Alpha Werewolf 단편 소설 & 소설

At the pack banquet, my five-year-old son Hugh Crowley calls Ryan Crowley, the pack's Alpha, "Dad". Ryan's expression stiffens. "You should call me Uncle Ryan." A moment later, Luna Odile Sloan's son rushes into his arms and calls him Dad. Ryan smiles and answers him. I've been with Ryan for seven years, yet our son can't even call him Dad in public because he's still another she-wolf's mate in name. Ryan's older brother, Mark Crowley, is once the pack's Alpha, but Mark dies in a conflict, leaving behind an unconscious Odile and a newborn pup who stands next in line to lead the pack. When Odile wakes up, she grabs Ryan's hand and mistakes him for her mate. To gain the support of the Council and the pack, Ryan goes along with her mistake and takes on the role of her mate. Ever since I started carrying his pup, he keeps telling me to wait a little longer for the pack's sake. From then on, I stay in the background and quietly help him navigate one challenge after another. All I want is for him to acknowledge Hugh and me. Hugh tugs at my sleeve and whispers, "Mommy, did I call him by the wrong name again? Does Uncle Ryan not like me anymore?" I crouch down and wipe his tears. "You did nothing wrong." The ballroom falls silent. Odile gives a little laugh. "Everyone, don't be too hard on Diya. She's a Rogue, after all. Of course she wants to be the Luna. But because she can't have that position doesn't mean she should use her pup to get it." The guests burst out laughing, and Ryan says nothing to defend me. I give a bitter smile, take Hugh's hand, and walk out. "I'll take you home to where you belong." They have no idea I'm the only daughter of the Frostfang pack's Alpha. Becoming the Luna of such a small pack means nothing to me.

After Seraphina Vale stole three men fate had once chosen for me, I swore I would never let another wolf claim me. Until Dorian Blackthorn, the Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack, claimed me in front of everyone. He swore his loyalty under the moon oath, turning away every approach from Seraphina. He even called out her behavior publicly in the council hall. For the first time, I thought I had found a wolf worth entrusting my soul to. Three years into marriage, I saw Seraphina again. Someone asked her, “What’s the most reckless thing you’ve ever done?” She licked her lips, eyes unfocused. “Of course, having Dorian Blackthorn mark me. His mate still foolishly thinks he truly hates me.” “In truth, I’ve borne his pup, lived in his territory, driven his car, spent his money.” Everyone’s eyes turned to me. After all, I was Dorian’s Lunna. I did not react. I simply sent the letter I had drafted for three days to the Black Moon Medical Team. The reply came swiftly to my mind: [Your appointment has been confirmed.] [The Black Moon Medical Team welcomes you as its new chief healer. Your office and residence have been prepared.] My wolf growled low in my chest. In two days, I would leave this pack and take up my new post.

It's the Werewolves' Hunting Festival today. It's been three months since I found my mate. During the festival, male werewolves will give the prey they've hunted to their mates. It's a way to show their strength and love for their mates. However, my mate, Chris Ashwood, tells me to give up on him and pick another mate, seeing as there are so many other outstanding Alphas around. I nod calmly and agree. In my past life, I disagreed and insisted on marrying him. However, he didn't mark me after we got married. In fact, he was stargazing in the desert with his true love when I was shot by a bounty hunter and gravely injured. Perhaps this is just a game of heart-hunting that should never have begun.

During Frostpine Pack’s winter hunt, rogue scent crossed the northern border. Celia heard the warning, but she still cut off my retreat. She escaped with a rogue-tainted gash across her forearm. I fell into an ice ravine, and my wolf nearly died from cold and blood loss. My fated mate, Adrian Blackwood, Alpha of Frostpine Pack, carried Celia away and never looked back. I survived seven days in that ravine. When the patrol finally found me, my wolf was almost silent. Adrian stood over me, furious. “You should be grateful Celia’s arm can still heal. If her wolf had been damaged because of you, dying on the border wouldn’t have been enough.” “The bonding ceremony is suspended. Admit you broke formation and got Celia hurt, or I won’t mark you before the pack.” He thought I would cry and beg. I only nodded. “Fine.” He didn’t know the Moon Goddess had come to me while I was dying. When the next full moon rose, she would take the most precious things I had left. My love for Adrian. Every memory of him. After that, I would leave Frostpine Pack and begin again somewhere he did not exist. Whether he still wanted to mark me no longer mattered. By the time they found my body, the Elena who loved Adrian Blackwood had already died in that ravine with her wolf.

