He Blamed Me, I Rejected My Alpha

Chapter 1

The moonstone struck the frozen rock and shattered into three pieces.

The sharp c***k echoed through the night, sounding like something had finally died.

“Kieran, I’m done with you.”

My voice was calmer than I expected.

The laughter around the bonfire died instantly.

Hands froze midair, still clutching betting chips. Every wolf in the circle seemed to stop breathing.

The Night of the Eclipse was supposed to be sacred—a night when the Moon Goddess passed judgment.

And yet they had chosen this night to judge me.

Wind whipped blood-red snow across the clearing, pelting the arms scarred with endless needle marks.

For three years, every seven days without fail, I’d traveled to the black-market blood station in Silvermoon Town to sell my blood and repay Alpha Kieran’s so-called blood debt.

Silver-coated needles left punctures that never truly healed.

Three years ago, when Rogues attacked a caravan in the Northlands, Kieran, Nadia, and I were swept over an icy cliff together, all tied to the same safety rope.

When we woke up, Nadia could no longer feel her legs.

Kieran never asked me a single question.

He only said one thing.

“Nadia would never lie about something like that.”

From that moment on, I became the she-wolf responsible for ruining her life.

My sister Lila secretly started selling blood in my place.

That’s how she contracted Silverblood Syndrome.

Last night, she died alone in a drafty rental room.

Before she passed, she sent me one final text.

[Sis, stop kneeling for them.]

“Well, did I hear that right?” A female wolf wrapped in fur was the first to laugh. “Did she just say she’s done with Kieran?”

The crowd erupted.

Beta Garrett spun a betting chip engraved with a map of the Northern silver mines.

“I’ll throw in three more mines. Bet she licks every snowflake off Nadia’s boots before the night’s over.”

“I’m betting she kneels,” Gamma Theron sneered. “Alpha’s still holding her sister’s medical bills over her head.”

Kieran stood at the highest point overlooking the gathering.

The crimson glow of the Blood Moon sharpened every angle of his face, and his dark red eyes were fixed on the broken necklace at my feet.

Three years ago, beneath a full moon, he had placed that necklace around my neck and declared before the entire pack:

Sera, you are mine.

“Sera.”

The weight of an Alpha’s authority crushed the laughter into silence.

“Do you even know what you’re saying?”

“I do.”

“You’re using Lila’s medical expenses to manipulate me again.” His expression hardened. “Complete tonight’s nine-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-ninth act of atonement, and I’ll take you back to the pack. I’ll make you Luna. How long are you planning to keep this up?”

Ash, the wolf inside me, let out a low, wounded whine.

For three years she had wanted to tear these people apart.

Every time, I stopped her.

Because I was afraid Kieran would cut off Lila’s treatment.

But Lila was gone now.

“I’m not causing a scene.” I met his gaze. “Kieran, Lila died last night.”

The crowd laughed even harder.

“Last time it was her foster mother dying.”

“The time before that, it was an orphanage running out of food.”

“Now the sister’s dead too?”

I pulled out the death certificate, its edges softened by melting snow, and handed it over.

Kieran barely glanced at it before tossing it back into my arms.

“You’re getting better at lying.” He scoffed. “What, because I didn’t send the money yesterday? One day. That’s all. There’s no way she died in a single day.”

One day.

One day while Lila curled up in agony.

One day while her phone service was cut off.

One day while she screamed herself hoarse and nobody came.

And I was on the mountain, shielding his brothers from the wind and pushing Nadia’s wheelchair through the snow.

“Kneel.” Kieran grabbed my chin. “Lick the snow off Nadia’s boots and admit you were wrong.”

“Do that, and I’ll send Lila overseas for treatment immediately. We’ll hold our Bonding Ceremony as soon as we get down the mountain.”

Three years ago, I would have lost my mind waiting to hear those words.

Now all I felt was cold.

I pried his fingers off me, one by one.

“Too late.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

A message from Silvermoon Funeral Home.

Miss Sera, please come collect Lila’s ashes. She left instructions that they must be handed to you personally. She said she still owed you one trip home.

“Sera, please don’t do this.” Nadia pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders, speaking just loudly enough for everyone to hear. “Lila is still waiting for you down the mountain.”

I turned and walked toward the cliff edge.

“I’m counting to three.”

Kieran wrapped an arm around me from behind.

His body radiated heat.

“What do you want from me, Sera? Just tell me!”

“Kieran.”

I stared into the darkness beyond the cliff.

“You’re holding someone who’s already dead.”

For one brief second, he froze.

Theron burst out laughing.

“The little b***h thinks she’s leaving? When has she ever not come crawling back?”

Kieran’s grip loosened.

I pulled free and kept walking.

“Stop her!”

Nobody moved.

Every single one of them thought this was just another performance.

The hundredth one.

At the edge of the cliff, I turned back one last time and looked into those dark red eyes.

“Three years ago, I didn’t hurt Nadia.”

“I never begged for your forgiveness.”

“I was waiting for you to figure out the truth on your own.”

A smile touched my lips.

“Now Lila’s come to take me home.”

And I jumped.

The wind roared around me.

Above, the Blood Moon vanished completely into darkness.

The last thing I heard was Kieran’s voice ripping through the night.

“SERA—!”