Cerita Pendek After Death Werewolf & Novel Alpha

When the Blackridge Pack invaded, I hid inside a closet with my daughter in my arms. The first rescue mech to break through the encircling wolves and leap into the building was piloted by my own brother, Kyle. But after opening the closet and taking one look at us, he simply turned around and headed for the room next door, where our adopted sister, Layla, was hiding. "Wren, you're the Luna. You're supposed to put the pack first. I'll take Layla out first. I'll come back for you and Mia on the second trip." We waited for an hour, and the second trip never came. I contacted my mate, Damian, and asked if he could send someone to get us out. His response was ice-cold. "Stop being so difficult, Wren. There are only so many rescue slots available. Kyle said you two were well hidden, so just hang in there a little longer. I'm the Alpha of the pack. You can't expect me to play favorites just because you're my mate." When I tried contacting him again, I discovered that Damian had already blocked our mate bond. Ten minutes later, wolf claws tore through the building's load-bearing walls. Half of the exterior wall came crashing inward, and the air quickly filled with wolfsbane. I used my own body to shield my daughter and preserve the last bit of space where she could survive, but there was nothing I could do as the wolfsbane slowly spread deeper through her body. I did not know how much time had passed before the next search-and-rescue mech finally arrived. They pulled Mia from the wreckage, barely clinging to life. But no one saw me, already buried beneath the ruins. My soul drifted above them. When I saw Mia being carried out, I thought at least my daughter had survived. Then they tossed her onto a metal cart. Her wolf soul was already being poisoned by the venom. Still, no one seemed concerned. The physician on duty had just picked up an antidote syringe when my biological mother, Elara, reached out and stopped him. "It's fine. That little bit of wolfsbane isn't enough to put Mia's life at risk. Save the Moondew for Layla first." Elara gently pressed down on the physician's wrist. "If Wren chose to run away by herself and abandon her daughter, then Mia should learn exactly what her mother's selfishness costs." As it turned out, they all thought I had abandoned my daughter and escaped on my own. None of them knew that I had already been left behind forever beneath those ruins.

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.

At his Alpha succession ceremony, Damien seated his childhood sweetheart in the Luna's chair, then dropped a mate bond severance agreement in front of me. “Once the bond's dissolved, I'll give you money. Enough to live comfortably for the rest of your life. One condition: stay away from Serena.” I signed without hesitation but I didn't take a cent. “Don't worry. I'll disappear from your lives for good.” That night I went home, took out the silver knife I'd already prepared, and dragged it across my wrist. Twenty-five years ago I'd crossed into this world of werewolves. For twenty-five years I'd worked to win over three protagonists, and every last attempt had failed. The Moon Goddess had told me: once this body died, I could go home, back to my parents. I lay on the cold floor and waited for the end. As my mind went hazy, I felt no fear, only a strange, giddy relief. And right as I was slipping away, I thought I heard someone screaming my name.

Everyone I've ever loved ends up loving Vanessa Hale more. I can see it happen. There's a number over their heads, and it tells me exactly how much they like her. At the orphanage, my favorite teacher hit 80. She stopped saving me candy. She stopped taking my hand. The day before my mating ceremony, my fiancé hit 100. He said he needed more time. There was a hickey on his neck. So I said okay, and I left. Then my real family found me. An Alpha, his Luna, and a big brother who spoiled me rotten. Every time I praised Vanessa in front of them, their numbers dropped. All the way to negative one hundred thousand. I finally let my guard down. Then they missed my birthday. And when they walked in, the number over their heads said 20.