At a celebration for the $30 billion mining deal I'd negotiated for the Silver Moon pack, Alpha Liam Ashford fired me as CEO of the pack's company in front of everyone. My replacement was his stepsister, Isabelle Hale. "Elena, you're 46, your face is scarred, and you can't even shift into a full wolf." Liam's gaze swept over the old scar by my eye, and his voice dripped with contempt. "The company doesn't need a washed-up, broken wolf." In front of everyone, Isabelle unpinned my CEO badge. Smiling, she announced that I was only fit to stay in the territory as a junior administrator. My mother held on to me tight. "He's the Alpha. Silver Moon has protected us for so many years. Just put up with it." Everyone was waiting for me to back down. Instead, I smiled, gave a small round of applause, then turned and accepted an offer from the most powerful Alpha in all the territories. If Silver Moon wanted my project without me, we'd see how far they got on that mine without my license.

My mate, the supreme Alpha of the wolf pack, vows to be faithful to me for life. Yet on our anniversary night, I catch the scent of another woman on him. Later at a gathering, he holds my hand and gazes at me with tender affection. He promises that I'm the only one he'll ever cherish in this life. But moments later, I catch him outside the private room with his lover, who is wrapping herself around him. He's bragging to his friends about their thrilling hookup. It's only after the family elders whip him within an inch of his life with silver-laced whips that he finally begins to understand. When he cries out my name in his fevered delirium, something shifts. He's finally learning what it means to truly lose someone. His grandfather calls me, begging. "He's dying. Please, come see him one last time." I keep my voice calm. "That was his choice." He doesn't understand that some betrayals can never be forgiven. Not from the moment they happen.

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.

After our parents ended their marriage, my sister and I became the children they passed back and forth between two packs. Every August, the leaders of the two packs sat down to decide where we would live for the coming year. Both our names were on the agreement, but there was only one daughter they ever fought to keep: my younger sister, Lena. Mom wanted to take her to the coast for the winter. Dad had already promised to spend the next full-moon celebration with her. In the end, they agreed to go together so Lena wouldn’t have to choose. When it was my turn, Mom suggested a school dorm. Dad reminded her that I wasn’t his responsibility that year. Neither of them asked where I wanted to go. For years, I tried to be the easy daughter. I carried messages between them, broke up their fights, and made excuses every time they failed to show. They still missed my competitions, my awards ceremony, and my graduation. They didn’t even finish reading the college acceptance letter I sent them. So I stopped waiting. I accepted a full scholarship three thousand miles away, filed the paperwork to leave my mother’s pack, and bought a one-way ticket. By the time my parents sat down for our yearly handoff lunch and finally wondered where I was, I had already gone beyond their reach.

On my birthday, I passed out at home alone for more than two hours. My Alpha, Augustus Brock, took our son and went to an amusement park with Christine Terra, who had just severed her mate bond. Someone snapped photos of them, and the images went viral on social media. [Brock Pack's Alpha is enjoying a sweet family outing with his mate and heir. His Luna's face is revealed for the first time!] In the photo, Augustus held our child in one arm while wrapping the other around the woman beside him. My son, Ethan Brock, who had always been a neat freak and never let me touch him, had actually kissed that woman on the cheek. He was grinning from ear to ear. I lay on the floor. The harsh glow of my phone screen hurt my eyes. I then heard Augustus' voice through our mind link. "I'll celebrate your birthday with you next time. Christine just severed her mate bond and isn't in a good mood. I'm taking her out to cheer her up. Stop making a scene." Right after that, Ethan's voice followed through the mind link. "Mom, I want Christine to be my new mom! From now on, it's enough if you visit me once a month. If you come too often, she won't be happy about it." My phone buzzed. It was a message from an unknown number. [You know who he really loves. I've regained my freedom. If you know what's good for you, sever the mate bond yourself.]

