Alpha Regret: The Luna I Rejected Has A Son For Me

Chapter 1 Iris "I will never make her my Luna," Finn said. The large hall turned quiet. Every member of the Moon Claws pack held their breath. I did not say a single word. My heart felt like it had stopped beating in my chest. I just stood there, my hands trembling at my sides, and stared at him. He looked strong and tall in his formal leather clothes, but his eyes were like ice. He had already made it clear a few days ago that he would never make me his Luna, but hearing him say it in front of everyone was a different kind of pain. I watched as he walked past me. He did not even look at me. It was as if I were a ghost or a piece of dirt on the floor. He went straight to Fiona. She stood there looking small and beautiful, her eyes wide as if she were surprised. He held her hands gently. Then, the future Alpha of our pack knelt down on one knee. His voice was steady and loud enough for everyone to hear when he spoke. "Will you be my Luna?" A few months ago The hospital room felt very small. The machines made slow, steady clicking noises that were the only sound in the room. I knelt beside Grandpa's bed and held his hands tightly. His skin felt like old paper, and he was so cold. Tears fell down my cheeks and onto the white sheets. "Listen to me, Iris," he whispered. His voice was weak, and he had to stop to catch his breath, but his eyes were full of love. "I did not make a mistake adopting you. Only you can save this pack. Only you can help Finn." I looked at him, gripping his hand harder. My chest hurt so much I could hardly breathe. I tried to hold back more tears because I wanted to be strong for him. "Grandpa…" "Promise me," he gasped, his fingers twitching in mine. I was a girl born without a name or a home. I never knew who my real family was or why they left me. Finn's grandfather, the great leader of our Moon Claws pack, was the one who found me. He adopted me when I was just a child. He brought me into his big, warm home and introduced me to Finn. I remember that day clearly. Grandpa had smiled and told me that when I grew up, I would be Finn's Luna. He said I would lead the pack beside him when he became Alpha. I believed him. But life changed very quickly. Only a few days after I arrived, Finn's mother—the queen of the pack—adopted someone else. She brought Fiona home and called her my sister. But Fiona was not a sister to me. She was brought in to compete with me for Finn's love and for the position of Luna. Grandpa watched us grow together. While the others looked at me with suspicion, he took care of me as if I were his own blood. He was the strongest Alpha I had ever met. He was a giant of a man with a kind heart. He spent years teaching me how to be strong. He taught me how to care for the people in the pack and how to stand beside Finn no matter how hard things became. Finn and I had always been close when we were children. We used to run through the woods and share our secrets. But as we got older, something changed. It felt like I was becoming invisible to him. The more I tried to talk to him, the more he pulled away. The only person he cared about now was Fiona, my stepsister. She always knew the right things to say to make him smile, while I always seemed to say the wrong thing. Then came the night that ruined everything. Grandpa had found us both drunk after a pack celebration. He was worried about us and wanted us to stop fighting, so he put us in the same room to talk things out. But we both fell asleep. The next day, we woke up together in the same bed. Finn woke up furious. He was convinced that I had planned the whole thing. He thought I had tricked Grandpa into putting us there so I could force him to marry me. Since that day, he hated me with everything in him. Every time he looked at me, I saw only disgust in his eyes. Today was my birthday. I was supposed to be happy. Grandpa had told me that morning that he was going to get me a special gift. He was so excited about it. If I had known what would happen on that road, I would have stopped him. I would have grabbed his coat and begged him to stay home. I would have told him I did not need a gift or a celebration. I just needed him. But it was already too late to go back. A truck hit his car on the way back to the pack house. The impact left him in a terrible condition. When the pack warriors found him, they said it was a miracle he was still breathing. Now, in the hospital, Grandpa placed his shaky hands on my face. He smiled weakly, his eyes losing their light. "Promise me, Iris. I have no more time. Love and take care of Finn. No matter what happens, without you, Finn will not last in this life." With those words, his hands fell away. He