
Chapter 1 of Betrayed by the Alpha, I Fought Cancer and Rose Stronger
Nine months into my pregnancy, I walked straight into my mate, Lucian Blackwood, and his lover inside the pack’s infirmary.
Right after I collected my medical report, I saw the two of them together, quietly celebrating the impending birth of their pup.
Sabrina put on a show of concern. “Alpha Lucian, you really shouldn’t stay here with me. If Vivienne hears about this, she’ll be hurt. She’s expecting too. Don’t you worry she’ll be upset?”
Lucian let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “If she makes trouble, I’ll just sever the bond.”
If Lucian no longer wanted our family, then I would rather raise my little wolf without a father than remain in this mockery of a union.
I dialed my father, who was living beyond our territory.
“Dad, I’ve decided. I’m ending the bond. I’m taking my pup and moving in with you.”
After the call, I arranged the earliest flight I could get. Two weeks—just two weeks—and I would be out of Lucian’s life forever.
So then why… did that same wolf appear at my wedding later on, eyes bloodshot, begging me to return to him?
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Nine months into my pregnancy—so close to my due date that my wolf was restless beneath my skin—I picked up my latest prenatal report from the pack infirmary. And right as I stepped into the hallway, I froze.
There was my mate, Lucian Blackwood… attending a prenatal check-up with Sabrina Cross, the she-wolf who had once been his first love.
Sabrina clung to his arm, her voice soft with false worry. “Lucian, you shouldn’t be accompanying me like this. If Vivienne hears about it, she’ll be devastated. She’s almost ready to deliver, too. Aren’t you even a little afraid she’ll take it the wrong way?” she whispered, though her eyes held a glint of triumph she didn’t bother to hide from me.
Lucian bent down, pressing a gentle kiss to her stomach as if it were the most natural thing in the world. His tone was icy as he replied, “She doesn’t know I’m here, and I have no intention of telling her. Her wolf has been overly sensitive lately—maybe it’s the hormones—but her moods swing for no reason. I don’t want her stirring up trouble for you.”
Sabrina’s brows pinched together. “We can’t keep meeting like this. Vivienne’s carrying your pup, too. If she uncovers the truth, I’m scared she’ll—”
“There’s nothing to fear,” Lucian cut in flatly. “It’s my responsibility to be here. This child is mine as well. If Vivienne decides to lash out, I’ll break the mating vow and end the bond.”
Hearing my mate talk about me as if I were an inconvenience, a burden he was eager to discard, made the blood in my veins turn to ice.
Since he had already chosen to throw us away, then I would take control of my own fate first. I would leave him—leave this pack—and raise my pup without a father who clearly didn’t want us.
A bitter smile ghosted across my lips as something in me finally snapped. I stepped aside, pulled out my phone, and called my father who lived outside the territory.
“Dad,” I said quietly, though my throat burned. “I’ve made my decision. I’m ending the bond with Lucian. I’ll take the baby and move in with you.”
“I’m relieved you finally see things clearly,” my father said, voice steady through the line. “The Blackwoods might hold status in their region, but our family stands firmly on its own. If staying in that pack only wounds you, then leave him. Start over with your child.”
“You’re right,” I breathed.
When the call ended, I immediately booked the earliest possible flight.
My mind drifted back to just that morning—when I had asked Lucian if he could accompany me to my own appointment. He had told me he was too busy with pack work. Yet here he was, not working at all… but standing beside Sabrina, proudly attending her check-up.
Nine months pregnant, and not once had Lucian set foot in the infirmary with me.
Three months ago, Sabrina’s engagement had fallen apart, and since the day she returned to the territory, Lucian had been sneaking off to meet her again and again. After her return, the time Lucian and I spent alone had nearly vanished.
It was humiliating how quickly he responded to her. Even a single message from Sabrina—just a brief call or a tiny text—and he would abandon whatever he was doing and hurry to her side.
He even embraced her openly in front of me, without a shred of shame.
I had confronted him more than once, but every time, he brushed me aside with the same rehearsed excuses: Sabrina was struggling, she needed help, he owed her support. According to him, all of his attention was simply to help her “heal.”
And when Sabrina turned out to be pregnant, Lucian acted as though it was his moral duty—his obligation as a wolf and as a man—to stay by her side.
He conveniently forgot one thing: I was pregnant, too. And I was further along.
Between the two of us, I was the one who needed care—yet he gave it all to her.
For the longest time, I believed the pup Sabrina carried belonged to him. I tried to ask him gently, carefully, indirectly. I even told him that if he no longer loved me, he needed to be honest.
But he always shut me down—snapping, impatient, refusing to discuss it. And the single time I dared to ask whose pup Sabrina was carrying, he exploded.
He insisted again and again that I was overthinking, that I lacked trust, until I forced myself to believe him.
I told myself he was simply being kind. That he wasn’t falling out of love with me.
But today shattered every illusion. Sabrina’s child had always been his.
They had been hiding their affair for gods know how long, and I… I had been nothing but their convenient cover.
When Lucian brought up divorcing me, Sabrina’s expression—barely a flicker—shifted with unmistakable satisfaction behind her carefully crafted mask.
“I never wanted to take you away from Vivienne,” she murmured, voice thin with forced guilt. “But if my fiancé hadn’t abandoned me, none of this would’ve happened. I came back to this pack with nowhere to turn. You were the only one I could rely on, Lucian. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”
Tears welled in her eyes, shimmering like she’d practiced it before. Lucian immediately pulled her into his arms, holding her as though she were something fragile he needed to protect.
“I told you, Sabrina,” he whispered into her hair. “I’ll look after you. If it weren’t for what happened between us back then, I wouldn’t have survived it.” He paused, then exhaled. “You saved me once. Taking care of you now is the least I can do.”
He smoothed her hair with a gentleness he had never given me. “Vivienne is my mate, so she should understand. And even if she doesn’t? I’m still staying by your side.”
Moments later, the pack doctor stepped out of the exam room, catching sight of them wrapped together. She smiled warmly at Sabrina. “You’re very fortunate, Mrs. Blackwood. Your mate never misses an appointment and he treats you so attentively.”
Sabrina blushed, ducking her head, and Lucian nodded proudly as though he deserved praise.
I watched them, hands curling into fists so tightly my nails broke skin.
Just two more weeks. Two more weeks, and I would be gone from Lucian Blackwood’s life forever.

