I am a Servant of Death, sent to the werewolf realm by the Dark Goddess of the Underworld. She gave me a single rule. Every year during the pack's Dark Moon Festival, I must receive a water lantern carrying a genuine blessing. The first year, my future Alpha mate, my brother, and my childhood best friend all wrote my name on their lanterns. The second year, my childhood friend Julian said my adopted sister, Chloe, was too weak, so he wanted to pray for her just this once. The third year, even my brother, Ryker, who swore to protect me forever, gave his lantern to Chloe. Only my fated mate, Declan, left one for me. This was the fourth year. I couldn't sleep at all, so I finally told them the truth. "Please, just leave one lantern with my name on it. That's all I ask." The three of them smiled and promised. "Don't worry, you'll get every single one." But on the night of the Dark Moon Festival, the pack's sacred lake was filled with water lanterns drifting toward the Underworld River. Not a single one bore my name. I searched everywhere with tear-filled eyes, only to find the three men surrounding Chloe in celebration. "Four lanterns! I'm the one with the most blessings from the Moon Goddess this year!" Pain stabbed through my chest, and my voice trembled. "You promised me." Ryker looked away. "Chloe is under a lot of pressure for her Werewolf Academy interview this year." Julian, my once-gentle childhood friend, shrugged. "You've had so many before anyway. Missing one year won't kill you." Declan, my Alpha mate, didn't even look up. "To fight over a few lanterns, you even made up this 'Servant of Death' nonsense. Aren't you embarrassed?" Chloe leaned on his shoulder, covering her mouth to hide a laugh. "Stop making a scene, Amara. If you're a Servant of Death, then I'm the true daughter of the Moon Goddess." But they had no idea that if I failed to receive a single lantern, the Dark Goddess would take me back to the Underworld.

My sister fled on the day of her Bonding Ceremony. I was forced to marry the Lycan King known for his brutality. Six years later, she returned. Still as bold and brazen as ever, she pressed a crimson kiss against Kael’s collar—right in front of the entire Council of Elders. Kael went rigid. Then she turned to me, her eyes gleaming with mockery. “Little sister, thank you for keeping my throne warm all these years. Now that I’m back, it’s time you gave me back my place as Luna Queen.” Silence swallowed the hall. Everyone remembered what happened when she ran away. Kael had nearly slaughtered half a rival territory in his rage. So now? I wondered too. Would this unpredictable, brutal King lose his mind for her once again?

I died once—on the eve of their wedding. He held her in his arms while the one I loved most shoved me into the firelight. Laughter and the gleam of blood were the final scene before I left this world. But the Moon Goddess seemed to have pity for me. I was reborn and sent back to the point where everything first collapsed—the day my parents forced me to give up the Alpha’s love, forced me to go abroad, forced me to ‘disappear sensibly’ like a joke. My lover texted me to ‘stop fantasizing,’ and had me to watch with my own eyes as he tangled with her. In my previous life I knelt and begged, cried as I explained, begged them to believe in what the Moon Goddess had ordained. This time, I smiled and agreed to every one of their demands. I would go; I would be good; I would be more obedient than anyone. But when I turned back again, I would never beg for anyone’s forgiveness. I would make them watch with their own eyes how the Omega that was trampled into the mud, little by little, tore apart their so‑called destiny and glory.

