The Alpha's Surrogate: My Heart, His Treason

My mate, Alpha Kaelen, refused to complete our sacred bond. Haunted by his mother's death in childbirth, he brought in a surrogate to produce an heir, and I accepted it for the good of the pack.

Then I overheard him planning a secret bonding ceremony-not with me, but with her.

He told me he loved me, but it was her face he saw when he held me. He'd lie about rogue attacks just to spend nights at her cottage.

At the annual gala, an ice sculpture shattered. He ran right past me as I bled on the floor to save the surrogate from a twisted ankle.

He then used a forbidden life-force transfer to heal her tiny scrape, nearly killing himself in the process, while the pack healer told me my own deep cut could wait.

He believed his betrayal was meant to protect me, that my love for him was so absolute I would simply understand.

As he lay unconscious from the ritual, I walked into the Elder's council hall and submitted my application to perform the Ritual of Severance, a ceremony to permanently break our bond and erase me from his life.

Chapter 1

Elara POV:

The balcony was our special place. Four years ago, on this very spot, Alpha Kaelen had first held me, his inner wolf roaring a possessive claim that echoed in my soul. "Mine!"

His scent, a wild mix of pine after a thunderstorm and rich, dark earth, had enveloped me. The Moon Goddess had declared us mates, a bond meant to be the most sacred in our world. But Kaelen had never completed it. He refused to Mark me.

"I can't lose you, Elara," he'd said, his voice thick with a pain that stretched back decades. His mother, the former Luna, had died giving birth to him. That tragedy was a ghost that haunted our every moment, a shadow that kept his teeth from my neck.

So we existed in this strange limbo. Lovers, mates in soul, but not fully bonded. I had accepted it, believing his fear was a twisted form of love. I even accepted his decision to bring in a surrogate. The pack elders were demanding an heir, their pressure a constant weight on his shoulders.

That's when Seraphina arrived. An Omega with a face unnervingly similar to my own. A tool, he had called her. A vessel to carry the Bloodmoon Pack's future.

I tried to be understanding. I endured the long nights he spent away, claiming he was "guiding Seraphina's wolf." I even forgave him when a pack of Rogues ambushed me near the border, their silver claws tearing into my flesh, and he was too busy with her "breeding ritual" to answer my desperate calls through our Mind-Link.

Now, healed but scarred, I stood in the shadows of the hallway, listening. The balcony doors were slightly ajar. Kaelen was out there with his Beta, Liam, and his Gamma, Marcus.

"The ceremony has to be perfect," Kaelen's deep voice rumbled. "Secret, but grand. She deserves that much."

My heart squeezed. He was talking about Seraphina.

"Are you sure about this, Alpha?" Liam asked, his tone cautious. "A bonding ceremony, even a secret one... it's a huge risk."

"I have to," Kaelen replied, and his next words shattered the fragile peace I had clung to. "I can't get her out of my head. Her scent... her compliance. When I'm in meetings, when I'm patrolling the territory... hells, when I'm holding Elara, it's Seraphina's face I see."

A wave of nausea washed over me.

"Elara is your true mate," Marcus warned. "If she finds out, if she leaves... your power as Alpha will be weakened. The pack will question you."

"She won't leave," Kaelen said with chilling confidence. "She loves me. And this is all to protect her. She'll understand."

He thought this was protecting me? This utter betrayal? My mind flashed back to his vow, whispered against my skin under a full moon: "The Goddess is my witness, Elara. It will only ever be you."

A choked sob escaped my lips, a tiny sound, but in the preternatural quiet of an Alpha's home, it was like a scream.

The conversation on the balcony stopped. Heavy footsteps approached. Kaelen slid the glass door open, his eyes wide with alarm when he saw me. "Elara! What are you doing here?"

I forced a calm I didn't feel. "I just got back from the Healer's. She said the last of the silver is out of my system."

He looked flustered, searching for an excuse. Liam stepped forward smoothly. "Alpha, you've ruined the surprise!"

Marcus chimed in, playing along. "We were planning a 'welcome back' party for you, Elara. To celebrate your recovery."

A party. They were planning a secret bonding ceremony for my replacement, and they were telling me it was a party for me. The lie was so audacious it was almost funny.

As Kaelen walked me towards the pack archives, supposedly to look at old pack celebration photos for "ideas," his Mind-Link buzzed. I felt the intrusive flicker of it, a connection he was usually so careful to shield from me.

"Alpha..." Seraphina's voice was a sultry whisper in his mind, but I caught the echo. "The moon is rising. My body feels... hot. I need you. Come to the cottage."

Kaelen stopped walking, his jaw tight. He turned to me, his eyes avoiding mine. "There's an urgent matter at the border. Rogues. I have to go."

He left me standing there. Alone.

I didn't hesitate. I walked into the archives, my steps steady. I found the Head Elder and looked him straight in the eye.

"I am here to submit a formal application," I said, my voice as cold and clear as ice. "I wish to perform the Ritual of Severance."