My Awakening — The Alpha’s Regret and Pain의 모든 챕터: 챕터 1 - 챕터 10

Back home, I had just stepped into the bedroom to pack when the door slammed open with a thunderous crack.Jonathan stood there, face dark, Alpha aura roiling off him. Leo and Finn hovered behind him, little wolves baring their teeth like I’d committed an unforgivable sin.“It was you.” Jonathan’s voice was low and dangerous. “You went to the hunters to accuse Isabella? Murder? Elara, your madness should end now.”Before I could answer, Leo charged me and shoved hard. “Bad Mom! You want those silver-armed hunters to take Aunt Isabella away?!”Finn swung tiny fists at my thigh. “You’re the worst! Aunt Isabella is so nice. Why did you frame her?”I stumbled back and slammed into the cold stone wall.Eyes burning, I looked at them, my voice trembling with despair. “She switched the dummy with Alex… Jonathan, you gave the order that threw him off that cliff. I accused her according to the law. How is that wrong?”All three froze.Jonathan’s laugh was scathing. “Absurd. Isabella wouldn’t be

We stepped off the Ferris wheel and headed for the parade of flower floats.The night was a wash of color. Just as the crowd burst into cheers, the draft horses let out a terrified scream and bolted straight into the masses!“Watch out!”In the chaos of shrieks, I saw Jonathan and the pups move like they were shielding a Mate—throwing themselves over Isabella, using their bodies to form a wall around her.I stood where I was and was knocked down by the stampede.Pain exploded. Heavy hooves shattered my ribs; the cold rim of a carriage wheel rolled over my legs. I heard the crisp, horrifying snap of bone with perfect clarity.Darkness swallowed me whole.…When I woke again, the hospital room was dead silent.I tried to move. The pain in my ribs and shin sent cold sweat prickling across my skin. I stretched with all I had to reach my phone on the nightstand.The screen lit. A notification from Isabella popped right on my lock screen.In the photo, Jonathan and the two pups were at her b

A scream pealed from the dining room. A servant sprinted in, pale. “Alpha! Miss Reed was splashed by freshly boiled wolfsbane tonic!”Jonathan froze mid-motion.“Was it serious?” His voice was sharp.“Her… the back of her hand is red—”Before the servant finished, Jonathan shot to his feet. “Elara, call the pack healer yourself. We have to take Isabella right now!”The two pups instantly let go of me. “Mother, figure it out yourself!”I lifted a trembling hand as my vision flooded with blood. All I could do was watch the three of them rush away without a backward glance, carefully supporting Isabella as they disappeared.Warm liquid slid down my temple. With what little strength I had left, I thumbed the emergency dial.“Help…”The call connected as the world went black.When I woke again, the room was, once more, empty.A nurse came in to change my bandage. Seeing my eyes open, she sighed quietly. “Alpha and the pups are in the VIP suite next door with Miss Reed.” She hesitated, unabl

Jonathan’s POVThree days later, when Isabella and I brought the pups home from a short training session, a strange hush met us at the Blackwood manor. At this hour, Elara would usually have the hearth lit, the air steeped in the aroma of a carefully prepared supper. Now, there were only cold stone walls and a silent hall.“Mom! We’re starving!” Leo shouted up the stairs out of habit. Finn chimed in, “Hurry and cook!”No answer. Their young voices rang around the empty space, jarringly loud.My heart stuttered. My eyes swept the room and froze on the stone coffee table—two parchment documents lay neatly there beside a familiar note.When I recognized the dissolution of the mating bond, my whole body went numb. The embossed seal of effect caught the candlelight with merciless authority. Elara’s fine script was a blade to my chest: [I’m gone. Don’t look for me. I have abandoned you all.]“This is impossible…” I stroked a shaking finger over my signature. I ransacked my memory and finall

Elara’s POVBy the time Beta Kael reached me, I was already in a neutral city far from the old werewolf powers.It was a mix of packs here; no one cared if I’d been a Luna or a runaway. The first days were numb and hollow. Alex’s death and Jonathan’s cold eyes clawed me awake at night. But I knew dwelling in the past would be my deepest betrayal of myself.My years as Blackwood’s Luna—brokering inside and outside the pack, temporarily running affairs when Jonathan was overrun—those “mate’s duties” became my capital now. With a deep grasp of how wolf packs operate and a hard edge honed under Jonathan’s indifference, I quickly found a place at a cross-pack consultancy.I wasn’t an appendage anymore. People listened when I spoke. My competence brought respect and an income of my own. I used my first paycheck to buy Alex a permanent, peaceful grave.I soon had a little house of my own. Small, but the windows faced sunrise. I didn’t have to wait for anyone or guess at anyone’s heart.The hu