เรื่องสั้นและนิยายในฉากAlpha Fake Death

In the third year after my mate and I bonded, I was handed over to Alpha Kyle Draven like a bargaining chip. Kyle never forced me to take his mark. He treated me kindly and gave me my freedom. He let me go back to my old pack regularly to see my family. When the backlash left me bedridden with a high fever, he stayed by my side all night. Little by little, I fell for him. It wasn't until later that I found out the truth. Kyle was using me as bait to distract the rogues running wild across his lands while he secretly rescued his fated mate. Once the woman he'd longed for was safe, he no longer needed me. All his warmth had been an act. He placed a bottle of sleeping potion in my palm. "It will suppress your vital signs for only three hours. "After the funeral, my people will wake you and take you far away, to the southern lands." So I went back to my pack to say goodbye. My former mate, Miles Carver, came to pick me up himself. My parents held me, trembling, and told me how much they'd missed me these past two years. I thought someone here, at least, would want me to stay. But that very night, my former mate carved my headstone himself. My mother dressed me in the clothes I was meant to die in. My father chose a solid wood coffin for me. They all tried to persuade me. "You'll only appear to be dead. You can start a whole new life in the south." As I watched my pack bustle around, it hit me that every word they'd said made sense. The Alpha wanted to welcome his fated mate. My former mate wanted to erase the shame of giving me away. My pack wanted to protect its standing and its honor. They'd planned every detail of my fake death. They kept saying it was for my own good, but no one asked if I wanted it. They wanted a perfect show. But I didn't want to play my part anymore.

On the day of our mating ceremony, my fiancé, whom I've been in love with for many years, ditches me at the altar and leaves hand-in-hand with my adopted younger sister, Aemyth Nightbloom. Surprisingly enough, Alpha Ivander Darkblaze proposes to me on the spot. "Will you become my mate, Aerith? I'll cherish you till death does us part." I accept his proposal. Since then, we've been bonded for five years. Ivander spoils me rotten, making me the happiest she-wolf in the Bloodmoon pack. That is, until a car accident ruins my life on the day I'm supposed to participate in the international dance showcase tryouts. I lie on the hospital bed with broken glass shards embedded in half of my face. At the same time, I can feel my wolf's voice starting to fade away within me. While I'm trapped in the limbo between layers of consciousness, I can hear Ivander's assistant, Timothy Howle, pleading with him. "Alpha Ivander, Ms. Aemyth has already qualified for the dance showcase. Luna Aerith has missed the tryouts because of the car accident. Now that you've gotten what you wanted, please give her the witch's potion and save her life!" Ivander merely wipes some blood off my face. "Put it away. If I were to save Aerith now, she'd still compete with Aemyth in the dance showcase. Aemyth can't take another blow. "Even if Aerith were to lose her wolf, she'd still be my Luna. I'll take care of her for the rest of my life." It turns out that Ivander proposed to me five years ago just so he could clean up Aemyth's mess for her. Five years of being showered with Ivander's affection means nothing compared to Aemyth simply making the cut. In that case, I shall fulfill Ivander's wish of being with Aemyth. On the night of my birthday, a blazing fire will take his Luna away from him. He will never be able to find me again after that.

My father, the Alpha, bought a pair of twin brothers from an underground fighting ring. He claimed they were meant to be personal guards for my stepsister and me. My stepsister Cecilia was the first to pick. She chose the healthy brother, Corbin, and tossed the nearly blind Slade to me. In my past life, I felt sorry for him. I kept him by my side for five long years. I visited every healer for him, preparing his remedies myself and treating his eyes. I even deliberately slowed my pace when walking just to match his poor vision. I always thought his coldness came from his physical flaws and past trauma. However, on the day of the attack, Slade found exactly where Cecilia was in the heavy smoke when no one else could see a thing. It was as if there had never been anything wrong with his eyes. Then he turned his head and spoke coldly. "Get out of the way. You can't even shift. You're just a useless burden." Lying in a pool of my own blood, I finally understood. His blindness was never a disease. He simply didn't want to look at me. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day we chose our guards. This time, I'd give him exactly what he wanted.

I am Ella Collins, the mate of the Darkshadow Pack's Alpha. Our pack was the strongest in Nomerika. Everyone knew Darkshadow was the top pack in the entire region. They had swallowed up countless smaller packs and made plenty of enemies along the way. After Adam marked me, he took me to every pack banquet and ceremony. He even introduced me to allied packs, proudly telling them I was his beloved mate. Everyone believed he loved me deeply. I believed it too. I was completely immersed in that love. However, I overheard him talking to his Beta one day. "There are so many packs that hate me. They'd tear me apart if they had the chance. "If I don't claim Ella and make her look like the one I love most, they'll target my real weakness—Amy." His words struck me like lightning. I finally learned the truth. I was nothing but a carefully chosen decoy. I was Adam's shield, designed to protect the woman he truly loved. I had foolishly mistaken his attention for affection and his betrayal for love. When I finally left Adam and disappeared into the distance… That was when he began to regret everything.

