When My Alpha Left Me Bleeding for His Mistress

The full moon hung like a silver coin against the night sky, casting long shadows across the ceremonial grounds of the Black Moon Pack. I stood perfectly still at the center of the stone circle, my white dress billowing gently in the autumn breeze. Around us, the pack elders watched with solemn expressions, their faces carved from moonlight and ancient expectation. This was supposed to be sacred—the Luna ceremony that would bind me to Jace Holmes forever. Instead, it felt like a funeral for something that had never truly lived.

Jace approached me with measured steps, his Alpha aura radiating cold authority. His eyes, those deep blue eyes I'd loved since childhood, held nothing but distant contempt as they met mine. The pack members fell silent, their collective breath held in anticipation of the ritual kiss that would seal our bond.

'Let's get this over with,' Jace said, his voice clipped and formal. Not a whisper of the warmth I'd once known from him existed in those words.

He gripped my shoulders, his touch clinical and impersonal. When he leaned down to bite the marking spot on my neck, I felt nothing but the sharp pressure of his teeth. There was no tenderness, no whispered promises, no trace of the mate bond that should have flared between us. Just the metallic taste of blood and the weight of five years of hatred.

The moment his mark was complete, our mind-link snapped into place. I felt the connection like a cold blade against my consciousness, and Jace's voice filled my head—not with love, but with a vow that shattered what was left of my hope.

'You may wear the Luna crown for the elders' sake, but know this: you will never have my heart. I will never forgive you for Anastasia's blood. The bond between us is duty, nothing more. Remember that.'

His Alpha tone reverberated through the link, heavy with command and finality. I pressed my thumbnail deep into the inside of my wrist, the small pain grounding me as I fought to keep my face composed. The elders were watching. The pack was watching. I would not give them the satisfaction of seeing me break.

'I understand, Alpha,' I replied through our link, my mental voice steady despite the storm raging inside me. Seventeen years of loving him, five years of enduring his coldness, and now this—a mate bond built on vengeance and politics rather than love.

The ceremony concluded with formal words from the eldest council member, but I barely heard them. My attention was fixed on the weight of the Luna crown that had been placed on my head—not a symbol of honor, but a shackle I had willingly accepted in the desperate hope that someday, somehow, Jace would see me.

The next morning, I rose early and made my way to the packhouse's main hall. As Luna, it was my duty to organize the daily schedules, oversee the warriors' training rations, and manage the household staff.