I Left after The Alpha's Mate Tortured Me

I'm Aurora Lane, the only she-wolf who followed Alpha Edgar Whitmore when he was sent as a hostage to the enemy pack's territory.

Three years in that hellhole, every step fraught with danger.

I tasted poisoned food meant for him, took arrows from the shadows meant to pierce his heart, and when fever burned through him, I stayed up all night, wiping him down with cold water to break the heat. To get him a scrap of medicine, I knelt outside the enemy pack's healer den for a full day and night, begging.

The coldest winter of those years, I tore my own coat to wrap his feet. He grabbed my hand, his voice raw, and asked, "Why follow me into this misery?"

I looked at him, steady as ever, and said, "Wherever you are, Alpha Edgar, that's my home."

He went quiet for a long time. Finally, he said, "When we get back, I'll make you second only to me."

He kept his word.

Less than a year after we returned, he claimed the Alpha title. The treasures he showered on me could fill three rooms-jewels that sparkled like stars. Everyone whispered I'd be his Luna, his destined mate, eternally bound to him.

Then Diana Rowe stepped into the den.

It was snowing that day. Diana leaned into his arms and purred, "If you truly love me, Alpha Edgar, make that she-wolf who followed you for three years kneel on the ice lake for a day and a night."

Alpha Edgar didn't even blink. "Done."

The enforcers dragged me to the frozen lake. From the pavilion, I heard laughter.

"Is Alpha Edgar really making Aurora kneel on the ice just because I said so?" Diana's voice carried, teasing. "Don't you think I'm spoiled?"

"I'm the Alpha," Alpha Edgar replied, his tone indulgent. "I can afford to spoil you."

I knelt there, silent, the ice biting into my knees, sending sharp, freezing pain through my bones. My body shook, but I didn't make a sound.

In the warmth of the waterside pavilion, Diana nestled closer to Alpha Edgar. Her voice turned curious. "Why me, Alpha Edgar? Why do you care for me so much?"

He paused, then spoke, his voice softer than I'd ever heard. "Years ago, I was just an overlooked Alpha heir, beaten and bruised by the others, curled up in a corner of the cold den. You slipped me a healing salve. That moment, I swore-if I ever had the chance, I'd repay you a hundredfold, a thousandfold."

On the ice, my heart jolted.

A single salve?

That's it?

What about me? I'd thrown myself into danger for him, taken blades and bullets meant for his heart, ruined my health nursing him through those brutal years. All my real, raw sacrifices-did they mean nothing compared to Diana's fleeting act of kindness?

Their voices drifted on.

Diana's tone turned smug. "Are you really going to make me your Luna? Announce to the great pack that I'm your one