In the second month of suffering from wolfsbane poisoning, my Alpha mate, Stanley, finally agreed to take me to the hot springs in the south to treat my condition. Along the way, the temperature inside the cabin kept dropping, and my wolf spirit grew increasingly restless. I instinctively looked out the window. Suddenly, I saw an endless expanse of ice and snow beneath a vast, open sky. I looked at Stanley, who was laughing and joking around with my younger sister Mila, and asked in confusion, "Isn't this the way to the snowcaps in the north?" Stanley quickly wrapped his arms around Mila, who was shivering, and shot me an impatient look. "We'll help Mila get to the summit of the snowcaps first. Then we'll take you to the hot springs." My older brother, Bryan, rolled his eyes at me. "Wendy, even when we're out having fun, you try to have things your way first. You're really making a fuss over nothing." My mom, Karen, sighed. "Wendy, Mila spent years suffering out in the wilderness. You should be more considerate of her." The moment the cabin door opened, freezing air swept over me from head to toe, and the poison in my bloodstream began to surge. "But my body–" I tried to argue. Stanley frowned and cut me off when he saw me trembling all over. "Stop acting so fragile. The wolfsbane poison in your body isn't nearly as serious as you make it out to be. "Enough. If you can't keep up, climb at your own pace. We'll meet you at the summit." He had no idea that I would never make it to the summit.

My Alpha mate Cain's childhood sweetheart Vivienne had returned from her overseas training in healing. She'd made a bet with the other healers that she could use the deadly wolfsbane to cure patients. Every senior healer told her it was absolutely impossible. But she ignored the warnings and injected a massive dose of wolfsbane extract straight into my mother Iris's body. My mother fell into a deep coma after her wolf was killed. My brother Ethan, enraged at the Moonlight Gathering, demanded a Trial by Blood from Vivienne, demanding her life. But Cain had Ethan imprisoned in the Silver Prison before the gathering. I was trembling with rage, wanting to tell everyone the truth at the gathering. But Cain stopped me. “When you go up on stage, tell everyone that what happened to your mother was an accident.” I froze, tears streaming down my face. I was his mate, after all. A flicker of guilt crossed Cain's eyes as he gently wiped away my tears. “Don't cry, baby,” his voice was low and gentle. “Vivian and I grew up together. She saved my life when we were little. She's a good person. She would never intentionally use Wolfsbane to harm your mother. It was an accident.” “You just need to admit it wasn't Vivian's fault,” Cain said, “and I'll get the best healers to treat your mother.” He paused. “Ethan will be released immediately too.” I closed my eyes. “Okay…” Since Vivienne was so important to you, then I would grant your wish. I turned and staged my death, leaving with my mother and brother. But the powerful Alpha broke down, searching the world for me and begging me to come back.

Three years ago, Arthur swore a blood oath at the Moon Altar. No other she-wolf would ever touch him. Only me. Forever. Three years later, he drugged me with wolfsbane wine, stole my Alpha Seal, and opened Silver Moon's borders to the Rogues himself. My parents took silver to the heart. My sister was sold to the Crimson Court. My pack burned. He crushed my jaw and forced me to watch. "They called me your lap dog. I destroyed you to prove I was no dog." He thought he had all the time in the world to break me. He didn't know. When I had pulled him from that Rogue ambush in the ice, a moonstone shard had pierced my heart. I had three days left to live.

I died on the day I was supposed to receive the Silvermoon Devotion Medal from the pack. My family, though—they were busy celebrating my little sister winning the "Pack's Best Neighbor" award at her birthday party. While she made her wish for the whole family to love her forever, I dialed my fated mate, Alpha Theodore, begging for help. He cut me off with an impatient snap— "Diana, this is the most important moment of Elara's life. Quit pulling those petty stunts for attention." It was the ninety-ninth time he'd chosen her over me. But there won't be a next time. Because I'm already dead.

My pup Asher had been sick for six months. Every time I personally cared for him, he became even sicker. I finally believed the witch's prophecy: I was cursed. My very existence would harm my own pup. I went to the moon temple and prayed that the moon goddess would lift the curse and ensure my pup's safety. From then on, my Alpha mate Damon brought Asher up the mountain every day to see me. Hundreds of miles of mountain road. They made the trip over a thousand times. Our bond never faded with the distance. Until today. A group of rogues broke into the Sanctuary and pushed me down the stone steps. I called Damon all night. No one answered. Then I received an anonymous video. Damon knelt in front of a woman, kissing her swollen belly. Asher stood next to them, grinning ear to ear. "I'm gonna have a brother! Aunt Serena, your pregnancy must have been so tough. Me and Dad will be your knights forever." He turned to Damon, his young face bright with pride. "Dad, I faked being sick pretty well, right? Pretending to feel awful every day, tricking Mom into taking me to the Healer over and over. They never found anything wrong, and she really believed that curse stuff. Went up the mountain all on her own." "But what if Mom finds out? Won't she be mad?" Damon didn't seem worried. "Don't worry. I've got the whole mountain sealed off. She won't find out." Only then did I understand. Everything had been a lie, planned by my mate and my son. I turned around and knocked over the Hope Flame that I had lit for Asher without hesitation. This flame was lit at the cost of my wolf’s strength, offered to the Moon Goddess so that she might bless Asher with health. Through the flames, a familiar figure sprinted toward me.

