TOO LATE TO CLAIM ME,ALPHA

The glass is old, webbed with fine silver lines that distort my reflection if I shift even an inch to the left. I stand before the cracked full-length mirror in my tiny bedroom, smoothing down the simple white linen dress. The fabric is cheap, coarse against my skin, nothing like the silk worn by the high-ranking she-wolves of the Crescent Moon Pack. But it is clean. It is white. It represents a beginning, or maybe just the preservation of a promise made a decade ago.

My hands shake, smoothing the same wrinkle over and over until my palms are red. I force a breath, deep and steady, trying to calm the wild, hopeful beat of my heart.

He is coming home, I tell myself. The words feel heavy, a physical weight pressing against my ribs. For three years, the pack has lived under the shadow of a cold, rigid regime, stretched thin by the brutal northern border campaigns. Every day has been a lesson in survival, watching the Alpha King drain our resources to fuel his war machine. Food was rationed, laughter became rare, and the atmospheric joy of our territory faded into an oppressive silence. But today, the warriors are returning. Kael is returning.

Marcus knocks on the doorframe, his broad shoulders leaning against the wood with a worried crease between his brows. He looks older than his twenty-four years, his face lined with the exhaustion of a low-ranking guardian wolf who bears the brunt of the pack's physical labor.

"He's back, Aurora," Marcus says softly, his voice lacking the excitement I desperately want to hear. There is no joy in his eyes, only a deep, protective caution that immediately makes my stomach churn.

I turn away from the mirror, refusing to let his heavy mood anchor me to the floor. I offer him a tight smile, whispering to my inner wolf that today is the day our wait finally ends. He’s back, my wolf echoes, stretching lazily within my mind, her spirit still trusting the bond we were promised. She doesn't feel the dark premonition settling over the village. She only remembers the boy.

"You should look happier," I say, trying to inject some lightness into the damp air of my room. "The war is over. The border is secure. We survived, Marcus."

"We survived the enemy, Aurora," Marcus mutters, straightening up from the doorframe. He crosses his arms, his knuckles white. "Now we have to survive the victory. The public square is already packed. The Alpha King has set up the grand stages. It doesn't feel like a homecoming. It feels like a statement."

I ignore the edge in his tone, reaching for a small wooden comb on my vanity. My daily life within this pack has been defined by keeping my head down, avoiding the cruel gazes of the elite wolves who viewed my closeness to the Alpha Prince as a temporary childhood fluke. They thought Kael would forget me the moment he tasted blood and glory on the battlefield. They thought a low-born wolf with a weak lineage could never hold the attention of a future ruler.

But they didn't see him behind the old oak tree when we were ten. They didn't taste the sweetberries or hear the fierce gravity in his voice when he swore I would be his Luna. That memory is my armor. It has sustained me through every cold winter and every mocking sneer from the pack elders.

"He will remember," I whisper, mostly to myself, tugging the comb through my dark hair.

"Kael left here a boy, Aurora," Marcus says, stepping into my room. His voice drops, thick with an uncomfortable truth. "He returns as a war hero. A commander who has spent three years executing orders and securing alliances. The politics of the Crescent Moon Pack don't leave room for childhood poetry."

"He isn't his father," I snap, the direct statement sharp enough to cut the air between us. I regret the sharpness immediately. Marcus only wants to shield me from a fall, but I cannot let doubt ruin my footing before I even reach the square. "I need to go, Marcus. The banners are already flying."

He sighs, a heavy, defeated sound, but he steps aside to let me pass.

Outside, the pack lands are unrecognizable. The gray stone paths are swept clean, but the atmosphere is thick with synthetic pageantry. Massive black and silver banners of the Crescent Moon Pack flutter against the overcast sky, looking heavy and imposing. The common wolves are lining the streets, their expressions a mix of relief and stark anxiety. We all know the cost of this victory; we have all buried family members over the last three years.

As I walk toward the central courtyard, the crowd thickens. The high-ranking families occupy the elevated viewing platforms, dressed in heavy furs and polished leather, their scent markers aggressive and territorial. Among them sits Selena Frost, the daughter of the Northern Alliance Alpha, her icy blonde hair catching the weak sunlight. Her presence here is a loud, unspoken variable that makes my pulse spike.

Then, the heavy iron gates groan open.

The horns sound, a deep, vibrating rumble that shakes the dirt beneath my slippers. The vanguard marches in first, their armor dented, their faces grim and caked with dried mud. They carry the spoils of war, but they do not look like men who are celebrating. They look like extensions of a machine.

And there, at the head of the column, rides Kael.

He is larger than I remember, his shoulders broader under the heavy steel pauldrons. The boyish softness is completely gone, replaced by sharp, angular lines and a hardened jawline. His eyes, once warm and expressive, scan the crowd with a detached, calculating precision. He looks every bit the cold war hero the Alpha King demanded he become.

My breath catches in my throat. My wolf presses against the surface, eager, desperate for a single glance of recognition.

As Kael dismounts his massive gray stallion in the center of the square, the Alpha King steps down from the high dais, his booming voice echoing across the silent crowd. He speaks of dominance, of crushed rebellions, and of a new era of undisputed power for the Crescent Moon Pack. The crowd cheers on command, a rhythmic, hollow sound.

I push forward slightly, stepping past the line of guardian wolves, my white dress a stark contrast against the dark armor of the soldiers. Kael's gaze shifts. For a fraction of a second, his dark eyes lock onto mine.

The world goes perfectly silent. I offer him the same smile I gave him behind the oak tree, waiting for the ice in his expression to melt.

Instead, his eyes slide past me, cold and indifferent, as if I am nothing more than a ghost in the wind. He turns his back entirely, facing his father.

"To secure our new borders and solidify our glorious future," the Alpha King announces, his hand heavy on Kael's armored shoulder, "Prince Kael will claim his true partner. The future Luna of the Crescent Moon Pack—Lady Selena Frost."

The applause that erupts is deafening, but to my ears, it sounds like a glass tower shattering into a million jagged pieces. Selena steps forward, her smile victorious and sharp as a blade, taking Kael’s hand. Kael raises her hand high, his face completely devoid of regret, cementing a political alliance built on the ruins of a childhood vow.

The sting of betrayal hits my chest like a physical blow, knocking the air straight out of my lungs. The internal hope that kept me alive for years vanishes, replaced by the harsh, unyielding reality of pack politics. He didn't just forget. He chose to throw me away.