Alpha's Regret: Too Late To Have Her Back

NYRA

I knew something was wrong the moment the bond pulled tight in my chest.

It wasn’t the warm tug I had imagined since I was a little girl. It wasn’t joy or excitement either. It felt like my ribs had been tightened by a strong rop, stealing my breath bit by bit. Like my body already knew what my heart was still refusing to accept.

The pack hall was filled with different faces I didn't know existed. I could clearly hear the whispering voices that came from every side of the room. Their cold stares burned against my skin, like they were ripping me off even before I could realise it.

At the front of the hall stood Alpha Kael Stormridge, my mate. The same man I had believed would be my forever.

He didn’t look at me the way mates were supposed to. His face was hard, expressionless, and wearing no sign of emotions. And beside him stood his elders, men who never wanted me from the start. They'd been finding means, ways to have Kael walk me out of his life, and today seemed to be that perfect day.

I stopped three steps away from him, staring right into his eyes.

The bond we shared screamed inside me. It begged me to run to him, to reach out, to touch his hand, to remind him that I was his. My fingers twitched at my side, aching to move, but I curled them into fists instead.

“Nyra Vale,” the Head Elder said, his voice echoing through the hall. “You have been summoned before the pack for a mate bond acknowledgment.”

My heart pounded so loudly I was sure everyone could hear it.

I lifted my chin. “I am here.”

Kael finally looked at me, and every being in me shattered. There was no warmth in his eyes, just cold resolve, like he had practiced this moment over and over until all feelings were gone out of him.

The elder turned to Kael. “Alpha Stormridge, do you acknowledge Nyra Vale as your fated mate and Luna of this pack?”

He was silent, and it only made my heart beat faster.

Kael took a step forward, stopping inches away from me. He didn’t look at me when he spoke. “I do not.”

The words hit me like a slap.

A sharp breath escaped out of my lungs before I could stop it. My knees weakened, almost causing me to fall, but I forced myself to stay standing. Forced myself not to fall apart in front of everyone.

Shame wrapped around me as murmurs filled the atmosphere.

I stared at him. “Kael…”

His name slipped out of my mouth like it was something divine. Like if I said it softly enough, he would remember me. Remember us.

He turned to face me fully then.

Up close, the bond burned hotter. My wolf—no, the place where a wolf should have been—ached like an open wound. His scent wrapped around me, possessing my inner being like it always did. Maybe from the start, it had always been me yearning for our bond. He never did, not even for once.

“You have no wolf,” he said flatly. “You cannot be my Luna. You cannot strengthen this pack. And I will not tie my future to a weakness.”

Something inside me tore open, like a wound I had been trying to heal. I looked at him, really looked at him, surprised how lowly he had thought of me. Just because I had no wolf?

“I am not weak,” I whispered.

Somewhere in the crowd, someone scoffed.

Kael’s eyes flickered for just a second. But his voice didn’t soften a bit. “You are a healer, yes. But you are human-born. Worse, wolf-less. When enemies come, when curses rise, when war breaks out... what will you be then?”

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but no words came out. Because the truth was, I had asked myself that same question a hundred times.

The elder cleared his throat. “Alpha Stormridge, by rejecting your mate, you sever the bond. Are you certain?”

“Yes,” Kael said immediately without even a second of hesitation, like he's been waiting for this moment a long time ago.

My chest ached in pain, tears blurring my vision as I did nothing but look right at the man I thought was my future.

"Why?" I asked, trying to hold back the pain. "Why would you want to reject me just because I am wolfless? What haven't I done for you? Why would you think I can't do anything for you, for the pack without having to be a full wolf?"

"Because this pack is ruled by wolves," he said coldly. "And not weaklings who think they can achieve the throne with their mere talents."

Was he really saying that to my face? He never meant any of that, did he?

Then the elder turned to me. “Nyra Vale, do you accept this rejection?”

This was the part no one talked about. The part where the rejected mate was expected to nod quietly and disappear.

I looked at Kael, at the man fate chose for me. At the man who was choosing to throw me away.

I didn't want to accept, heaven knows. But there was nothing I would say to him that would change his mind. Nothing I would do would make him consider how much I loved him. Not even my tears—no, not even my plea.

"You really want to do this, don't you?" I asked, holding myself from crying more than I already had.

"I didn't," he said, like that should make me feel any better. "But you leave me no choice."

I nodded my head slowly, seeing through his words. This was it. He never wanted me from the start.

“I accept,” I said, looking him directly in the eyes. "I accept your rejection, Alpha Stormridge."

The second I said those words, the rejection was sealed. The bond broke instantly, and it felt like something inside me was tearing apart slowly, painfully, like my flesh was being ripped from my bone.

I clutched my chest tightly, falling to the ground. I wanted to scream, to ease the pain, but I bit my lip until I could taste my blood. Kael flinched just a little. That was the only proof that this hurt him too.

The elder raised his staff. “By pack law, Nyra Vale is no longer bound to Alpha Stormridge. She is free to leave or remain as an unmated healer under pack protection.”

I laughed a bitter laugh. “Remain?” I repeated. “So I can watch him choose another Luna? So I can heal the pack that watched me be rejected like I was nothing?”

No one answered, not even Kael, and that hurt the most.

I turned to him one last time. “I loved you,” I said quietly, still holding back the pain of rejection. “Even without a wolf, I cherished you. Even knowing I would never be what you wanted.”

His eyes hardened again. “Love is not enough, Nyra.”

Maybe for him, but it was everything to me.

I smiled, even though all I wanted to do was cry. "You will regret this, Kael," I told him, nodding my head in certainty. "Every single one of you. You will regret the moment you rejected me. The moment you let me walk out of this room. You will search for me, and will never find me. And even if you do, you can never have me, because it will be too late. Because there will be no one who can heal your pack as much as I do. Remember my words.”