That night, Liam served me my usual evening tea. I trusted him completely—he was my mate, after all, and a respected healer of Thornpack. I shouldn't have. When I woke up the next morning, my head was spinning. The special safe where I kept the morphing inhibitor—the one I'd spent my entire savings to import from Europe for our daughter Isla—was empty. Racing to the healing center, I found Liam celebrating. He was handing out moon-blessed wine, beaming with pride as Natalie's daughter Anna showed off her perfect transformation. My inhibitor had been used on his first love's pup instead of our own daughter. The shock triggered something in my brain. When I collapsed, they diagnosed me with the rare tumor that plagued our kind. Without inhibitors, I couldn't stop Isla's transformation that came early, her six year old body couldn't handle the massive wolf form and the force ripped through her young body. And I, for one, don't even have enough money to keep her in a treatment center. She died in my arms three days later, her little claws drawing blood as the pain overwhelmed her. Until her last breath, she kept asking why Papa hadn't come. Now, in my cold, empty home, with the white porcelain urn containing her ashes on the table, I touch her and decide to sever our partnership.

Everyone envied how my best friend and I mated to the Alpha twins of the Creek Pack. But the pack didn't know that Victoria, their widowed stepmother, was the one the Alpha twins truly loved. My best friend Cathy and I planned to run away, but the night before our escape, she poisoned herself with wolfsbane. I called her mate Damon, but he sneered, "Luna, my brother says, your and Cathy's little tricks are getting really old. Are you going to jump off Silver Cliff tomorrow?"

Being locked away by my parents as a child left me with severe claustrophobia. Every time it flared up, I not only lost my voice but also lost my ability to use the mind-link with anyone in the pack. In my parents' eyes, a strong werewolf should have gotten over something that happened so long ago. Each time I lost my voice, only Alpha Caius Thorne stayed by my side. He kept notepads and pens throughout the estate and kept our conversation pinned to the top of his messages. He even learned sign language just for me. When another episode struck, I signed to him with trembling hands. "Does this ever make you tired of me?" My mate's scent enveloped me, calming my restless wolf. "Never. If anything, I'm glad we have a language that's just ours." Then Sage Mercer returned. She was a human healer and one of my closest friends. She tricked me into entering an underground stone chamber and locked me inside. The sealed space triggered another episode. I couldn't call for Caius, even though he was standing right outside the door. All I could do was sign frantically. But he acted like he didn't understand and stood there as Sage sealed the heavy stone door. Panic took over. I shifted into my wolf form and threw myself against the door with everything I had. Again and again, I slammed into it until my body was drenched in blood, yet not a single cry for help escaped my throat. Then I heard Sage speaking to Caius on the other side of the door. "Elara has to face her trauma head-on. Protecting her every time this happens won't help her get better. "A Luna represents her pack. With a condition like hers, she'll only hold you back. "Once she can call out for help on her own, we'll let her out." Caius said nothing. I understood his silence for what it was: agreement. So that was how Caius really saw me. A burden. But they had forgotten this underground chamber was designed to hold untamable beasts. Once the heavy door was sealed, almost no fresh air could get inside. No matter

While I was being brutally tortured, my mate was with his first love, a she-wolf named Lily who'd been poisoned with wolfsbane. The wolves who had a personal vendetta against Louis blinded me and stuffed my mouth with stones, violating me one by one, then tried to call him using my phone. The alpha only gave me a heartless command before hanging up, not listening to a word. "Unless you donate your bone marrow fluid to Lily, I'll continue ignoring you!" The enemy wolves stared at the blood trickling down my legs, and mocked, "Oh, were you pregnant? Well, seems like we got the wrong person, anyway! How could you and your baby not compare to a poisoned she-wolf?" When my corpse was discovered, Louis immediately reminded Lily to be careful. When another wolf reminded him that he should check in on me since I was pregnant, he scoffed. "Pregnant? Her? Is that the lie she's going with to justify not saving Lily? "I never want to see such someone so venomous again!" Little did he know that he already saw me. The corpse, decaying and rotting in front of him, was me, his Luna.

My future mate, Alpha Ethan Steele, wants to exact justice for my adoptive sister, Alicia Mason. So, despite my two-month pregnancy, he has locked me away in a mountain cave to reflect on my actions. Some time later, the cave wall suddenly collapses, and debris crashes down upon me. I curl up in a crevice for safety. Feeling intermittent cramps in my lower abdomen, I tremble as I dial the pack communicator to call for help. "Help! The walls just caved in! I'm going to be crushed!" The pack members' cold voices ring out from the other end of the communicator. "The Alpha already told us beforehand that you'd lie about suffering just to escape punishment. He wants you to properly reflect on yourself!" The communication ends. Gritting my teeth, I dial my parents' number instead. However, I only hear disappointed voices reprimanding me through the speaker. "How could you lock Alicia in the basement? She was in there for so long, and she was all alone! She's almost breaking down in fear! She's your sister, for goodness' sake. How could you be so heartless? "Ethan punished you by locking you up in the mountain cave to reflect on your actions. He's doing this so that you'd get a taste of the despair and helplessness Alicia felt when she was trapped by you!" With the last shred of strength in my body, I dial Ethan's number. His voice is cold and stern. "Stop playing the victim and reflect on what you've done." The rubble keeps piling up, and I can't even move an inch. As my blood seeps into the dirt, my vision slowly blurs. Through the haze, I see Ethan shielding Alicia as they slowly approach the entrance of the cave.

My mother never believed me. To her, I was always just a lying pup. In my pack, every cub wore a Moon Oath Collar. Red meant you lied. White meant you told the truth. My sister’s collar always glowed a soft white. Even when she pretended to be sick to get out of an exam, her collar only gave off that gentle white light. Mine was different. Even when I was truly sick, my collar would burst into a violent red, and the punishment current would follow immediately. On my sister’s birthday, Mother prepared a bonfire feast for the whole pack. Just before they left, a splitting pain tore through my head, and I collapsed on the floor, begging her to help me. For one second, she almost picked me up. Then my collar flashed red. “To ruin your sister’s birthday, you’re even pretending to die? What a vicious child.” Then she walked out with my sister and left me alone on the floor. I died alone on the cold floor. But when I opened my eyes again, I was no longer inside my body. My soul drifted after my mother as I whispered the truth she had never believed. “Mom… I wasn’t lying. I really died.” And when they finally found my body, the red collar on my neck was still flashing.

My foster sister Sophia, the last purebred white wolf in Grell village, was raped and tortured to death by an unknow rogue wolf. Her suicide note contained only one sentence: "Lina saw his face." From that day on, I became the pack's greatest sinner. Because I knew who the killer was, but I kept silent for five years. Until my foster brother Damien, the most powerful Alpha in North America, returned. He brought back the Soul Vision Device and forcibly extracted memories from my werewolf soul. All the werewolves who had the Soul Vision Device used on them either died or went insane. My werewolf was repeatedly tortured in the device, but Damien suppressed the pain in his eyes and roared, "When I find the truth, I'll send you and the murderer to hell together." But when they finally discovered the truth, Damien went mad.

On Alpha Adrian Blackwood’s thirty-fifth birthday, his foster sister, Selena Vale, put on a magic show for the entire Mooncrest Pack. Selena had insisted that I join her onstage and assist with the grand finale. She had spent months learning stage magic and bragging about every new illusion until the entire pack was convinced she was practically a master magician. So when the blades inside Selena’s illusion box turned out to be real, no one believed my screams. Selena laughed into the microphone. “Our Luna deserves an Oscar. Doesn’t she make it look real?” The entire pack laughed with her. Even Adrian frowned at me from the front row. “Elena, enough. Don’t ruin my birthday just because you can’t stand Selena being in the spotlight.” Our six-year-old son looked up at me and said, “Mommy, stop pretending. Aunt Selena worked really hard.” Then the next blade came down. And another. They thought I was putting on a performance to ruin Selena’s magic show. But I wasn’t acting. I was dying.

On the day I was finally set to bond with Alric Thorne, my childhood sweetheart and the Alpha, he volunteered to endure 99 lashes to apologize to the entire pack for my inability to bear children. I was touched that he'd taken all the blame for me. Then, right in front of the entire pack, he announced that he would mark both me and my older sister, Yvette Hale. Alric kissed the tears from my cheek. "Sigrid, I'm only marking Yvette so she isn't giving me an heir for nothing! You're my only Luna!" That night, he spent two hours in my sister's room. The pain that burned through our mate bond nearly consumed me. After that, as if to make it up to me, he spent every day practicing archery and hunting with me. Even when my sister suffered severe postpartum bleeding, he didn't even visit her. And my sister never once set foot in the Alpha's hall on her own. I accepted the arrangement, hoping that once my sister gave birth to an heir, we could finally put an end to it. But seven years passed, and Yvette gave birth to three daughters, none of whom were eligible to inherit the Alpha title. Then one day, I overheard Osric, the pack healer, talking with Alric. "I've prepared another tonic for Yvette. I guarantee her next pup will be a girl, too. But are you sure the Luna won't get suspicious?" Alric paused. "Seven years, and she still insists on having her way. Why can't she be more like Yvette? At least Yvette knows her place. We're only doing this to spare her feelings. If she'd just step aside on her own, it would make things so much easier." My heart felt like it was bleeding. During the border war, I shielded him from three enemy arrows, taking every hit myself. Even with my wounds, I unleashed the last of my white wolf's power, saving his life and winning the battle. When I was on the brink of death, he kissed me, weeping as he swore he'd marry me if I would just open my eyes. He called to my wolf again and again until she finally woke. I lost the ability to have children, and I married into the Frostmoon pack with the honors I'd earned in the war. And after all that, all I got in return was a lie. The only one he had ever loved was my sister. I looked toward the distant mountains. My wolf and I lay weak beneath an old tree. I hadn't told him the truth: he didn't need to keep lying to me. I had barely a year left to live.

Mom was Dad's dirty little secret. Every year, he would hold her and promise, Wait for me. We'll have our mating ceremony next year. Five years passed, but he mated with another woman instead, making her his Luna. Mom grew bitter and unhinged. She even resorted to abusing me just to get Dad's attention. Go call your father! Tell him you're sick and he needs to see you! But after she pulled that trick so many times, Dad grew disgusted with me. Learning to lie like your mother already. Sickening. Later, Dad's Luna had a daughter. Rumors of their perfect, loving family spread through the pack. Mom lost her mind completely. On my seventh birthday, she fed me a micro-dose of wolfsbane and ordered me to call Dad over. I begged her to take me to the pack hospital. She snapped impatiently, It's just a little wolfsbane. Take the antidote in a minute and you'll be fine. Stop being such a baby! Dad rushed over, only to shove Mom to the floor in annoyance. If you use this little liar to trick me again, you won't get another dime from me! Screams and sobs tangled in the air. I lay on the freezing floor, slowly losing consciousness. Before I died, I thought, "Without me here, they won't have to fight anymore." But after I actually died, Mom and Dad both said they regretted it.

"If you refuse to apologize, stay here and reflect on your actions! Feel the pain Agnes went through!" Kenneth was the Alpha. His childhood friend was accidentally locked in a storage unit for three days. To punish me, he locked me in a faulty walk-in freezer. He left me with nothing but a piece of bread the size of my palm before locking the door and leaving. Unbeknownst to him, this walk-in freezer wasn't actually faulty. Not long after he left, the cooling system was suddenly activated. I screamed for help and desperately sought ways to survive. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I clawed at the door, nobody came to my rescue. A week later, he finally showed up outside the freezer. He was expecting an apology from me. But when he opened the freezer's door, all he found was my frozen corpse.