The hallway to the Alpha’s study used to be my sanctuary. It was where Maddox and I would review pack treaties late into the night, our legs tangled together under the heavy oak desk. Now, standing before the familiar mahogany door, I felt like a trespasser in my own life.
I reached for the handle, my fingers trembling slightly. I needed my personal documents—my birth certificate, the deed to the small cabin my grandmother left me. If I was going to leave, I needed a way out.
Locked.
The metal mechanism didn't budge. I jiggled it again, frustration rising in my throat. It had never been locked before.
"Looking for something?"
The voice was smooth, like velvet wrapped around a jagged rock. I turned to see Daphne leaning against the doorframe of the adjacent room—the nursery. My nursery.
She looked different than she had three years ago. Her posture was straighter, her chin held high with an arrogance that mimicked an Alpha’s. A strange, pulsating pressure radiated from her—an aura. But it felt wrong. An Alpha’s aura is like the sun, warm and commanding. Hers felt like static electricity, prickly and synthetic. I could smell the faint, bitter undertone of herbs beneath her heavy perfume.
"I need my papers, Daphne," I said, keeping my voice steady despite the hollowness in my chest where my wolf should have been growling. "Open the door."
She laughed, a tinkling sound that grated on my nerves. "Oh, Maya. You really don't get it, do you? That's the Alpha's office now. Private pack business only. And you... well, you're just a guest."
She pushed off the wall and sauntered toward me. "Besides, we're busy redecorating. Maddox and I need the space."
My gaze flickered to the open door behind her. The soft yellow walls I had painted for Seven were gone, covered in a garish royal blue. The crib was new.
"Redecorating?" The word tasted like ash.
"For the future," she said, placing a hand on her flat stomach. The gesture was possessive, deliberate. "Maddox wants a big family. He needs strong pups. Pups that won't... break."
The implication slammed into me. She was talking about replacing Seven. Replacing me.
"You're disgusting," I whispered.
Daphne's smile vanished. She stepped closer, invading my personal space, letting that artificial aura crash against my defenseless human senses. It made me nauseous. "Careful, sister. In this pack, Omegas don't speak to their Luna that way. Be grateful I let you stay in the guest wing instead of the kennels."
She brushed past me, her shoulder checking mine hard enough to make me stumble. "Don't be late for the Run. Maddox hates it when the help is tardy."
***
The weekly Pack Run was a sacred tradition. It was when the pack bonded, running as one organism through the forest, the Alpha and Luna leading the charge.
Today, I stood on the muddy sidelines, shivering in a thin windbreaker. Around me, the Omegas—wolves who had lost their rank or were too weak to hunt—shuffled their feet, keeping their eyes on the ground. This was my place now.
A horn blew, signaling the start.
A massive black wolf burst from the tree line—Maddox. His fur was as dark as a moonless night, his muscles rippling with power. My heart lurched. Even after everything, seeing his wolf form made my soul ache for the connection I had lost.
But he wasn't alone. Right beside him ran a sleek, sandy-colored wolf. Daphne. She wasn't large or particularly fast, but Maddox slowed his pace for her, adjusting his stride so they ran flank-to-flank. At one point, he nudged her shoulder with his snout, a gesture of pure affection.
The pack followed them, a sea of fur and muscle, howling their loyalty. They didn't look at me. They looked at her.
"Maya."
I stiffened. My parents stood behind me. My mother wore a scowl that deepened the lines around her mouth, and my father wouldn't even meet my eyes.
"Mom," I said, hope flaring briefly. "Did you see them? He's... he's parading her around like—"
"Like his mate," my mother cut in sharply. "Which she essentially is."
I stared at her, stunned. "I am his mate. I am your daughter."
"You are wolfless, Maya," my father muttered, kicking at a tuft of grass. "You're an embarrassment. We have a standing in this pack. Daphne has secured our family's position. Don't... don't ruin this for us."
"Ruin it?" My voice cracked. "She stole my life! She's lying to everyone!"
"She stepped up when you were too weak to wake up!" my mother hissed, grabbing my arm. Her grip was bruising. "Do not cause a scene. Do not try to reclaim a status you are too broken to hold. If you love this family, you will stay invisible."
They walked away to join the elders, leaving me standing in the mud, watching the man I loved nuzzle the woman who had destroyed me.
***
I couldn't breathe in that house anymore. Every corner held a memory that Daphne had tainted. I needed it to end. The bond, the pain, the hope—I had to cut it all out.
That evening, I went to Elder Marcus. He was the keeper of the old ways, the one who oversaw the sacred ceremonies.
"The Severing Ceremony?" Marcus raised a bushy gray eyebrow, looking at me over his spectacles. He didn't offer me a seat. "That is a painful process, child. Usually reserved for rejected mates."
"I am rejected," I said, my voice devoid of emotion. "In every way that matters."
He smirked, a cruel twisting of lips. "Very well. It seems fitting. We can't have a lingering bond distracting the Alpha from his true future. We'll do it tomorrow night. right before the Luna Ceremony. A clean sweep."
I nodded and fled, feeling sick.
Back at the pack house, I tried to slip upstairs unnoticed, but voices drifted from the Alpha's study. The door was slightly ajar.
"...can't wait much longer, Maddox," Daphne's voice whined. "Her scent... it's stressing the baby. I can feel it."
I froze.
"Shh," Maddox's deep rumble vibrated through the floorboards. I heard the distinct sound of a purr—a deep, chest-rattling sound a wolf only makes for their mate. "I know. Tomorrow night, she'll be severed. Then I can mark you properly. No more distractions."
"Promise?" Daphne cooed.
"I promise," he murmured. "You're the only Luna this pack needs."
Tears finally spilled over, hot and silent. He wasn't being manipulated anymore. He was choosing her. He was choosing to erase me.
I turned and walked away, leaving the ghost of my marriage behind in that room. Tomorrow, I would sever the bond. And then, I would disappear.
