Chosen for a Cursed Alpha

“Zora, you must accept the bond with that cursed Alpha Elias in place of my daughter. This is what you owe the Greyfen pack. You have no choice.” “I will.” Luna Cordelia, my foster mother, gasped in disbelief at my answer. On the screen, her weathered face turned ashen, her eyes wide and blinking in stunned silence. “What did you say?” Of course she was shocked. Everyone in Northreach, the largest werewolf territory, knew how hopelessly I’d loved Alpha Severin Rook. From the first moment I saw him, I was lost. For years, I was his devoted omega, surrendering my future, my pride, everything for a bond that was never truly mine. This alliance was nothing new. I’d turned it down countless times, always for Severin, hoping he’d see my loyalty and finally choose me. Cordelia never imagined I’d agree now, not to a stranger who had already been trapped in wolf form for three years, unable to shift back to human form. After all the silent torment I’d endured, a strange, heavy calm washed over me. I was too tired to fight anymore. I needed an escape, so I repeated, “I’ll do it.” When Cordelia realized I meant it, she exhaled in relief. But suspicion quickly sharpened her voice again, slicing through the brief softness. “One month from now, the Thorncrown pack will hold the bonding ceremony between you and their Alpha. They’ve chosen the blood moon, and the date is final. Someone will come to escort you to the ritual. I’ve already accepted their offering of silver and protection treaties. This is what you owe the Greyfen pack for taking you in as a rogue pup, and there’s no changing it now. If you dare go back on your word or cause trouble, there will be consequences.” “I won’t,” I answered coldly, my wolf stirring restlessly beneath my skin. “The Thorncrown pack is powerful, even if their Alpha is cursed. I trust their offering was generous enough, considering my origins. I came to you as a lone pup from the ruins of the Starfall pack, and you raised me for sixteen years. Now I’ll take your daughter’s place and bond with their Alpha. That settles my debt to the Greyfen pack. From now on, we owe each other nothing.” With that, I ended the call and switched my phone to silent, shutting out any chance of her or anyone else reaching me. Alone in the small cabin Severin had given me, tucked away at the edge of his territory and far from the others, I found myself reopening the pack news. As if witnessing the ceremony firsthand hadn’t been enough, now I could replay my humiliation from every possible angle. The announcement was everywhere, accompanied by photos and videos of Alpha Severin Rook’s bonding ceremony with Vienne Calder. It was the most discussed story across the werewolf territories. In the images, they stood beneath the sacred Moonheart Oak, surrounded by the same pack members I had stood among as they vowed to share one soul for eternity. The bond mark on Vienne’s neck glowed in the moonlight, bold and unashamed. The whole werewolf community celebrated, showering them with blessings, delighted that the childhood sweethearts had finally sealed their fate. Everyone except me. Because Severin had been my Alpha, the wolf I had loved with every fiber of my being. I had made sure he knew it through everything I had done since the moment he walked into my life. Four years ago, he had been poisoned with wolfsbane during a rogue attack. His wolf had nearly died, and the proud Rook family had written him off as weak, already searching for his replacement. Not only that, his supposed childhood sweetheart, Vienne, had fled to the human city, claiming she couldn’t handle being mated to a damaged Alpha. When the pack tormented me for being an orphaned rogue, treating me as less than human, Severin pulled me from that darkness. From that day, my heart beat only for him. He became my reason to survive. I had loved him in secret for so long. On that freezing winter night, when wolfsbane poisoning nearly drove him to the edge, I was the one who searched for him, found him, and brought him back to my cabin. I did everything to heal him, pulling his wolf back from the brink of madness, step by step. I endured his outbursts in silence, knowing he was lost. I hunted for ancient remedies, bargained with witch healers, even offered my own life force to strengthen his wolf. I learned of a powerful witch in Dawnreach who could purge the wolfsbane for good. To pay her, I sold my blood to vampires and ran messages through dangerous rogue lands. I earned three broken ribs and scars that still throbbed in the cold. I suffered endlessly, but after two years, I finally scraped together enough for the cleansing ritual. It worked. His wolf became stronger than ever. Severin kissed me that night and promised he would claim me as his mate, that he would never let me suffer alone again, and that we would build a pack together. I believed our hardships were finally over. From then on, I imagined us running together beneath every full moon. I never expected it all to crumble the moment Vienne returned to the pack and took everything from me without even trying. Rumor had it that hunters had attacked Vienne, leaving her dying from silver poisoning. How convenient. Her final wish was to complete the mating bond with Severin before her wolf faded forever. According to everyone who defended him, he couldn’t bear to watch his childhood friend suffer. Apparently, he had developed selective amnesia, forgetting that she hadn’t given a damn about him when he needed her. Then he went a step further and gave Vienne the ceremony I had spent six months helping him plan. Vienne wore the ritual dress I’d sewn with traditional pack symbols, flaunting it in front of me while I gritted my teeth and watched in silence. She also wore the mating collar Severin had commissioned from the pack’s silversmith, the silver gleaming against her pale skin. Blinking through blurred vision and hot tears, I noticed a pendant hanging beside her mating collar. I recognized it instantly. It was the only thing I had left from my birth pack, a moonstone pendant that had belonged to my mother. I had lost it the night I saved Severin from wolfsbane madness. I had mourned its loss but convinced myself Severin mattered more. He once told me he’d found it and promised to return it on my eighteenth birthday, when I became an adult in the pack. I waited patiently, like a fool, believing him. But now, simply because Vienne had admired it and wanted it, he had given it to her instead. Suddenly, I realized there was no point in loving an Alpha like Severin. I didn’t howl for him. I didn’t beg him to reconsider our bond or demand that he acknowledge everything I had sacrificed for him over the years. He didn’t want to acknowledge me, and I wouldn’t acknowledge him either. I simply lit the candle on my small birthday cake and watched it burn down, the flame shrinking with every passing moment. The sweet scent of frosting and vanilla soured in the empty cabin, mirroring my love for Severin. It had withered overnight, leaving only cold ash behind. It was nearly dawn when Severin finally returned to the cabin. When he saw me sitting at my small dining table, my eyes red from crying after staying awake all night, his jaw tightened. Even in the dim light, his Alpha presence was overwhelming. But I refused to bow to him anymore. I was truly done with him. “Why haven’t you slept?” I ignored his question and said steadily, “Severin, I’m ending whatever this was between us. Tell Vienne to return my mother’s pendant as soon as possible.” Severin’s eyes flashed gold as his wolf rose to the surface. From the way his jaw tightened, I knew he understood. He must have assumed I’d seen the bonding announcement and was wounded by his rejection. His contempt for jealous omegas was no secret. He treated them as nuisances who did nothing but cling to him and demand his attention. Still, nothing in his behavior toward me had ever suggested he intended to cut me out of his life completely. His voice softened, his Alpha authority reaching for me in an attempt to soothe me. “Don’t be upset. I didn’t forget your birthday. This is for you.” He opened an elegant black velvet box in front of me. Inside lay a silver chain with a rare blue moonstone pendant.