Cerita Pendek Independence Werewolf & Novel Regret

I used to have the perfect life. My Alpha father and Luna mother treated me like treasure. My fated mate, Caleb, swore to protect me forever. But four years ago, my parents brought back a frail orphan, Freya. From that day on, my world was stolen. My parents' warm smiles were suddenly reserved only for Freya. If she coughed, the whole packhouse panicked. When I bled in training, they told me to stop being a jealous attention-seeker. Even Caleb shifted all his tender care to her. For four years, I endured the neglect. I thought our mate bond would eventually win. Until the night of our mating ceremony—the night I was meant to become the future Luna. In front of the whole pack, Caleb unclasped the sacred Luna heirloom necklace from my neck. He turned around and fastened it around that crying orphan. "She needs this Moonstone to heal her broken wolf more than you do. Sienna, be reasonable," Caleb said, avoiding my eyes. When I stood frozen, my parents shoved me away to protect Freya. "If you can't accept her, get out! Don't step foot in the main house!" That night, my heart finally died. I didn't scream or fight like I had for the past four years. I just packed my bags and left. They thought I was throwing a tantrum. They thought I'd come crawling back to the pack in a few days. They even took that orphan girl on a private jet to the pack's tropical island—the place I had always dreamed of for my honeymoon with Caleb. Days later, when they returned, they were shocked to find I had accepted a contract from the Alliance Healer's Guild. A 15-year, top-secret lockdown project for a silver poison antidote. No contact. No turning back. That night, they lost their minds.

I'm New York's top fashion designer. Everyone says the industry is a swamp, but nobody ever dared lay a hand on me. Nobody knew my secret bed partner was the most dangerous, ruthless Alpha in the city. He used his power to pave my path, and asked for nothing. As his fragile human mate, he hid me away in his downtown penthouse. Every night after we were intimate, he would kiss my palm over and over. He'd bury his face in my shoulder, whispering that hiding me was the only way to keep me safe. He claimed his pack was torn by civil war and he needed time. He told me to wait until he could make me his true Luna in broad daylight. For seven years, it never missed a beat. Every single night, he only left after I fell asleep. I honestly thought he was obsessed with me. Until I overheard his right-hand man trembling as he asked: "The Council approved the vote. When are you bringing our real Luna home?" The Alpha sneered, his voice dripping with disgust: "Those old bastards trying to run my life again? Ava is just a toy. Make a human food my mate? I'm not out of my mind." And now? When my heart turned to ash and I finally walked away to let him have her... why is he losing his mind?

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.

I am the Luna of the Silver Moon Pack. On the day I gave birth, I drank the birthing tonic that Elena, our pack healer, had brought me. My wolf convulsed violently, and the moment I delivered my pup, I fell into a coma. When I woke again, I was bound by thick silver chains, trapped for five years in a lightless forest prison. It wasn't until Caleb, the Alpha of the Silver River Pack, was hunting down a rogue that he caught my scent by chance and freed me. I dragged my weakened body all the way back to the Silver Moon Pack. Only to hear my Alpha mate Killian announcing before the whole pack that Elena, the very woman who had poisoned me, was about to become the new Luna. And the son I had nearly died to bring into the world was nestled in her arms, sweetly calling her mommy. Eyes burning, I rushed forward and exposed the truth in front of everyone: she had poisoned me. Killian cut me off, impatient. "Lila, as Luna you vanished for five years without a word. Elena carried your burden for you, and instead of being grateful, you make up some pathetic lie to smear her?" Eric's face twisted with disgust. "Daddy, throw this liar out. She's scaring mommy!" And Elena, hiding behind them, gave me a taunting little smile. Something in me let go. That very night, I drank the potion that would sever the mate bond from my side alone. Fine, then. This mate, this son, I no longer wanted either of them.

