All Chapters of The Day I Gave Up on My Alpha and Family: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

Snow was falling outside the healing center, and a bitter wind cut straight through my clothes.Snowflakes melted on my shoulders, soaking my thin coat.My Alpha mate-to-be, Kieran, came toward me carrying a velvet gift box.My childhood friend Lucas, the Pack's Beta, followed him with a huge bouquet of laurel flowers, Maisie's favorites.They glanced at my soaked coat and frowned. Then they walked right past me and up the steps.Maisie was standing there in her hospital gown.Lucas gave her forehead a gentle flick."What are you doing out here in this cold? You have asthma. What if the cold air sets off another attack?""Oh, don't be mad! I saw your car from my window. I missed you guys too much to stay upstairs."Kieran took off his thick wool coat and wrapped it around her, carefully pulling it closed at her neck.Last week, I'd called him with a fever of 102.2 degrees. He'd been helping Maisie with her nebulizer treatment. He told me to drink more water and find a healer myself.Ma

The next morning, Audrey called me on video. Silverfrost Pack's herbal research institute wanted to offer me a position as a specialist herbalist."They still remember how you improved that formula when you were little," she said. "One of the researchers told me that if you'd gone to the Northern Academy, you probably would've been working in a lab years ago.""They just want to see what you can do now. Record yourself doing an herb extraction. If you pass, they'll send you an official offer."I held my phone without saying anything.I hadn't done any serious herbal research in six years. After Jake tore up my acceptance letter, I'd shoved my notes to the back of a cupboard. I couldn't even bring myself to linger outside an herb shop.Audrey smiled. "Brielle, you could identify plants nobody else recognized when we were kids. You even came up with your own formulas. Tell me you've still got some of that fire.""I do."After we hung up, I found my old notebooks. The covers were worn, wi

Kieran’s POVThe wineglass fell onto the carpet. Red wine seeped out around its rim, leaving a dark, ugly stain.My mind went blank.“Leave the pack for good? When did she apply?”Lucas gripped the doorframe, still out of breath.“A friend of mine was at the Registry this afternoon to replace some documents. He overheard someone say Brielle had filed for permanent withdrawal.”Maisie set down her dessert fork. Her voice was as gentle as ever.“Maybe she just wants to get away for a while?”“Does she need to give up her pack citizenship to do that?”My mother put her napkin on the table. Her gaze moved from Maisie to me.“You said something had come up. So you knew Brielle didn't want to come?”I still couldn't believe she was really leaving me.But I couldn't keep denying what was happening.My voice came out rough.“She's just upset. Maisie wanted to know what it felt like to have a mate. I agreed to spend some time with her. Brielle took it the wrong way.”My father slowly set down h

Kieran’s POVI shot to my feet, knocking over a cabinet.“What did you say?”The maid flinched.“I saw her drink it. Then she made me break the bottle and throw the pieces out with the ashes.”There was only one bottle of Silver Spring Water every seven years.When Brielle awakened at eighteen, her wolf was the strongest of her year. The elders had voted unanimously to give that bottle to her.But it had vanished soon after it arrived at her house. Rogue fur and tracks had been found outside the window. The pack enforcers had searched for a long time without finding the thief.I'd promised Brielle I would get it back.I closed my eyes for a moment, then went on.“What about the signs of rogues outside the window? What do you know about those?”“Maisie arranged that too. She made me scatter the fur outside. Then she told me how to leave the tracks in the snow.”The maid wiped her tears and winced as her hand brushed her injured face.“She said you and Jake loved her. If I told anyone, s

Brielle’s POVThe next day, I sent Mom some money and labeled the transfer “Medical expenses.”Jake sent me a long message. I told him to work out exactly how much of my old wages he owed me, then closed the chat.As I was leaving, Audrey handed me a paper bag.“I packed you a sandwich. In case you get too busy to remember lunch again.”I put it in my bag with my lab notebook.Owen was waiting at the bench with yesterday's records.“The warehouse checked. The insulated container failed during shipping.”He paused. His ears were a little red.“I was out of line yesterday. I'm sorry.”I nodded and pulled on my gloves.“Want to finish the rest of the samples together?”He pulled out the chair beside him to make room for me.As I got back into herbal research, I began to see how much I'd missed by studying on my own. I wrote down the steps for equipment I hadn't used before. When I couldn't understand a report, I took my questions to someone who could help.One day, after several failed at