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I Left My Alpha After a Thousand Years

NovelShort Completed

Revenge Romance Betrayal Werewolf Rejected

Chapters (3)

第1章

I was getting married in five days. Rhydian Thorne,the ancient Alpha I had loved for a thousand years,had no idea. To save him,I had once surrendered all nine Moon Marks of my Moonborn bloodline to the Moon Keeper for a hundred years.With my wolf reduced to a weak,nameless shadow of itself,I entered Nightfall Pack under the name Wren and followed him as a servant no one thought worth remembering. Then he brought Seren Vale home as his ward. He gave her the Moonroot elixir I had nearly died finding,then accused me of forgetting my place and locked me in the winter cells beneath Nightfall Keep. When I finally woke after nearly freezing to death,I opened the scrying mirror and said through tears,“Aunt Maelis,I want to marry.” Maelis looked happier than I was. “You have chased that ancient Alpha for a thousand years.Do you remember how many times your father dragged you home for running after him?Have you finally come to your senses?” “You are Moonwolf’s only heir,the youngest daughter of our ruling bloodline.You could have any wolf in the four territories,yet you wasted a thousand years on an Alpha old enough to be your ancestor.” “I’ll speak to Ravenwing’s council tonight.Their heir has already agreed to the alliance.Five nights from now,you will be married.” Silver ripples moved across the black surface of the scrying mirror,but they could not hide the joy in her voice. So I had really been doing this foolish thing for a thousand years. And for a thousand years,my family had worried about me. I swallowed the ache in my chest and forced myself to smile. “Then I’ll leave the arrangements to you.” I did not hear Rhydian approach until his shadow fell across the floor behind me. “When did I ever say we were marrying in five days?”he asked with a frown.“Stop making things up.And I thought you were an orphan.Since when do you have an aunt?” He stepped closer,trying to see who was in the mirror.I cut the spell at once.As far as Nightfall knew,I was only Wren,a weak stray with no pack and no bloodline worth naming. I lowered my eyes and decided to play stupid. Rhydian sighed and lifted a hand as if to touch my hair,but before he could say anything,Seren rushed into his arms. “Rhydian,I had the dream again.I saw Father on the battlefield.There was blood everywhere.” The coldness in Rhydian’s face vanished at once. “You’re safe here,”he said gently.“No one will hurt you.If you can’t sleep,I’ll stay outside your den tonight.” He turned and left with her,forgetting once again that I was still there. Forgetting that I had always been afraid of the dark too. That was fine. I watched their overlapping shadows disappear down the corridor and felt nothing rise inside me anymore. Nightfall’s pack seer found me later that night.Elder Soren was the only wolf in the territory who knew who I really was. I was sitting on the roof with a jar of peach wine between my knees when he climbed into the courtyard below. “Little Luna,”he called carefully,“an alliance marriage is not something you announce on a whim.Your family and council should handle it properly.” “I’m not marrying Rhydian.” Soren went silent. “Moonwolf and Ravenwing have exchanged marriage vows for generations,”I said.“This time,it falls to me.” He stared at me for a moment,then hurried to speak. “You have sacrificed too much for Rhydian.He is not completely without feeling for you.He has an entire territory on his shoulders.Perhaps I should remind him what you have done.” The wine burned my throat so badly that tears sprang to my eyes. “Remind him of what?” “That you surrendered your Moon Marks for him.” “And then?” “That he owes you a place beside him.” I laughed softly. “A place beside him?Should I use a debt to make him love me?Or use Moonwolf’s bloodline to force him to marry me?” Soren looked away. “I followed him for a thousand years,”I continued.“Maybe all I ever did was make him tired.If I wait any longer,I’ll become the oldest unbonded Luna heir in all four territories.” “You are still young by Moonborn standards.” “Tell that to my aunt.” By the time the moon reached its highest point,I was drunk enough to mistake the roof tiles for a river. Soren had to help me back to my den. We stopped outside my door just as two guards carried out the heated hearthstone that had warmed my bed for years. Seren stood beside Rhydian,pressed close to his arm. The moment Rhydian smelled the wine on me,his expression darkened. Soren opened his mouth,but I stopped him with one look. Rhydian glanced toward my bed. “Seren’s lungs are still weak from the border fire.The eastern guest den is cold.She needs the hearthstone more than you do.” I looked at the stone. Rhydian had carved it himself during our first winter together.I had been too proud to admit that the cold made my bones ache,but he had noticed anyway.He spent a month shaping the stone until it held warmth like a sleeping heart. He had once pressed it against my ribs and said,“You will never freeze while I am alive.” Now he was giving it to someone else. I nodded. “Take it.” Rhydian paused. “You’re not going to argue?” “It belongs to you.You can give it to whoever you want.” The Moonroot elixir had been the same. So was the hearthstone. Soren looked at me with open disapproval.I knew he wanted to fight for me. No one said anything until Seren’s attendant reminded her that it was time for her medicine. Rhydian immediately started walking faster. When he passed me,I dipped my head. For the first time,I did not ask him to stay. He looked surprised.I had always clung to him too tightly. Seren,however,smiled. I had smiled like that once too. When I first came to Nightfall,Rhydian had treasured me the same way.Everyone in the pack had known I was the one he favored. Soren’s voice turned bitter. “At least tell him the truth.Tell him that in the Silver Rift,you traded away your Moon Marks to get him out alive.” “Tell him the Moonroot elixir that suppressed his old wound cost you half your life.” I lifted my head and looked at him. “And then what?Do I demand love as repayment?Do I use Moonwolf’s name to force him into a bond?” I had nearly died for that elixir. And the medicine I had fought so hard to bring back had meant less to him than a few quiet words from Seren. Why humiliate myself any further? A Moonborn wolf could love deeply. And she could let go.