My boyfriend was Alexander Sterling, Alpha of the Sterling Pack worth over a hundred billion. Mistaking me for a fragile human, he "tested" my character by never buying me a gift in five years. We even split the bill on condoms. Then my foster mother fell critically ill. I borrowed from every friend, scraping together all the money for her surgery except the last $1,000. No matter how desperately I begged Alex, he refused to lend it. "Clara was right," he said coldly. "Getting down on your knees for one grand? That's textbook gold-digger behavior." "We've only been together three years, and you're already this eager to bleed me dry?" Turned out, his three-year "test" was just a suggestion from his childhood sweetheart, Clara Hayes. I broke up with him on the spot. He sneered that I'd come crawling back. He had no idea my biological parents had found me. I returned to my true lineage to marry the most powerful Lycan prince, Vito Marchetti. Five years later, we ran into each other at the Grand Royale Hotel in Los Angeles. His pack enterprise was going public, and Clara Hayes was on his arm in luxurious haute couture. He caught me covered in mud and digging through a dumpster, curling his lip in disgust. "Mia, you rejected me over a thousand bucks back then. Look at you now—you've turned into a beggar!" "For old times' sake, I'll give you one chance. Crawl back to me, and I'll give you a decent place in my pack." I didn't even glance at him. My little boy was sobbing because his stern, powerful father, Lycan Prince Vito, had accidentally knocked his prized crystal into that dumpster during training. I had to get it back, fast.

When I was twenty, my alpha mate's brother died protecting him from a rogue attack. To repay that debt, Adrian moved his widowed sister-in-law, Vanessa, into the pack estate. From that day on, everything I had—my home, my future, even my place beside my fated mate—came second to her. Vanessa swallowed a handful of pills and claimed I'd driven her to suicide. Adrian slapped me in front of the pack guards, stripped me of my Luna privileges, and threw me out of our home. "Get out. I don't need a vicious woman for a mate." Later, to make Vanessa feel "useful," he gave her the research position he'd promised me. This time, I didn't argue. I simply signed the waiver and let her have it. Adrian thought I'd finally grown up and stopped being jealous. He planned to make it up to me on the fifth anniversary of our mating bond by giving me the Luna ring I'd waited years for. What he didn't know was that our anniversary was also the day I was leaving for a classified research institute in Alaska. By the time he realized my room was empty, my number had been disconnected and my pack transfer was complete. The only thing I left behind was one final email. [Adrian, I don't want you anymore.]

When I got a second chance at life, I wrote the name of Adrian's childhood sweetheart in the mate slot on our pack registration form. In my first life, she learned Adrian and I were getting married and fled Black River heartbroken. Two days later, she was found dead in the snowbound mountains. Adrian blamed me for her death. He marked me only because his family demanded it, then spent the rest of my life treating me like a ghost. Even when I lay dying, he never came to see me. This time, I wasn't going to fight for him. When Adrian decided to bring her home to recover, I prepared her room myself. When he slipped my moonstone ring onto her finger, I didn't stop him. He expected jealousy. What he didn't know was that I'd already accepted an offer from the North American Institute of Lycan Genetics. In ten days, I would leave the pack and join its most prestigious bloodline research program. He could spend the rest of his life taking care of her. And I could finally chase the dream I'd once given up for him.

The witch's prophecy crystal showed me my future. My fated mate, Alpha Adam, would betray me before our bond was ever sealed. The one he chose instead? My own sister. And me? I gave up my healer trials for him. Became nothing. Lost every right to ever stand as this pack's Luna. In the end, my sister shoved me off a cliff with her own two hands. I didn't want to believe it, until I saw them at the border. Tangled. Kissing. Unmistakable. Then it all clicked. Adam made me quit the healer trials just to keep me trapped in this pack, where he could control me. And he used that pathetic excuse, "protecting the pack," "calming your sister's wolf," to screw around behind my back. The sister I spoiled rotten. The one who wanted what was mine. I took a breath, turned, and walked away. The healer trials came right on schedule. I walked into that hall, calm and ready— I was going to become the Chief Healer. And I was never, ever giving myself up for anyone again.

The day the company opened up a vice president position, I was thrilled. I was sure the promotion was mine. Instead, the secretary called me into her office. "Ms. Carter, you took kickbacks from clients, falsified invoices, and carried on with clients. With conduct that disgraceful, the company cannot promote you to vice president." I couldn't understand a word of it, because I had done none of those things. I went home to ask my mate what on earth was going on, only for my mother, Diane Carter, to slap me to the floor. "How could you do something so disgraceful? I'm your mother, but even I can't cover for you anymore!" I was banished from the pack and had to scrape by on odd jobs outside it, but even strangers pointed and whispered, spreading rumors about me. When I learned that my mate, Allen Blackwood, planned to hold a ceremony to sever our mate bond, I returned to the pack. But before I even reached the door, I overheard Allen talking with his friend. "Allen, severing a mate bond is agony, and the bond between you two will be gone for good. Aren't you afraid she'll end up with someone else?" Allen let out a contemptuous laugh. "Jenny's own mother signed off on this. She's an Omega without even a wolf. Without me, what pack would ever take her in?" "Olivia needs this position more than she does. Once Olivia is settled into the role, I'll bring Jenny back. She'll be just as devoted to me as ever." I leaned against the doorframe, slowly closed my eyes, and let the tears fall. A vow? Fine. I agree. Once the mate bond is severed, we are nothing to each other.

