The Alpha's Regret: My Hidden Fortune.

To the outside world, I was the envy of every she-wolf as the fiancée of Alpha Kael. But inside the gilded cage of his pack house, I was a ghost.

I molded myself into perfection for him, wearing the colors he liked and suppressing my own voice.

Until I walked past his study and saw him with Lyra-the orphan he called his "sister."

His hand rested intimately on her thigh as he laughed, telling her, "Elara is just a political necessity. You are the moon in my sky."

My heart shattered, but the physical blow came days later.

During a training exercise, the safety cable snapped. I fell twenty feet, shattering my leg.

Lying in the dirt, gasping through the pain, I watched my Fated Mate run.

Not to me.

He ran to Lyra, who was burying her face in his chest, feigning terror. He comforted her while I bled.

Later, in the infirmary, I heard him whisper to her, "She won't die. It will just teach her who the real Luna is."

He knew. He knew she had sabotaged the rope with silver, and he was protecting her attempted murder.

The final thread of my love incinerated into ash.

The next morning, I walked into the Council Hall, threw a thick file on the table, and looked the Elders in the eye.

"I am dissolving the engagement," I stated coldly. "And I am withdrawing my family's silver supply. I will starve this Pack until you beg."

Kael laughed, thinking I was bluffing. He didn't notice the lethal Beta from the rival pack standing in the shadows behind me, ready to help me burn Kael's kingdom to the ground.

Chapter 1

Elara POV

I woke up in a bed that cost more than most wolves earned in a lifetime. The silk sheets felt like liquid ice against my skin, offering no warmth, only a sleek, expensive chill.

This room, gilded in gold and draped in velvet, was not a home. It was a cage.

I was the fiancée of Alpha Kael, the most powerful leader of the Blood Moon Pack. To the outside world, I was the envy of every she-wolf. To the inside world, I was a ghost.

I stretched, my senses reaching out. The Pack bond hummed in the back of my mind, a low frequency of connected consciousness. But when I tried to touch Kael's specific frequency, I hit a wall of ice.

There was no warmth. No "Good morning, my love." Just the cold, hard silence of an Alpha who didn't care.

A knock sounded. Three Omega maids entered. They dipped their heads, baring their necks in submission, but the gesture was hollow. I caught the scent of their emotions-sharp and curdled, like sour milk.

Disdain.

"Alpha Kael requests your presence at breakfast, my Lady," one said, her eyes fixed on the floor to avoid meeting mine.

"Thank you," I whispered.

I dressed carefully. I wore the blue he liked. I skipped the perfume he hated. I was molding myself into a statue of perfection, hoping that one day, the stone might finally turn to flesh in his eyes.

The moment I stepped into the corridor, his scent hit me.

Kael.

His scent was like a thunderstorm crashing into a pine forest-overwhelming, electric, terrifying. My inner wolf, usually dormant, lifted her head. She wanted to howl, to claim, to submit.

But then, another scent hit me. Sickly sweet. Like vanilla that had been left out in the sun too long.

Lyra.

She was an Omega, an orphan Kael's family had taken in years ago. His "sister," they said. But sisters didn't smell like that-cloying, heavy with arousal. And brothers didn't look at sisters the way Kael looked at her.

I cut through the garden, intending to take a shortcut to the dining hall. The low murmur of two Beta warriors drifted from behind a manicured hedge.

"Did you see the Luna-to-be this morning? Looking pale as a ghost," one sneered.

"She's just a placeholder," the other laughed. "Everyone knows Lyra is the Alpha's true favorite. If it wasn't for the Elders insisting on the bloodline match, Kael would have marked Lyra years ago. That girl Elara? She's just a walking womb for the next heir."

My heart stopped. It felt like a physical blow to the chest. My breath hitched, and a sharp pain radiated through my bond.

Mine! My inner wolf growled, but it wasn't a growl of possession. It was a growl of pain.

I needed to see him. I needed to prove the voices wrong.

I followed Kael's scent to his private study. The door was ajar. I shouldn't look. I knew I shouldn't. But my feet moved on their own.

Through the crack, I saw them.

Kael was sitting in his massive leather chair. Lyra was perched on the armrest, her fingers tangling in his dark hair. She was whispering something, giggling, her body pressed against his shoulder.

Kael wasn't pushing her away. His hand, large and powerful, was resting on her thigh. His thumb traced circles on her skin, dangerously close to her neck-the spot where a wolf Marks his mate.