stopped breathing. The heart monitor turned into one long, flat sound. I screamed his name. I felt like my world had ended. I begged him not to go, shaking his shoulders as if I could wake him up from a bad dream. "Grandpa! Please! Don't leave me!" The door of the hospital room banged open. Finn ran in, his face pale and full of fear. He paused for a second when he saw the still body on the bed and my tears. But his expression changed fast. The fear turned into a hot, burning anger. He didn't come to comfort me. He grabbed me by the neck and pushed me hard against the wall. "You finally killed him!" he yelled. His voice was shaking with rage, and his grip was tight. "Are you happy now? He's dead because of you!" I looked at him, my throat feeling tight and sore. I was unable to speak. I wanted to tell him I loved Grandpa more than anyone. I wanted to say that I was hurting too. How could he say I killed the only person who ever cared for me? Just then, the door opened again. Fiona ran in. She saw Finn holding me against the wall and rushed over. She pulled Finn's hands away from me, acting like she was the peacemaker. She looked at him with soft, sad eyes and touched his arm. "Stop, Finn," she said softly. "The old man is gone now. He's already dead. Don't hurt yourself more by doing this." I looked into Finn's eyes. He had a deadly look, as if he wanted to kill me right there in the room where Grandpa had just died. I did not say a word. I just stood there, frozen against the wall, watching the man I was supposed to marry look at me with pure hatred. "Get out," he said. His voice was cold and sharp. I kept looking at him, hoping to see a tiny bit of the boy I used to know. "GET OUT!" he yelled one more time, his voice echoing in the small room. I slowly walked out of the hospital room. My legs felt like they were made of lead. The moment I stepped outside into the hallway, I broke down. I sat on the floor and cried until I couldn't breathe. The only person who ever truly cared for me was gone. How would I survive now? Days passed in a blur of pain. I moved through the pack house like a shadow. Nobody spoke to me unless they were giving me an order. Every morning I woke up before the sun was high to serve the family. I cleaned the floors, washed the dishes, and prepared the meals. I tried to stay useful even though my heart felt completely empty. I thought that if I worked hard enough, maybe they would see that I wasn't the monster Finn thought I was. One afternoon, I prepared a cup of hot tea. I walked slowly toward the Luna, Finn's mother. She was sitting on the patio, enjoying the fresh air. I stood in front of her, waiting. She was smiling and talking happily to Fiona, who sat beside her. But the moment she saw me, her smile vanished. It was like the sun went behind a cloud. "Mom, I got the tea," I said quietly. I held the cup steady, even though my hands felt weak. She stood up slowly. She looked at me with a look of deep dislike. Then she looked at the tea. She didn't take a sip. Instead, she took the cup from my hands and slowly poured the hot liquid onto the ground. The tea splashed against my shoes. "Go do it again," she said. Her voice was flat. "This time, be fast. I hate it when it's cold." I stood there, staring at the wet dirt. My face felt hot. I tried hard to hold my anger inside. I had just made the tea; I knew it was steaming hot when I handed it to her. How could she be sure it was already cold without even trying it? "Mom, please don't mind my sister," Fiona said. Her voice was sweet, but she didn't look at me. "She might be slow sometimes, but it's not her fault. She just doesn't know any better." I looked at Fiona. She acted so kind in front of the Luna and Finn, but I knew the truth. She was a black wolf in disguise. She was always smiling on the outside while she found ways to push me down when no one was looking. I did not argue. I knew it would only make things worse. I knelt down and slowly cleaned the spilled tea from the ground without saying a word. My knees hurt against the hard floor. As I turned to leave to make a new pot, Finn appeared in the doorway. He looked worn out. His eyes were dark, and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. Losing Grandpa had not been easy on him. Now that Grandpa was gone, the weight of the whole pack was on his shoulders. It was his responsibility to lead the Moon Claws to greatness. People were waiting for him to officially become Alpha, and that meant finding a Luna who would rule beside him. I tried to walk past him, keeping my head down. I didn't want another fight. But before I could take another step, his cold voice stopped me. "How dare you still think I will ever ask you to be my Luna?"