After My Groom Betrayed Me, I Found My Alpha

My body hit the training mat with a dull thud, sending a sharp pain through my already bruised ribs. I bit my lip to keep from crying out, tasting blood as I struggled to catch my breath. The sparring circle around me blurred as tears threatened to spill.

"Get up, Omega." Isabella's voice cut through the training grounds like a whip. "Your pathetic performance is embarrassing my pack."

I pressed my palm against my side, feeling the tender spot where Kara, one of Isabella's loyal followers, had landed a particularly vicious kick during our "training session." The pain radiated through my body in hot waves. This wasn't training—it was sanctioned torture.

"I said get up!" Isabella's voice rose, drawing the attention of every wolf in the vicinity. Her perfectly manicured nails tapped impatiently against her crossed arms, her lips curled in disgust. "Or are you too weak to serve as my personal attendant?"

I forced myself to my knees, ignoring the stabbing pain in my side. Five years. Five years I had endured this treatment, all for Ryan's promise that one day we would be together officially. That one day, he would reject Isabella and claim me as his true Luna.

"She can barely stand," someone whispered from the crowd.

Isabella's cold laugh echoed across the training grounds. "Perhaps that's all we can expect from a wolf who couldn't even carry a pup to term."

The words hit harder than any physical blow. My hand instinctively moved to my flat stomach, remembering the tiny life that had once grown there—Ryan's pup—lost after Isabella had insisted I serve drinks at her birthday celebration despite my pregnancy. The wolfsbane-laced cocktail she'd forced me to sample had done its work quickly.

"Continue the drill," Isabella commanded, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction at my visible pain. "Unless you'd prefer I inform my mate about your... inadequacies."

Ryan. The thought of him gave me the strength to stand, though my legs trembled beneath me. He would be disappointed if I failed again. He needed me to stay close, to endure just a little longer until he could break free of his political mating with Isabella.

At least, that's what he'd been telling me for five years.

I squared my shoulders and faced Kara again, ignoring the sympathetic glances from a few pack members. My wolf whimpered inside me, begging for rest, for healing. I silenced her as I had countless times before.

Just a little longer, I promised her. For Ryan.

---

Night had fallen by the time Isabella finally dismissed me. My ribs screamed in protest with every step as I made my way to the pack healer's cabin, hoping to find some salve for the bruising. The lights were off—Healer Morris must have retired for the evening.

I slipped inside anyway, knowing where he kept the basic remedies. My fingers closed around a small jar of arnica salve, and I tucked it into my pocket. I would return it tomorrow, but tonight I needed relief if I was to serve Isabella at breakfast.

As I made my way back through the main pack house, I passed by Ryan's quarters. Light spilled from beneath his door, along with the sound of male laughter. My heart lifted at the sound—it had been days since I'd seen him alone. Perhaps tonight...

I slowed my steps, drawn to his voice like a moth to flame. Then I heard my name.

"Grace still believes it, man. Five years and she's still waiting." Ryan's voice was thick with amusement. "You should see how she looks at me when Isabella isn't around—like I'm her fucking savior or something."

My blood turned to ice in my veins.

"You're cruel, Alpha," came Leo's voice, his tone admiring rather than accusatory. "But I get it. Why give up the best of both worlds? Isabella's connections and Grace's...devotion."

"Devotion." Ryan snorted. "That's one word for it. Easiest wolf I've ever handled. Feed her some bullshit about being my true mate, and she'll endure anything. Even raising Isabella's pups someday, probably."

The jar of salve slipped from my suddenly numb fingers, landing silently on the plush carpet. Five years. Five years of humiliation, of serving as an Omega when I was born a Beta, of losing our child, of enduring Isabella's cruelty—all for a lie.

"When are you going to tell her?" another voice asked.

"Tell her what? That I'm never giving up the Moonstone Pack connection for some Silver Creek nobody? Never. She's useful where she is."

I backed away from the door, my heart shattering into a thousand pieces. My wolf howled in anguish inside me, the sound echoing only in my mind as I fled down the corridor, down the servants' stairs, to my tiny room in the basement of the pack house.

I collapsed onto my narrow bed, finally allowing the tears to fall. My wolf paced and clawed inside me, demanding release, demanding we run far from this place of betrayal. For the first time in five years, I didn't silence her.

Instead, as dawn's first light crept through my small window, I reached for my phone with trembling fingers and dialed a number I'd been avoiding for years.

"Dad?" My voice cracked. "It's Grace. I'll do it. I'll accept the alliance mating with the Northern Ridge Alpha."