COUNTDOWN TO LEAVING YOU, ALPHA

ALESSIA

“Congratulations, Alpha Maximillian.”

The words hit me like a blade. I froze mid-step in the sterile corridor of Blacksteel Pack Hospital, my heartbeat hammering in my ears.

At the far end stood Alpha Maximillian Steele my husband. And wrapped effortlessly in his arm was Clementine Fiore. Her belly was slightly swollen—barely noticeable, but unmistakable with new life growing inside.

"Your baby will be strong." Doctor Morgana’s smile was radiant. "A full-blooded werewolf, the heir we’ve been waiting for, one who will carry your legacy perfectly.”

My chest tightened.

They were celebrating his child.

But it wasn’t the one growing inside me right now.

Max’s arm curled possessively around Clementine’s waist. She leaned into him with a grace that seemed to mock me, unchanged after all these years. 

Clementine was Max's ex girlfriend, but after finding her true mate, she moved out four years ago. However, six months ago, she went back for Max and it took her only seconds to be welcomed as if nothing had changed—still perfect, still the Pack’s darling, still the Luna candidate everyone whispered about. My husband’s first love—the only woman whose laughter I had ever seen light up his face.

“Doctor Morgana, you’re too kind,” Clementine cooed. “The baby isn’t even born yet, and you already praise me?"

“Of course, Lady Clementine,” Morgana replied, almost reverently. “Your bloodline is strong. You are exactly what this Pack needs to produce a true heir. Something a human woman could never provide.”

My hand clenched the pregnancy test and report from Doctor Myra so tightly it ached.

Clementine tilted her head, pretending to look concerned. “So did you mean if it were Alessia carrying his child..."

“She would only give birth to a weak pup, everyone knows that. Your pregnancy is a blessing for this Pack.”

I felt my vision blur, a searing fire behind my eyes. 

As a human, I had meant nothing to them—a joke, a mistake. Their mockery had haunted me for years, lingering even as I stepped into the role of Luna, a position I never earned for myself but inherited only because Max married me to honor my foster father Beta Ragnar’s dying wish.

Max was already Alpha then; powerful, wealthy, and devastatingly handsome. He was worshipped by everyone, a man far above my reach, untouchable in every way.

Clementine’s gaze flicked to him, “Did you hear that? Now I'm worried Max, what this Pack would face if Alessia were the one carrying your heir?”

My husband's face remained unreadable. But his words were soft. 

“That won’t happen. So don’t worry. Focus on your pregnancy. Nothing else matters,” he said.

I should’ve known this long ago. It won’t happen. Of course, Max would never want a lowly human to bear his Pack’s heir. He couldn’t even imagine it.

My chest burned. My legs trembled. 

I took a step back. Then another.

I turned and ran.

I barely remembered hailing the taxi. I only knew I told the driver to take me home, and the world outside blurred through my tears. The packhouse felt hollow when I arrived. I went straight to our bedroom, my hands shaking as I opened the drawer. 

I found our marriage agreement, the paper that had bound Max and me for three years. I held it, tracing the words I had read a thousand times but never dared confront.

The final clause glared back at me like a challenge: Unilateral termination.

Alessia Stone had the right to terminate this marriage without Alpha's permission. Ragnar had added the clause, a safeguard I’d never paid much attention to. I had believed that with Max, everything would be different — that through this marriage, he would finally accept me. But it was all a lie. A cruel joke. There was no reason to keep pretending anymore, right?.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs made my heart skip. The door opened and Max stepped inside. My hand, still clutching the agreement, froze mid-air.

“What are you looking at?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I said, quickly hiding the paper. “You’re home early.”

“I did.” His tone was flat. “Have you prepared dinner?”

“I’m not feeling well,” I said quietly. “I haven’t prepared anything.”

“That’s fine.” He shrugged, brushing my hair behind my ear. “I think I’ll just have dinner out.”

His touch, once comforting, now sent a chill through my skin, carrying the faint, cloying scent of vanilla. A scent I knew belonged to Clementine.

I thought I could hold it together, but the memory of him cradling the pregnant woman in his arms burned relentlessly in my mind.

“With Clementine again?” I couldn’t keep the edge out of my voice.

“Alessia, don’t even start,” he said, his tone clipped, like a warning I wasn’t meant to ignore.

“But I’m your wife!” I snapped, stepping closer, my hands trembling. “And I can’t even protest when you’ve been spending the last month with another woman?”

Max’s blue eyes hardened, “Clementine has had a hard time since her mate died. Don't be mean. As Luna, you should tolerate more."

So that was it. I was expected to endure him being with her all the time. Expected to smile while listening to them talk about her baby and pretend it didn’t destroy me.

“I’ve tolerated enough Max,” My hands shaking. “I can’t do this anymore. If you want her so badly… then divorce me. End this marriage. Let me go.”

“Divorce?” he repeated. “When I’m the only one you have here? If we separated, who would protect you? You couldn’t even survive in the pack, you are a human, Alessia.”

"But let's forget you ever said that.” Max walked to his wardrobe and loosened his tie.

His broad back turned to me. I stood frozen, watching him, my heart pounding so loudly I was afraid he could hear it.

“You never loved me,” I said, my voice barely steady. “You never wanted me, never wanted this marriage, never wanted me to carry your child. All this… it only held you back from Clementine. There’s nothing left here. No point in continuing it.”

Max turned slowly. 

"Don't say nonsense." His eyes were glacial, draining all warmth from the room. “Three years ago, I married you when I didn’t have to. I made sure you were protected as my Luna. Don’t twist that into nothing and make me the bad one here. I’m the one who decides if this marriage continues

My throat tightened. I swallowed hard, unable to speak.

Then his phone rang.

Max glanced at the screen. For just a second, his expression softened.

Not for me.

When he looked back at me, his face had already returned to its cold mask. “And don’t talk about divorce or babies anymore.”

He turned and stepped out of the room to take the call, clearly believing he had put enough distance between us. But I could still hear him. My heart sank as my worst fear was confirmed. It was Clementine.

“…Alex will pick you up tonight,” he said quietly. “Yes. Your favorite restaurant. Eat whatever our pup wants."

He called Clementine’s baby his pup?

My hand flew to my stomach.

What about our baby? The one he didn’t want to be born—just because it came from me, a human, not some high-born lady of the Pack. Even if I carried it to term, would Max ever look at my baby the way he looks at Clementine’s? Would he ever see it as his, or just as a mistake?

My chest was tightening until it hurt to breathe.

I heard Max’s footsteps descending the stairs, I waited until the sound completely faded before I finally reached for the agreement and a pen. How had I been so blind? I had ignored every warning, Ragnar’s clause, the pack members’ whispers, the growing distance in Max’s eyes. I had chosen hope over truth. But now, it was time to end all of this.

I read the last clause once again. Unilateral termination.

That was it.

My signature came easily.

Then I went to my walk-in closet and opened the small cupboard where I kept my medicine. My fingers trembled as they closed around a single pill.

No Pack member was ever meant to touch it. It was forbidden—a pill meant to erase the mark we received when we became part of the Pack in two weeks, whether through marriage, blood, or bond. 

I swallowed it dry.

The mark on my arm pulsed, a slow, aching throb. Soon, it would be gone. And with it, my place here.

My heart shattered at the thought of leaving the only man I had ever loved. But staying and hoping for Alpha Maximillian Steele to love me in return, was a dream I should have buried in the ashes long ago.

Two weeks, then I would leave you, Maximillian.