On the third day of kneeling before the statue of the Moon Goddess and praying for Ryan Summers, a sudden row of glowing text appeared right in front of my eyes. [Ryan really is a piece of trash. His little childhood sweetheart, Rowena Blake, ran off the moment she learned he was going to hold a bonding ceremony, so he actually faked his own death just to chase her.] [Ryan and Rowena are out there whispering sweet nothings to each other under the flowers and moonlight, while Jenna Cuttridge cried her eyes nearly blind over that scumbag.] [Too bad Jenna never finds out that Ryan tricked her. When he comes back from playing dead, she even happily marries him.] So this was the miracle the Moon Goddess had bestowed upon me. Thunderstruck, I grabbed my phone and called my Alpha father, Jake Cuttridge. "Dad, remember that alliance bonding you mentioned last time? I agree to it." Half a month later, the news that I would be entering an alliance bonding with an Alpha from the Northridge Pack spread throughout the entire wolf kingdom. Ryan's friend, Luke Carter, who had been in on his plan, rushed over and demanded, "Ryan just died not long ago, and you're already so eager to find the next guy?" "He's dead. I can't possibly stay single for him my whole life."

It was the third year of my secret relationship with Garrett, my Alpha brother's best friend. Marcus laughed and nudged Garrett playfully. "You've been with that little mate of yours for three years now. When are you going to introduce her to the pack?" I pressed myself against the doorframe, my heart racing. Had my brother figured out our secret? Garrett just laughed it off. "What mate? Just some crazy she-wolf who won't leave me alone." Marcus caught sight of me and grinned. "Sage, you see this? Never pick a mate like Garrett here." "Takes everything a female offers but won't even acknowledge the bond." Just then, more of Marcus's friends arrived, and they joined in the teasing. "Your brother's right, but Garrett's had his heart set on someone for years." "What was her name again? Oh right, Aria. She's returning to the pack soon." I'd heard that name before - Aria. But Garrett had never told me she was his true love.

Three years after bonding with my fated mate, Kael, he inherited his elder brother’s Alpha position. A witch delivered a prophecy: “Only if Kael claims his brother’s Luna, the Saintess Selena, and sires a sacred heir, can the pack continue its glory.” Kael immediately gripped my hand tightly, shielding me behind him, and refused resolutely. The elders were furious. He was given ninety-nine lashes and was made to kneel before the altar for three days and three nights. Though covered in wounds, he still said firmly: “I have only one mate in my life, and that is Evelyn.” But later, the elders were about to slit my throat with a silver dagger. Kael finally broke down. He pressed his forehead against my palm, his voice trembling: “Evelyn, wait, just wait a little longer for me. I only want you to survive. I’m just going to get Selena pregnant.” “Once the heir is born, I’ll take you far away. I will never love her. You are my only mate.” My heart ached as if pierced by knives, and my wolf let out mournful howls. I could only agree. After that, he spent every night tangled up with Selena, and the sounds of their pleasure were like knives torturing me. Finally, on the ninety-ninth time, Selena became pregnant. I went to find Kael in high spirits, wanting to tell him that we could finally leave together. But I overheard their conversation in the study: “If Evelyn knew that you bribed the witch to spread a false prophecy just to be with me, how heartbroken would she be?” Kael paused for a moment, then said in a gentle, hoarse voice: “Evelyn will never know. She will always be my Luna.” My world collapsed in an instant. The next moment, I wiped away my tears and dialed a long-forgotten phone number: “Come pick me up in three days.”

The day my adopted sister Xina was diagnosed with a rare blood disease, I was captured by rival pack hunters and taken across pack territories. In a hidden den beneath the mountains, I was chained like an omega during the day and subjected to endless humiliation. At night, they locked me in a moonless chamber and extracted my blood and bone marrow while I was conscious. By the time my pack found me, my body was broken beyond recognition, covered in bite marks, and infected with numerous diseases that even our supernatural healing couldn't combat. My mother, Alpha Serena, looked at me barely clinging to life, and howled so painfully she collapsed several times. My brother Ivan even traveled beyond our ancestral lands to find healers who could treat me. But in my half-conscious state, I accidentally overheard their conversation: "Mother, we captured Lisa just to save Xina, and let her be violated by so many rogues. Now we're taking one of her kidneys too—isn't that going to kill her?" Mother was silent for a long time, then choked up and said: "For Xina, I had no choice." "Besides, Lisa challenged Xina's rank all these years, made her severely depressed. This is just me atoning to Xina on her behalf." "It doesn't matter if she's been tainted. From now on, we'll keep her in the packhouse and take care of her. That'll count as compensation." As the silver blade sliced into my body, tears streamed uncontrollably from my eyes. A den with four wolves... was simply too crowded.