"But Kael," Lyra cooed, her voice dripping with fake innocence. "She is the Mate the Elders chose. You can't just leave her. It would ruin your reputation."

Kael chuckled, a low, dark sound that vibrated through the floorboards.

"Mate?" he scoffed. "The Moon Goddess plays cruel jokes, Lyra. You are my choice. You are the moon in my sky. She is just... a political necessity."

A joke.

He called our bond a joke.

The air left my lungs. My vision blurred. My inner wolf didn't howl this time. She screamed. A sound of pure, unadulterated agony that echoed in my skull.

Run, she whispered. Run, little one. Find your true path.

I stepped back, the floorboard creaking under my weight. But I didn't stay to see if they heard.

I turned and ran.

I ran until my lungs burned and my legs shook.

I stopped at the edge of the territory, looking back at the mansion that loomed like a monster against the moon.

"I," I whispered into the cold night air, my voice trembling but my eyes dry, "will never love you again."

Elara POV

The sun rose, a mockery of warmth against the frost settling in my marrow.

It brought no light to my world. I hadn't slept. I had spent the night staring at the ceiling, feeling the mating bond in my chest wither like a dying leaf, curling in on itself until only ash remained.

When morning finally broke, I walked into the Council Hall. The air was heavy with the scent of old parchment, ancient timber, and the dust of centuries-old tradition.

Elder Silas, Kael's grandfather, sat at the head of the mahogany table. He looked up, blinking in surprise as I entered.

"Elara, child? What brings you here so early?"

"I am dissolving the engagement."

My voice was calm. Unnervingly so. It didn't sound like the voice of a heartbroken girl; it sounded like a stranger. It scared me.

Silas dropped his quill. It clattered loudly against the wood. "Dissolve? You are the Alpha's Mate. This is not a human marriage you can simply walk away from."

"It is a business arrangement," I corrected him, my tone crisp. "A contract. One that Alpha Kael has publicly and flagrantly breached."

I didn't wait for a response. I laid a thick file on the table between us.

"My family supplies sixty percent of this Pack's silver ore. We control the trade routes to the North. If I am merely a 'political necessity,' as your grandson so eloquently puts it, then I am withdrawing my political assets."

Silas's eyes widened. He was a wolf of logic, not emotion. He knew the Pack's economy relied on the lifeline my family provided.

"You would cut off the supply?" he asked, his voice dropping. "For a lovers' quarrel?"

"For my dignity," I said. "I will cut the supply. I will starve this Pack of silver until you beg. Unless the engagement is annulled, and I am free to find a new Pack."

Silas looked at me-really looked at me-for the first time in years. He didn't see a compliant girl anymore; he saw the steel in my spine.

"I... I will speak to the Council," he stammered, shifting in his seat. "We cannot afford to lose the trade routes."

I walked out, feeling a strange, hollow lightness in my chest. But the universe wasn't done testing me.

I turned a corner and nearly collided with Lyra.

She was coming from the direction of Kael's bedroom. The air around her was thick with his scent-musk, pine, and the undeniable, cloying smell of sex.

She smiled, a sickly sweet curving of her lips that didn't reach her eyes. She hooked her arm through mine with feigned familiarity.

"Oh, Elara! Good morning. Did you sleep well? Kael kept me up all night talking about Pack business. He's so dedicated."

Pack business. Right.

My stomach churned violently. The smell of her, mixed with him, was revolting.

"Don't touch me," I snapped.

I pulled my arm away. I didn't push her. I barely touched her.

But Lyra gasped. She threw herself backward, flailing her arms theatrically, and collapsed onto the stone pathway.

"Ah!" she shrieked, clutching her ankle. Tears instantly welled in her eyes, a perfect performance. "Elara! Why did you push me?"

Within seconds, the sound of thundering footsteps surrounded us. Pack members, warriors, servants-they circled us, their eyes wide and judging.

"She pushed her," someone whispered. "I saw it. Jealousy is an ugly thing."

Then, the air pressure dropped.

Alpha.

Kael pushed through the crowd. He didn't even look at me. He went straight to Lyra, kneeling beside her in the dust. His eyes were filled with a tenderness he had never, not once, shown me.

"Lyra? Are you hurt?"

"She... she didn't mean it, Kael," Lyra sobbed into his chest, burying her face in his shirt. "She's just upset because you spent time with me."