After a campaign for the pack, I was gravely wounded, and rogues ambushed me on the way home. Dozens of rogues surrounded me, slashing wound after wound across my body. Meanwhile, my mate, the captain of the pack guard, had dropped everything to go to her first love, who was about to drink wolfsbane. In my past life, I sent her a mind-link, begging her to bring the guards and save me. She abandoned her first love, and I survived because of it. But by the time Vivian reached Gavin Cross's home, her first love had already drunk the wolfsbane and stopped breathing. Yet Vivian never blamed me, and we went on living happily together. Three years later, on my way back from my second campaign, rogues cornered me again. The one leading them was my own mate. "You lied to me that day, didn't you? You're an Alpha. There's no way you couldn't beat a band of rogues. But you were so jealous of Gavin that you forced me to your side, and I let him swallow wolfsbane and die in agony." "Today I want to see for myself whether one Alpha can really beat this many rogues." I fought for my life, but their claws were coated with wolfsbane, and in the end I died under them. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the rogues first attacked me. This time, I decided to step aside and let her go save her first love.

On the day I went into labor, my mate Caleb Ashford received a call from his first love. "Caleb, I'm back. Can you end your mate bond with her and become my mate?" Caleb glanced at me in the delivery room, said nothing, and hung up without hesitation. I thought he had chosen me. But the day I was discharged after giving birth, he slid a mate bond dissolution agreement across the table toward me. "Nora, I'm sorry. I can't say no to Lila. After the bond is dissolved, I'll give you a large sum of money to make up for it." I stared at the dissolution agreement in front of me. I didn't cry or make a scene. I picked up the pen calmly and signed my name, Nora Hart, at the bottom. Caleb hadn't expected me to agree so readily. A flicker of shock crossed his eyes. I handed him the signed agreement. "It's fine. I've always known Lila is the one you've loved all these years. "Being your mate for seven years was already more than I could have ever asked for." With that, I turned and walked away under his stunned gaze. Once I was out of his sight, I looked at my copy of the agreement again. The settlement was enough to keep me comfortable for three lifetimes. He had no idea that playing it cool was a gold digger's oldest trick.

After learning the silver poison had sunk deep into my heart with no cure left, I secretly returned to the pack I'd left five years ago. I just wanted to see Leon Frost one last time. The one who was now their Alpha. Instead, I walked right into news that he was about to mate with his new chosen, Shelly Davis. Worse—they caught me. My mother had me in a wheelchair. Leon's eyes flickered with something unreadable when he saw me. He didn't speak. But Shelly sure did. "Well. Look who finally crawled back. Five years and you look like hell. Can't even walk anymore?" Her voice dripped with mockery. I held back the tears and tugged at my sleeve, hiding the decay spreading across my arms. "It's nothing. Just tripped and hurt my leg." Shelly's laugh cut through the air again. "Since Leon and I are holding our bonding ceremony, you should come witness it. Ten days from now. Full moon night." I kept my face calm and forced a smile. "Can't make it. I'm heading somewhere far away." Then I glanced at Leon—his face still empty, still silent—and signaled my mother to wheel me home. The further he got, the harder the tears fell. Leon, I wasn't lying. I have less than ten days. Before your ceremony even starts, I'll be gone.