For our seventh anniversary, my mate, Alpha Ethan, sent my daughter and me to the Moon Goddess Altar. He told me it was a surprise—to give our daughter her dream of watching a meteor shower from the highest peak in the territory. But Ethan never came. The protective runes at my feet sputtered, then died. The ground beneath us began to crumble. My daughter screamed, her small body sliding toward the abyss. I lunged, grabbing her hand just before she went over the edge. I screamed his name through our mind-link. Ninety-nine times, he refused to answer. On my hundredth cry, the link didn't just open—it was ripped wide. It wasn’t his voice that answered. It was his senses, flooding mine. I saw it all. Him. Another she-wolf. And him, buried deep inside of her. "I knew you loved me, Ethan," her sickly-sweet voice purred. "You even sacrificed Marcus, just to save our Leo from the soul-sickness. I'll do anything for you." Ethan’s voice was velvet and ice. "Stop. If Sera hadn't betrayed me, you never would have had the chance to carry my heir. Once I get rid of her other pup—Jullian's bastard—we can be perfect again." My world shattered. My son... Rogues. I'd always believed rogues had stolen him. But it was his own father. He sacrificed him for a lie. With my last ounce of strength, I called Julian. "I'm breaking my bond with Ethan," I snarled into the new link. "Make me your Luna. In return, I will help you burn his pack to the ground."

After I was reborn, when Blake's childhood sweetheart Catherine cut a lock of my hair during a party dare — again — I didn't do what I did in my past life. I didn't shear off all her hair in front of everyone and turn her into a bald wolf. I didn't lose control and storm into the Council of Elders when Blake defended her, threatening to sever our mate bond. Instead, I calmly removed the Luna's crown from my head and placed it on Catherine's. "The crown's hers now. Have fun with her." I put on my coat and walked out of the estate without looking back. It wasn't that I wanted to bow to Catherine. But in my past life, after I severed the bond with Blake, things went horribly wrong. He threw me into a cell made of pure silver, like I was some irredeemable criminal, and left me there while the metal scorched my skin day and night. When I finally escaped, I was poisoned by a witch from a rival pack. Dying from the pain, I abandoned every shred of my dignity and crawled to the doors of the Temple of the Moon Goddess, begging him to let the witch give me the antidote. He was kissing Catherine. He didn't even tell his guards to let me in. I died from the poison — one day before my father, the Alpha King, came to find me. I refused to meet that fate again. So I was done with Blake.

After Cain called off our mate-bonding ceremony for the ninth time—calling it off for the sake of his childhood sweetheart—the Alpha himself came to the Abel family estate to deliver an apology in person. "We are prepared to offer an additional 300kg of frost iron, three hunting territories west of Silvermoon Forest, and nine forges in the pack compound," he announced. "Consider this reparations for the nine broken betrothals." Before his words even faded, Cain's laughter crackled through the phone speaker. "Dad, is she honestly worth that kind of price? I could toss her a half-rotted beast bone soaked in moonlight and she'd still come crawling. You'd be better off funneling those resources into Lina's beast-training arena." The old Alpha ended the call without a second thought. His golden wolf eyes shifted toward me, heavy with visible unease. The gathered wolves stifled their snickers, their throats rippling with suppressed laughter. Every pair of eyes fixed on me, gleaming with anticipation of the show. They all expected me to swallow the humiliation, just as I always had. After all, every wolf in Silvermoon Pack knew the tale: I, the Abel family daughter, had been pining for Cain, the Alpha King's youngest son, for years. Pathetic and devoted. But I'd endured this exact scene eight times before. I was done with it. And more than that, I was done with him. A beat of silence passed. Then I lifted my gaze, searching the crowd until I found the one face Cain despised most: his older brother, Cass. A slow smile curved my lips. "Whoever I claim as my mate inherits the Alpha title," I said. "Does that promise still stand?"

Right before my mating ceremony, I drank the glass of milk my mother had brought me. It didn’t take long for my consciousness to slip away. When I opened my eyes, I found myself locked inside a basement, a silver lock barring the door. Shifting, I threw myself against the door desperately, even when my flesh was torn and bloody. At last, I broke free. I dragged my broken body to the ceremony, only to find my adopted sister, Maeve, standing on the altar in a gown far more extravagant than mine. My mate—the one who had my heart—placed the Luna crown that was meant for me on Maeve’s head. Maeve sank into my mate’s embrace, her frame fragile. “Ulric, I feel like I’m dreaming. I’m so happy. My sister’s going to kill me if she finds out.” Ulric brushed his fingers against her cheek and assured her, “Relax. She’s fast asleep. The ceremony’d be over by the time she wakes up. Besides, she already has my love. All you’re asking for is a ceremony. I’m sure she’ll understand.” My parents stood nearby, their faces wistful. “Look at them. They are perfect for each other. If only Isobel weren’t around.” “Maeve is the true Luna. Isobel doesn’t deserve Ulric.” I stood at the door, my feet pinned to the ground and my tears rolling down my cheeks. As it turned out, there had never been an accident. It was all a setup. Not a single wolf in this world had ever loved me. In that case, I would give them what they wanted. This fake family and unfaithful mate were out of my life for all I cared!

My fiancé, Alpha Rowan, hated waiting. If a pack council ran late, he walked out. If a priest kept him waiting ten minutes, he canceled the blessing. For six years, I made sure he never waited for me. I waited for him instead. At the Full Moon Celebration, his assistant Celine wanted moon-laurel wine that was served only when the moon reached its highest point. Rowan stood in line with her for twenty minutes without checking the time once. While I watched from across the hall, he texted me. [The celebration is over. Go home. Do not wait for me.] I typed, “Okay,” then deleted it. In the end, I sent only one sentence. [I'm not waiting anymore.] That night, I submitted my application to leave the Blood Moon Pack. This time, I meant it.

Damien had hunted down a rare white fox. "Skin it. Have the pelt made into a fur cloak and sent to Heidi." He tossed the dead fox to one of his men as he gave the order. The man nodded, but stole a glance at me. Only then did Damien seem to remember that I was the one he was engaged to. "Take what's left and make a hand warmer out of it. Give that to Lucienne." The whole pelt went to Heidi. The scraps from the belly came to me. Later, I became Damien's Luna. When vampires invaded our territory, I threw myself in front of a wolfsbane arrow meant for him. Damien held my hand and asked if I had any last words. I looked past him, at Heidi, draped in that white fox cloak, dazzling. I pushed his hand away. And I died. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the Full Moon Gala. The Luna had moonstones brought out. She smiled. "Whoever has the purest bloodline becomes Damien's betrothed." I ran my fingers over the moonstone and lowered my head. A faint, dim light flickered across its surface.

After my secret crush was discovered, my adoptive uncle Kieran, who always loved me, completely became a different person. He no longer smiled at me, and he began to stay far away from me. I tried everything, even stripped naked and stood before him begging him to mark me. All I got in return was his words of rejection: disgusting. Three months later, he even brought my best friend Scarlett home and claimed her as his fiancée. Looking at the deep wariness in his eyes toward me, I suddenly smiled with relief. I agreed to my Alpha grandfather's tentative proposal for an arranged mating. But when I finally gave up him and mated to another Alpha, why did he beg me to come back?

On the night of the Moon Hunt, I was chasing a silver-tailed fox through the forest when the horse beneath me suddenly lost control and threw me down the slope. Right when I was about to fall off the cliff, Xavier Long—the Alpha heir—shifted into his wolf form and pulled me back to safety. However, in the process, his foreleg was slashed by silver thorns, the injury cutting deep into the bone. Because of that wound, when my stepsister, Winnie Sullivan, was later attacked by rogue wolves in the Moon Rite Forest, he couldn’t reach her in time. She died beneath the wolves’ claws. Not long after, the elders of the Frostmoon Pack arranged a mating bond between Xavier and me. He accepted the arrangement calmly. At the time, I thought that even if we weren’t fated to be mates, what we had was no less meaningful. However, I was wrong. When I became pregnant with our first child, Xavier poisoned me with wolfsbane. As I lay dying, he looked at me with indifference and said, “If you hadn’t been wearing Winnie’s pale moon-white cloak that day, I would never have mistaken you for her in the forest, and she wouldn’t have died. If I had another chance, I’d rather watch you die beneath those werewolves than save you again.” Only then did I realize that in Xavier’s heart, he had always considered my stepsister his true mate. He had even once gone to the Alpha to ask for permission to mark her. Then, when I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day of the Moon Hunt.