Kael looked up at me. His eyes were cold obsidian, void of any recognition.

Enough.

His voice boomed in my head through the Mind-Link. The Alpha Command.

My knees buckled, hitting the stone with a painful crack. My muscles locked up against my will, forcing me into submission. It was humiliating.

"You are the future Luna," Kael spat, standing up and pulling Lyra with him, shielding her from a threat that didn't exist. "Act like it. Stop bullying those weaker than you."

He wrapped a protective arm around Lyra and walked away. The Pack followed, leaving me kneeling alone in the dust.

They thought I was weak. They thought I was broken.

I looked at the retreating figure of the man who was supposed to be my soulmate.

"Alpha Kael," I whispered to the wind, a vow taking shape on my lips. "Your favor today is your regret tomorrow."

Elara POV

I needed to bleed. Not from the edge of a blade, but from the burn of exertion.

I needed to replace this suffocating emotional agony with brutal physical exhaustion.

Driven by a manic energy, I went to the training grounds.

The obstacle course loomed high above me-a daunting series of ropes, walls, and platforms designed for seasoned Warriors.

I wasn't a Warrior. I was bred to be a delicate noble daughter. But today, my wolf demanded action. She demanded release.

I climbed.

The rough hemp rope burned my palms, tearing at skin unused to such labor. Sweat stung my eyes, blurring my vision.

From the corner of my eye, I saw them.

Kael and Lyra.

He was "teaching" her archery. He stood flush behind her, his chest pressed firmly against her back, his large hands guiding hers on the bow.

It was intimate. It was revolting.

Swallowing the bile rising in my throat, I focused on the high-wire traverse. I hooked my harness in and pushed off.

The wind rushed past my ears. For a fleeting second, I felt free.

Then-SNAP.

The sound was like a gunshot tearing through the silence. The main support cable gave way.

Gravity claimed me.

I fell twenty feet, crashing into the hard-packed earth with the weight of a stone.

The impact knocked the air from my lungs in a violent wheeze. A sickening crack echoed from my leg.

Pain. White-hot, blinding, nauseating pain.

I gasped, clawing at the dirt, trying to inhale, but my chest felt crushed. Through the haze of agony, I looked toward the archery range.

Kael had turned at the sound.

But he wasn't looking at me.

He was looking at Lyra, who had covered her ears and buried her face in his shirt, acting terrified by the noise.

"It's okay, shh," I saw his lips move. His hand stroked her hair.

He was comforting her.

He didn't come. He didn't run to his Mate who was lying broken in the dirt.

My wolf howled a mournful, dying sound inside my mind.

Get up, I told myself. Do not let them see you cry.

I dragged myself across the dirt.

My broken leg dragged behind me, a dead weight of fire. I clawed at the ground, inch by inch, fingernails breaking against the rocks, moving toward the infirmary.

"Help," I croaked, but the sound was weak. No one heard. Or no one cared.

Finally, Pack Healers ran out. They lifted me onto a stretcher, their faces pale.

"This cable..." one Healer muttered, examining the frayed rope. "This was cut. There are silver traces on the fibers."

Silver.

A wolf's weakness. It burned the skin and prevented healing. Someone had sabotaged the rope with a silver blade.

Later, in the medical wing, I lay in a haze of painkillers.

Kael finally came.

He stood at the foot of the bed, looking annoyed rather than worried. Like I was a chore he hadn't finished.

"You shouldn't have been on the advanced course," he said coldly. "You're clumsy."

He didn't ask if I was okay. He didn't smell the silver burn on my hands or the scent of my distress.

That night, half-asleep, I heard voices in the corridor.

"You put too much silver on the blade, Lyra," Kael's low voice drifted in. "If she dies, the Council will investigate."

"I just wanted to scare her," Lyra giggled, the sound light and cruel. "Besides, she needs to learn her place. That silver wire was expensive."

"She won't die," Kael said dismissively. "It will just teach her who the real Luna is."

My eyes snapped open in the dark.

He knew.

He knew she sabotaged the rope. He knew she used silver-a lethal weapon against our kind-and he allowed it.

He was protecting her attempted murder.

The final thread of my love for him didn't just break. It incinerated into ash.

I stared at the ceiling, the pain in my leg throbbing in rhythm with my heart. But the pain in my chest was gone.

It was replaced by a cold, hard void.

I closed my eyes.

No more pain, I promised my wolf. Only power.