During the thunderstorm, I struggled through the Pack Institute alone, dragging a heavy feed cart behind me. My rain-soaked lab coat clung to my skin, and my shoes were caked with mud. The message I had sent through the mind-link to my fated mate, Arthur Voss, half an hour ago was still unanswered. "Could you come down and bring me an umbrella?" I should have heard back from him instantly, but there was still no response. The power had gone out in the animal facility during the downpour. I pulled out my nearly dead phone and found Arthur's number. He was listed as the lab's emergency contact. My finger hovered over the call button. Then I looked up. Through the thick curtain of rain, I saw two figures sitting side by side inside the glass-walled lab. They were my mate, Arthur, and Lina Brooks, a junior researcher in our lab. He was gently ruffling Lina's hair. "Don't worry. I'll take care of everything for you." The instruments on the table were the same ones I had begged Arthur to teach me to use three years ago. His voice was as gentle as I'd ever heard it. I remembered how I had been when I first met Arthur. Back then, I was too scared to take a cab alone. When my wolf spiraled out of control, I would panic. When problems came up, I would hide. When an experiment failed, I would call him for help and keep him on the phone for three hours. Every single time, he brushed aside my pleas for help. "Irene, you need to solve your own problems. You can't keep waiting for someone to rescue you." So I learned. I gritted my teeth and handled everything alone. When samples were contaminated, I tracked down the cause myself. When a project fell apart, I dealt with it on my own. I spent countless nights teaching myself technical skills that had once seemed impossible to master. Yet none of it ever earned me even a hint of his approval. I looked down. This time, I didn't hesitate. With the last sliver of battery, I deleted Arthur's number.

When I was little, I nearly drowned. Later, I was poisoned with wolfsbane. Both left me timid to the bone, afraid of the dark, afraid of water, afraid of being alone. One time I fell into freezing water. Just when I thought I was going to die, Herman found me and pulled me out. He told me, "You scare easily. Don't do anything alone. If you need me, just call. I'll always come." So when my claustrophobia got worse, I called him. He said, "I've already found a therapist. Come to the pack and see me." When I arrived at the pack, he was playing video games with his best friend, Clara. Clara's eyes stayed on her phone. "See? She came here by herself," she mocked. "Scared out of her mind, and she calls herself a werewolf. How embarrassing." Herman patted her head. "Fine, you win. I'll take you to the haunted house tomorrow." I sank to the floor, too weak to stand, staring at them in disbelief. Herman kept staring at his phone. He didn't even glance at me. "If you're this much of a coward, you'll never survive in the real world. We're training you." I screamed, breaking down. "Do you have any idea I almost died just now!" Clara put down her phone, annoyed that she'd lost the game. "You're alive, aren't you? Stop screaming. Herman, just get the therapist." When Herman saw me crying, he walked out immediately. Clara followed him. I had barely caught my breath when the lights suddenly went out. The whole pack compound went dark. "Herman! Clara! Where are you? Why did the power go out?" I screamed their names, but no one answered. Then a text popped up on my phone. "Already scared, you little coward? Hang in there. This is training. It'll make you brave." Another text followed. "Stop relying on other people all the time. You need to learn to be independent." I was timid. I was weak. But I still had my dignity. If I was going to have to get used to being alone anyway, then the two of them could get out of my life for good.

On the day she miscarried because her mate chose his ex, Rae's wolf went completely dormant from the trauma. That killed every ounce of love she had left for him. She was done playing his pathetic doormat. No more running his family's empire. No more grilling him about staying out all night. He left her locked in a freezing pack holding cell for nine whole days. Why? To baby-sit his childhood sweetheart through a "full moon panic attack" in a luxury mansion. Rae didn't cry. She didn't scream. She didn't even bother making a phone call. Then came day ten. Colton finally rolled up in his custom black Cadillac. He looked down at her with those golden wolf eyes, calling her dramatic. Rae just pulled her designer coat tight around herself, smiled, and told him: She completely understood, and she would never make a scene again.

The Blackwood Pack had a rule: no outsider was ever allowed to touch a newborn pureblood pup. So when my fated mate Damon Cross's childhood friend Yvonne Morgan reached for one of their sacred cubs, I stopped her. Yvonne decided I was being petty, that I was trying to humiliate her in front of everyone. So she ran off crying, tripped, and fell into a bog. By the time anyone found her, she was gone. Damon was convinced I'd done it on purpose—that I'd planned to get rid of Yvonne Morgan. He had me bound and locked in that basement dungeon for three days and three nights. Every hour felt like a year. "This is all your fault, you jealous witch. If it weren't for you, Yvonne would still be here!" "You're going to pay for what you did. Rot in there and think about it." I clawed my way out—dug a tunnel with my bare hands. I was so close. The night I finally broke free, Damon gave the order to have me thrown into the No-Man's-Land wolf pit. Then I opened my eyes. I was back. The night of the Full Moon Gala.