第2章

Every pack had the same ugly rule. Wolves bowed to power and stepped on whoever stood beneath them. With Rhydian’s silence as permission,Seren’s attendant walked straight into my den and slapped me across the face. “Lady Seren will soon stand beside the Alpha.She has no intention of letting filth remain in this keep.” “And her father saved the Alpha’s life.Not every packless stray gets to stay here simply because she has nowhere else to go.” I laughed under my breath. A life-saving debt? If that was how they wanted to count debts,half the old packs owed Moonwolf more than they could ever repay. “You filthy servant.What are you laughing at?” Her boot struck the back of my leg. I went down hard on one knee,pain shooting through the bone. Seren watched from beginning to end without saying a word. So this was the delicate,kind-hearted woman Rhydian kept telling me about. Without my nine Moon Marks,my wolf was too weak to shift,and I had almost no power left to resist them. Whether Rhydian knew what happened or simply did not care,I could no longer tell. They left only after they were satisfied. Near midnight,Rhydian came into my room carrying the cold of the night on his coat and dragged me out of bed. “You insolent little stray.How dare you disrespect Seren?She is weak,she has nightmares,and she has no one else.Of course I have to look after her.” “Did the winter cells teach you nothing?You are still as wild and impossible as ever.I let you keep your place here because of what we once had,and you still insist on causing trouble.” My mouth opened,but I could not find a defense. What,exactly,had I done? Seren’s sobbing floated in from the courtyard at the perfect moment. “If Wren doesn’t want me here,I can leave.” And suddenly I understood. My very presence here had become the offense. I lowered my head and bowed to Rhydian with perfect formality. “Alpha,I was wrong.” That bow was my farewell. Wren,servant of Nightfall,was bowing farewell to Alpha Rhydian. And Nyla Solmere,heir of Moonwolf,was bowing farewell to the wolf she had loved for a thousand years. Every accusation died in his throat. His eyes dropped to the blood staining the hem of my white dress. He reached as if to pull me up,but I remained bowed,finishing the farewell inside my own heart. I had embarrassed him by refusing to rise. So he helped Seren away and left one Alpha command behind. “If you want to kneel so badly,then stay there until I say otherwise.” His command pressed into my bones. Without my Moon Marks,I had no strength left to resist it. Servants came and went through the courtyard,smirking as they whispered loudly enough for me to hear. “Who says the Alpha has a heart of stone?He is gentle enough with Lady Seren.” “I never expected it to be her.I thought he favored someone else.” “A nameless stray was never going to stand beside him forever.” “The council has ordered red banners.Perhaps the Alpha means to choose a new Luna.” So Rhydian might be marrying too. That was fine. I had imagined this ending so many times that the real thing no longer hurt as much as it should have. Every kindness that once belonged to me had been divided up and handed to Seren. When I first entered Nightfall,everyone had laughed that Rhydian,who had kept himself alone for centuries,had finally lost his head over a stray wolf. He had been furious. He carried me into the great hall and demanded an apology from every wolf who had insulted me.Even the daughter of a council elder had been made to lower her head. Every wolf who had called me a mongrel paid me gemstones and furs in apology. Now the one who called me a stray most often was Rhydian himself. Everyone could see I had lost his protection. When Soren once spoke a word in my defense,Rhydian sent him to the northern rogue frontier for a month. A young she-wolf had once stared at Rhydian for too long.Seren demanded that she be expelled,and Rhydian allowed the council to sever her pack bond. That was warning enough for anyone who still thought I might have a claim on him. The command finally lifted deep into the night. I forced myself to stand and limped back to my room.My knees were torn so badly that pale bone showed beneath the blood. I looked around. There was almost nothing left that belonged to me. My old books had been moved to the servants’hall.My comb carved with the Moonwolf crest was gone.Even the ribbon Rhydian had tied around my wrist during our first winter had disappeared. My bridal mantle lay crumpled on the floor,black footprints across the pale cloth. I had never been good with a needle. When I sewed the mantle,I pricked all ten fingers until they bled.Rhydian had caught my hands and kissed each wounded fingertip. “Leave the rest to me,”he had said.“You only need to stitch the final crescent sigil.” An Alpha had hidden inside his own chamber to sew a servant’s bridal mantle. How could I not have mistaken that kind of tenderness for love? We had been so close to a happy ending. But close was not the same as enough. I carried the mantle to the brazier and dropped it into the flames. The nine silver crescent sigils stitched into the back curled black at the edges and disappeared one by one. When Rhydian returned,he froze at the sight. He crossed the room in two steps. For once,he forgot his dominance and reached into the fire with his bare hand.Blisters rose instantly across his skin. Then his control snapped. His hand swept out,claws half-shifted,and a thin burning line opened across my cheek. “Have you lost your mind?You spent years making that mantle.Are you not planning to marry anymore?”

第3章

I wiped the blood from my cheek and stared at him. The night breeze carried Seren’s white-flower scent from his clothes. “Marry whom?” His eyes dropped. He did not answer. I laughed without humor. “It’s stained.” The mantle was stained. The promises were stained. Whatever I had once believed existed between us was stained too. He looked away,suddenly uncomfortable beneath my stare. “Then send it to the pack weavers.It is ceremonial clothing.You cannot simply burn it.” When he noticed how empty the room had become,his tone changed. “I don’t have time to make you another one.You have always been wild and difficult.” Wild? