Cerita Pendek Feel-Good Story Werewolf & Novel Alpha Face Slapping

On my way home, I saved a witch from a rogue attack. She thanked me with a small vial of potion, which would let me hear other people’s thoughts. That night, at the pack banquet, I heard my mate’s thoughts. ‘Serena just bought the sexiest lingerie. I need to find some excuse to ditch Aurora tonight.’ A second voice cut in, a woman’s. ‘She has no idea every time Lucian says he’s working late, he’s with me. We’ve slept together so many times now.’ ‘Once I’m pregnant with Lucian’s child, he’ll have every reason to break the mate bond with her. And when he becomes Alpha, I’ll be the Luna.’ I almost laughed out loud. What Serena didn’t know was that Lucian was the Alpha’s illegitimate son. He’d never inherit anything. I was already running through how to make them pay when another voice broke through. It came from the man standing next to Serena, the shabby boyfriend everyone in this pack looked down on. ‘How am I supposed to tell her I’m the heir to the Alpha King?’ My eyes went wide. I kept my face blank and walked straight up to him. “Hey. Mind if I get your number?”

On the day of my mate bond ceremony with Harry, his first love, Teresa, suddenly appeared. She tried to stop Harry and me. But Stephen, the Alpha of our pack, ordered the servants to block her outside. At the final step of the ceremony, when Harry and I were on a power stone at the bottom of a sacred cliff, Teresa fell from the sky. When we approached, she was already dead. Harry held back his tears and proceeded to complete the mate bond ceremony with me. In the following years, Harry hated me and Stephen deeply. As the Beta, he should have been Stephen’s most powerful supporter in the pack, but he took over the Alpha’s position and expelled Stephen from our pack. Stephan became a bankrupt and wandering werewolf. Harry brought different she-wolves home every night, and even took other werewolves to our bedroom while I was asleep. Until one day, Harry kidnapped Stephen and me. He brought us back to the same cliff. “Teresa jumped from here. Only one of you will live. Let’s see who will push the other down.” To his surprise, we both jumped. When I opened my eyes, I was back to the day of the mate bond ceremony. I saw Teresa was still alive and about to break into our ceremony. Stephen was standing beside me. We quickly changed looks. I shouted, “Wait a minute! Let her in.”

Legend has it that if you venture deep into Moon Forest, find a moonstone that symbolizes love, and give it to your beloved, the two of you will be together forever. In the seven years since I became Sebastian's mate, owning a moonstone necklace had become my obsession. He once promised me that the very first thing he would do after becoming Alpha was give me a moonstone himself. For that promise, I waited year after year. I once asked him, "Could you get me a moonstone necklace? It shouldn't be that difficult for you." But he didn't even look up. "I've been busy lately. I'll go find one for you once things settle down." But he was always busy, and I never brought it up again. Until one day, I saw an elegant little box on his desk with a moonstone inside. I was overjoyed, thinking the day I had been waiting for had finally come. But the next day, I saw that very moonstone on his Beta's Instagram. Her caption read: "I just casually said I wanted one, and you actually got it for me. So this is what it feels like to be someone's first choice." I gripped the hem of my shirt and silently turned off my phone. I went to a witch and asked for a potion to break the mate bond. I boarded a plane and left the place I had called home for seven years. I was no longer fixated on that little stone. I had my own wilderness to explore.

Everyone in the pack knew I was in love with the Alpha, Luther Pauley. I had done whatever it took to win him over, even sneaking into his bed more than once. When I turned 18, the pack's seer predicted that Luther was my destined mate. But I refused the marking ceremony and chose to leave the pack instead. Luther looked stunned as he blocked my way out. "If you walk away now, don't ever come back." No one in the pack believed I would really go. They were even making bets about how soon I'd crawl back. "I'm calling three days!" "You're giving her too much credit. I'll wager a bottle of healing tonic that she'll be running back here in three minutes!" I ignored them and went straight to Sawyer Dunn, the Alpha of Graymoon Pack. This time, I swore I would never look back again.

Alexander's mistress was pregnant. He turned his back on me without a shred of hesitation, canceled our marking ceremony, and brought her home instead. As he passed by, he didn't even look at me. He just left a brief order hanging in the air. "She's weak. You know medicine. From now on, you'll handle her meals." When he reached the first floor, he paused again. "She's pregnant. She can't be frightened, and she needs me to sleep beside her." His voice was flat, devoid of any feeling for me. "There are plenty of empty rooms. Move out of mine." I packed my things quietly, without a word, and walked out of the estate. The butler tried to stop me, but Alexander's voice cut through the hall, cold and final. "Let her go. Once she cools off, she'll come crawling back on her own." His men, watching the scene unfold, exchanged amused glances. They even placed bets right in front of me—how many minutes before I'd regret leaving and come running back. But none of them knew the truth. The Alpha King my parents had chosen for me had already sent a car to wait for me outside the gate. This time, I wasn't coming back.

Grayson Hale and Bianca Ellery had been inseparable since childhood. No matter what happened, Bianca always came first. She wore our engagement ring before I did. She even tried on my wedding dress before me. Then, the day before Grayson and I were supposed to hold our mating ceremony, he slept with her. When I confronted them, Bianca didn't even look ashamed. "I was worried Grayson wouldn't know what to do on your first night together. I was just helping him practice." Grayson backed her up. "Exactly. I'm just letting Bianca experience it for three days before our ceremony. I never marked her. You're still the only woman I'll take as my mate." I didn't cry or make a scene. I simply mind-linked my father. "Dad, cancel my mating ceremony with Grayson. Find me someone else." If I had to share his love, I didn't want it.

After graduation, I spend a year interning with my mentor, a healer, out in the neutral lands—no packs, no laws, and no one to protect me. My brother, the Lycan Chairman of all werewolves, nearly loses his mind over it. He's terrified I'll fall for some Rogue and impulsively form a reckless mate bond. As such, he handpicks an arranged mate for me—Falcon Sterling, the Alpha of the strongest pack in Northmere. He's handsome and dangerous, a legendary figure. My brother orders me to come home for the mating ceremony, so I have no choice but to go pick out a Luna crown. At the jewelry shop, my eyes snap straight to a crown made of pure silver and covered in diamonds. Just as I reach out to take it, a sharp female voice cuts in. "I like the one she's holding. I'll take it. Hand it over." Before I can react, the clerk snatches the crown right out of my hands, nearly scraping my skin. I straighten up, forcing myself to stay calm. "Ever heard of 'first come, first served?' I saw it first. Is this how you do things here?" The she-wolf slowly turns toward me, casting me a long, mocking look. "This crown costs 300 thousand dollars. You sure you can afford it, peasant? I grew up with the Alpha of the Silvermoon pack, Falcon Sterling. Around here, I make the rules." I stare at her, almost laughing. Isn't that funny? Falcon just happens to be my arranged mate. I pull out my phone and press the call button. "Hey, Falcon. Your adorable childhood sweetheart just stole the Luna crown I'm supposed to wear for the mating ceremony. What do you think I should do about that?"

Among our kind, there's an old rule. Every Luna must carry a token of her rank, and only the woman wearing that token has the right to stand at the Alpha's side. I'd been with Damien Cole for seven years. For the Luna token, I gave him everything. I took care of him down to the smallest detail. I once threw myself between him and a rogue's claws, which is why there's a scar across my stomach that will never fade. And then, at the pack banquet, Serena walked in on Damien's arm in a couture gown and, in front of everyone, dared me to hand over the moonstone ring that marked me as Luna. Damien saw the whole thing. He said nothing. He let it happen. Everyone waited for me to scream, to make a scene. I didn't. I slid the moonstone ring off my finger, calm as anything, and pushed it onto hers. "It suits you better than it ever suited me." Something like surprise flickered behind Damien's eyes, but it melted fast into smugness. "Aurora. You finally learned your place." I kept my head down. The corner of my mouth curved. I hadn't learned my place. A month ago, I got back every memory I'd lost. I'm the Alpha King's long-lost daughter. In three days, he's coming to take me home himself.

I spent three days and three nights decorating the altar for my mating ceremony. My mate, Alpha Alec, used it to pledge himself to another woman. His dead brother’s mate. I rushed to confront him, but before I could speak, Serena clutched her chest and collapsed. Furious, Alec threw me in the silver room, leaving me to suffer as the silver burned through my veins. "My brother died before he could claim her! I was giving Serena the ceremony she deserved. Why did you have to ruin it?" "Serena's wolf is weak because of you. You'll stay here until she wakes up. Think about what you've done." Three years later, the Lycan King, Damien, returned to the North with his mate. He was hosting a summit for the Alliance at a top-tier lakeside resort. Alec arrived with Serena, who was dripping in luxury. He was there to beg Damien for control over the Alliance's new project on the Genetic Decay. He saw me being blocked by the guards and glanced at the file in my hands. "I heard you bonded with some rogue, a worthless wolf with a tainted bloodline, just to spite me. Regretting it now?" "If you beg me, I might consider getting you in." I didn't even bother to look at him. Damien had left a critical report at home. I had to get it to him before the summit meeting.

Our pack was forcibly dissolved for provoking a war. The Werewolf Council issued a new decree. All young wolves who hadn't participated in the war were required to undergo a heart blood extraction within one month to complete an aggression gene screening. Those who passed could join a new pack. Those who didn't would be expelled and cast out as rogues. Sophia, a white wolf, suddenly claimed that her father was the chairman of the Werewolf Council. She said she could get her father to exempt everyone from the screening and grant them unconditional entry into the Blackstone Pack. Our friends believed her and simply waited for her to lead them into the new pack. I urged everyone to complete the screening as a backup plan. That irritated Sophia. She mocked me for being clueless and making everyone suffer for nothing. "Some of them might carry the aggression gene. If they fail the screening, are you going to take responsibility?" My boyfriend Silas said I was too jealous and didn't want anyone else to have it good. Left with no choice, I reported what was happening in the pack to the Council. Sophia was immediately stripped of her membership for identity fraud and obstruction of the merger. Without the pack's protection, she died in the wilderness. At the time, every member of the pack said she deserved what she got and thanked me for saving them. But after we entered the new territory, Silas stabbed me with a silver dagger. Not a single pack member standing by lifted a finger to help me. "All we had to do was endure a little pain from the blood draw. Sophia lost her life!" When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Sophia declared herself the chairman's daughter.

Our pack was in financial trouble, so my brother drugged me and put me in Rowan Gale's bed to save it. "Penny, the pack is short on money. The only thing that can save us is a deal with Rowan Gale. "You're exactly his type. Do this for the pack. Sleep with him for one night. "You might even become his Luna." Half-conscious, I was delivered to Rowan Gale's room by my brother. At first, I was frightened. Then I heard the name, and the weight lifted from my chest. I caught myself smiling. After all, the Rowan Gale they spoke of with such awe had once knelt before me and thanked me for saving his life. And I'd taught him every method he used to run that pack. I wondered what his expression would be when he saw me in his bed. I also wondered how comfortable my brother's life would be after offending him.

For seven years, I took medicine to suppress my Alpha bloodline, all to protect the fragile pride of my Beta boyfriend, Liam. On the night of our anniversary, he chose not to show up. He was with a Highborn she-wolf he had only just met. He believed I was nothing more than an ordinary Omega in the pack, someone he could discard at will and win back with gifts. He claimed my bloodline could never compare to hers. Liam never knew the truth. I carried the purest Alpha bloodline because I was a Moonborn. When he finally realized what he had lost and came begging for me to return, it was all too late. My new Alpha mate was standing by my side, shielding me from Liam. His betrayal ended our story, but my true beginning had only just unfolded.

Seven days of overtime through Thanksgiving. I was ready to kill someone. First day back at Silver Moon territory after the holiday, Luna Sophia came storming into the council hall in heeled boots, screaming at the top of her lungs. "I'm going to find that homewrecker!" "I'm going to find the shameless tramp who kept my mate away from the territory for seven days!" Every wolf in the middle of pack business froze. Some of them even pulled out their phones to record. In my previous life, a young she-wolf named Evelyn had stood in the crowd and pointed at me, timid as a church mouse. "During Thanksgiving break... it seems like Viola was the only one who stayed with Alpha Kane to handle border affairs..." I'd barely lifted my head, eyes swollen and bloodshot from lack of sleep, when a slap cracked across my face. Sophia grabbed my hair and screamed in front of the entire pack that I was a shameless fox who'd used pack business as an excuse to seduce the Alpha, that I'd hogged Kane to myself all through Thanksgiving. Kane didn't say a word in my defense. He even said, right there in front of everyone, cold as ice, that I was the one who'd been clinging to him. Then he personally stripped my badge and threw me out of the core territory. I lost my position and the pack I'd spent years protecting. The humiliation spread to every neighboring territory within days. Everyone was talking. Saying Viola from Silver Moon had no shame. That she'd gone after a mated Alpha. That she got what she deserved. Then Sophia, still furious, came after me in her car while I was leaving the territory. Ran me right into the snowbank by the frozen lake. When I opened my eyes again, I was right back at the moment Sophia burst into the council hall. She hadn't even opened her mouth yet. I slammed my hands on the table and shot to my feet. "Sis, you're looking for the cheater?" "God damn it, so am I! I wanna know which she-wolf has a death wish big enough to steal the Alpha!"

On the night of the full moon, my wolf recognized Alpha Caine as my mate. But he claimed he couldn't feel our bond. Instead, his wolf recognized his childhood sweetheart, Sera, as his mate. "Evelyn, you'd lie under the Moon Goddess's watch just to become Luna?" The entire pack sided with their Alpha, calling me shameless. I looked at the people who had depended on me just to keep food on their tables, and my heart went cold. "None of you believe me?" "You weren't born into Frost Fang. We knew you had an agenda!" "You worked yourself to the bone from the moment you came here. So this was all about stealing the Luna title!" "You already have Alpha blood in your veins. Who knows? Once you become Luna, maybe you'll rename Frost Fang Black Stone!" They jeered, every one of them looking ready to cast me out of the pack. Then Caine stepped forward. "Evelyn, as long as you're willing to submit to Luna Sera, you may remain in Frost Fang." I laughed at the look on his face, as though he were granting me mercy. That night, I begged the Moon Goddess to sever my mate bond. But one week later, Caine brought the entire pack before me and begged for my forgiveness.

My future mother-in-law Isabella went to the clinic for treatment. She died on the table, under the hands of my fiancé's childhood friend Claire. I brought evidence and appealed to the Elder Council three times. I lost all three. Just as I was preparing to request fourth time, I discovered that Isabella's body had vanished. Just as I was about to gather the guards to search for her, my fiancé, Alexander, suddenly showed up and slapped a check down in front of me. "You should know by now, I'm the Alpha of this pack. As long as I don't agree, it doesn't matter how much evidence you bring. This case stays closed." "The Elders already ruled that she deliberately hid her allergy. You keep appealing because you want a bigger payout. That's all this is." "Claire just became a trainee healer. She needs specimens. I gave her your mother's body for research. At least this way she can be useful one last time." "Leave Claire alone." That was when I finally understood. This whole time, Alexander believed the person Claire killed was my birth mother.

The day the Royal Academy's screening results came out, the twin Alpha heirs — Julian and Damien — stood in front of me. Each of them was holding an application form. "Ivy. Have you decided whose name you're putting on that form?" In my previous life, I chose Julian for love. I gave up my direct admission to the Royal Academy and stayed behind in the pack with him and Celeste — his childhood-friend Omega who'd failed the screening — to help them train for another year. I thought that was what it meant to go through hardship together. That was love. But the pack laughed at Celeste — an Omega who thought she could get into the combat track at the Royal Academy. She couldn't stand the gossip, ran off alone, and was killed by rogue wolves. Julian threw me into the silver pit — the pit our pack used to execute traitors. Silver burns a wolf's flesh like acid. "If you hadn't been so desperate to cling to me, I could've focused on protecting Celeste. She wouldn't be dead!" "Ivy Hale — all of this is your fault. You ruined us." He poured silver down my throat. I died thrashing in agony. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the screening results were announced. This time, I slipped my arm through Damien's and gave the brightest smile I had. "Let's apply to the Royal Academy together." Julian let out a quiet, relieved breath and turned to go find his Omega. He didn't see the way Damien's hand tightened around mine — or the obsession and ambition he couldn't quite hide behind his eyes.

At the Alpha Summit, my younger brother Felix accused me in front of everyone. "I grew up crushed under my older sister's thumb. If I so much as ate a piece of candy, she'd pry my mouth open and dig it out." I swirled the red wine in my glass and gave a cold laugh. "That wasn't candy. It was a pill made from wolfsbane. If I hadn't saved you, you wouldn't even have the chance to stand here talking to me." Felix's face froze. Refusing to give up, he said, "When our cousin Toby came to stay with us, you gave him every single moonstone I'd worked so hard to find. I'm your own brother, and you played favorites with someone else?" I sighed. "Your cousin had it rough. A big fire burned his family's house to the ground." "What does that have to do with me? Just because he had it rough, I'm supposed to give in to him every time?" "You set that fire." The room went dead silent. The reporters hammered their shutter buttons, capturing Felix looking as if he'd swallowed something foul. "Well, didn't I find him a job afterward? I went out of my way to help him, but the second you found out, you beat me up. Do you have any idea how badly that scarred my fragile young heart?" His eyes reddened as he spoke, while the memory made my blood boil all over again. "You shipped your cousin off to work in a mine in the Wastelands. How is that any different from exile? "You locked him into a five-year contract when you sent him there, so he's still serving hard labor in the Wastelands. You're telling me you didn't deserve that beating?" The viewers watching the livestream didn't know whether to laugh or cry. [Poor Toby. He still hasn't escaped that family?] [See, no beating is ever wasted.] [Just get a new brother. This one's a lost cause.]

Just before our Luna Ceremony, my mate, Alpha Killian, rejected me—moments after we'd mated. "The pack needs a gentle Omega for a Luna, Mia. Not a Beta with blood on her hands like you." His face was a cold mask, his Alpha command washing over me, snuffing out the lingering scent of our passion. I swallowed the pain in my heart and watched him slam the door. A moment later, a notification hit the pack network. I was stripped of my position as Lead Beta. In my place, Killian appointed Mia as the new Head Warrior. The empire I'd spent eight years helping Killian build was gifted to her on a silver platter. With my heart shattered, I walked away. It wasn't until I became Luna to Alpha Damien of a rival pack that Killian started showing up at my new border, crying and begging me to come back.

"Here's 1 million dollars. Take it, leave the Star Moon Pack, and go somewhere my son will never find you." My boyfriend's mother looked at me with scorn as she handed over a check. If this had happened in the past, I would have told her that I loved her son—not because he was an Alpha, not for the title of Luna, and certainly not for his family's vast fortune. I loved him because of the deep bond we shared. I was carrying his pup. We were supposed to become mates and build a happy life together. But now, he was about to hold a bonding ceremony with another woman. He was planning to mark her and let her bear his pup. He said it was all just to appease the Pack's elders and his parents. What they didn't know was that as the daughter of the Alpha of the Golden River Pack, I'd never need a bond to gain status, power, or wealth. So now that he'd chosen someone else, the only thing left for me to do was to walk away with dignity.

In seven years together, the words Theo said to me most weren't "I love you." They were "Be reasonable." In our first year of dating, his neighbor Sophia took a liking to my wolf fang necklace and wanted to borrow it for a few days. Theo said, "Joey, be reasonable. She's young, let her wear it." In the third year, Sophia borrowed my brand-new car. Theo said, "She'll get over the novelty in a few days. Cut her some slack." In the seventh year, the day he finally became Alpha, Theo gave me a moonstone ring blessed by the Moon Goddess. Sophia clung to his arm, her voice sweet and wheedling. "Theo, that's a moonstone ring. I've never gotten to wear one before." Then she glared at me, her smile dripping with malice. "Joey, I want the ring." Theo leaned in and murmured, "Joey, be reasonable. It's just a ring." I took it off without hesitation and handed it to Sophia. Just then, a text came through on my phone. "The position is yours whenever you're ready. Just tell me when you're coming to London, and I'll pick you up."