At my bonding ceremony with Liam Jones, the pack witch appeared and dropped a bombshell—my long-lost sister, Victoria, was still alive. She could bring Victoria back, but there was a catch. She turned to my parents and asked: “Are you willing to trade Margret Davis for Victoria Davis? The two will swap bodies.” My parents' faces lit up with excitement. They didn't hesitate for a second. Yes. They said the only reason they had me was because Victoria had vanished, and their mind-link with her had gone silent. I'd spent twenty years living a life that was never mine, while my sister suffered for over a decade. This was what I owed her. Then the witch turned to Liam. Victoria had gone missing because she saved him—I knew that. But if he could just say no, even if it was a lie, even if he was just pretending… Then at least there'd be one person in this world who wanted me to stay. One last reason for me to hold on. A long silence stretched between us. Finally, he spoke. "She went missing because she saved me. I have to bring her back." He gave a firm nod. "Yes." Then the witch sprinkled a vial of purple liquid over me. She looked at everyone with a cold smile. "The potion takes time to work. In one month, Victoria and Margret will swap."

I have a secret. Whenever I touch someone, I can see the face of the person they love most. This is not an ability ordinary werewolves possess. I am a Moon Seer, a rarity that appears perhaps once in a century. I cannot read thoughts or memories, but I have never been wrong about a person’s heart. I had been the person Ronan Hartson loved most since he moved next door at seven. Our wolves recognized each other when we turned eighteen. When our Mate Bond awakened, I still saw only myself in his heart. Ronan officially claimed me at twenty two. He left his mark on my neck and announced before the entire Blackridge Pack that I was his only mate and the Luna of Blackridge. Our Mate Bond remained unshaken for three years. Then, at six weeks pregnant, I touched his collar before he left for work. I had known Ronan for twenty one years and touched him more than a hundred thousand times. This was the first time I discovered that I was no longer the only woman in his heart. That night, he lied about patrols. That night, I saw him feed her cake with his own hands. He thought our Mate Bond would keep me tethered to him forever. He thought I would never leave. But he forgot one thing: I don’t need a man to feel whole. And I will never raise my child in a house built on lies. He chose to protect her. I chose to protect myself.

At my mating ceremony, my fated mate left me at the altar. Alpha Caleb Thorne. In front of the whole pack. All because his childhood friend, Jenna Bell, had another one of her panic attacks. "Jenna needs me," he said, his voice tense. "She's terrified. Only my Alpha scent can calm her. The ceremony is off. We'll wait for the next full moon." Whenever Jenna called, my Alpha dropped everything and ran to her. I used to cry. I used to beg him to stay. But this time, he rushed off before I could even say a word. Good. I was done begging. When I got back to our penthouse alone, a notification popped up. A Live Photo from Jenna on the pack's social feed. My Alpha, holding her in his arms under the moonlight. A gentle savior. The caption read: "C, thank you for always being there for me, for spending the full moon with me." I pressed down on the image. The Live Photo played, and their voices came through. "Caleb, Evelyn must be furious you left her at the ceremony. Maybe you should go back…" "Don't worry about it. She's an orphan. She can't leave me. Where else would she even go? I'll let her cool off, then go smooth things over." A cold smile touched my lips. Then I unclasped the moonstone necklace—the symbol of my Luna status. And I called my father. The Lycan King. "Dad, I lost the bet. The ceremony is off. I'm coming home." Caleb thought he had all the time in the world. He thought there would be a "next time" to make it up to me. He didn't know about the five-year bet I made with my father. And he didn't know my time was up.

Caine Black and I were in love for seven years. From our first meeting at the Imperial Academy to being officially recognized by both packs as promised mates, I thought we would be together forever. That certainty lasted until the day before our marking ceremony, when I canceled it. The priest stared at me in shock. "Eileen, the marking ceremony is in twelve hours. Are you sure you don't want to wait for Caine to come back?" I gently unclasped the pendant from my neck, the one that symbolized the Luna's status, and shook my head. "No. "He's under the northern lights on the Ice Plains right now, completing a marking ceremony with his first love."