, my voice breaking as my eyes searched his face, desperate for something—anything—that resembled the man who had held me only hours ago, the man whose lips had claimed mine, whose body had pressed me into the mattress like I was the only thing keeping him alive. But the man in front of me wasn’t that Rhys. His eyes were cold, stripped of warmth, stripped of the tenderness I thought I had glimpsed in fleeting moments. “Shut the hell up, Sera,” he barked, his hand gripping my arm like a vice. He dragged me forward through the sea of bodies, and my heart hammered as the whispers thickened into words. “Traitor.” “Whore.” “Cheated on him.” “What?” My voice cracked as I twisted in his hold, trying to pull free, trying to make sense of what was happening. “What are you saying? I didn’t—I would never—” But he wasn’t listening. Rhys wasn’t even looking at me as he shoved me into the center of the courtyard where the whole pack had gathered. And that was when I saw him. My father. Chained. On his knees. His wrists bound in silver, his face battered and streaked with blood. “Father,” I choked out, stumbling forward, only to be yanked back by the guards flanking me. “What is this? Why is he—” The pack elder standing beside Rhys unrolled a parchment, his voice loud. “Kael of the Eastern Territories, you have been charged with treason against this pack. Evidence has been presented of your collusion with rogue factions and your intention to overthrow Alpha Rhys.” “No!” I screamed, shaking my head so violently that tears blurred my vision. “No, that’s a lie! My father would never—” The elder ignored me. He lifted another sheet, this one stained with inked sketches, copied images. “And his daughter, Sera, betrothed to Alpha Rhys, has been caught in infidelity. Proof has been provided of her lying with one of the guards.” My knees buckled. “What? No. No, that’s not true. Rhys, please, you know me, you know I would never—” Rhys’s gaze finally landed on me then, and the ice in his eyes pierced deeper than any blade. “Enough. You’ve humiliated me for the last time.” The crowd erupted, jeers and snarls echoing around us. “w***e! Traitor’s spawn! She dishonored him!” My father’s voice cut through the noise. “Sera.” I snapped my head toward him, and my heart tore at the sight of his eyes, clear even through the blood and pain. He didn’t look at Rhys, didn’t look at the crowd. He looked only at me. “They’ll release you,” he said, his voice barely carrying over the roar. “When they do, you run. Do you understand? You run and you never come back.” “No!” I cried, jerking against the guards’ grip. “No, I’m not leaving you. I can fix this, I can prove—” “Sera!” His shout was raw, filled with something final, something that shook me to my bones. His eyes softened for the briefest moment, the way they did when I was a little girl and he’d tuck me in by the fire. “Live. That’s all I ask. Live, please.” And then the sword came down. One brutal s***h across his back, so fast I barely saw the steel move. Blood sprayed, hot and metallic, splattering across my face, my gown, my hands. My scream ripped the air apart as I lunged forward, my knees hitting the dirt, trying to reach him, trying to hold him, but the guards shoved me back. “Father!” I sobbed, clawing at the ground as his body collapsed forward, the life spilling out of him with each breath. “No, please, no—” My hands were slick with his blood as I fought to cradle him, but they yanked me away, dragging me backward while I screamed and kicked and begged. My throat was raw, my chest split open, but no one listened. No one cared. The villagers, my people, the ones who had smiled at me, bowed to me, now spat at my feet. Their voices rose above my cries. “Traitor’s daughter. Cheater. Disgrace.” I looked at Rhys then, praying for something, some sign that this wasn’t real, that the boy who had kissed me breathless hours ago wasn’t the same man condemning me now. “I found my mate,” he declared, and his hand reached out—toward Althea. She stepped forward from the shadows and my stomach twisted so violently I thought I might vomit. “Althea is my true bond,” Rhys continued, his voice carrying across the courtyard. “Because of the previous betrothal, I will not spill Sera’s blood. But she is no longer welcome in this pack. She will leave. Today.” The guards shoved me hard, and I stumbled to the ground, my knees tearing against stone. I clawed at the dirt, at anything, my sobs choking me as I tried to rise. “Rhys,” I whispered, my voice shredded. “Please. Please, you know this isn’t true. You know me.” But his gaze didn’t flicker. He had already turned away, his hand brushing Althea’s arm as though I had never existed. “No,” I cried, the word tearing from somewhere deep inside me, breaking something I didn’t know could be broken. “Don’t do this. Don’t you dare—” They shoved me again, and the crowd parted as I staggered through them, their eyes filled with contempt, their whispers like venom dripping into my ears. I ran. I didn’t know where, didn’t know how, only that my lungs burned and my body trembled and my father’s blood was still on my skin. My gown clung to me, heavy, sticky, suffocating. My sobs echoed into the night as the trees blurred past, branches clawing at my arms, my legs giving way beneath me. “Rhys,” I whispered again, broken, hollow. “I will ruin you. If it’s the last thing I do, I will ruin you.” The world tilted, darkness swallowing me whole. And then there was nothing.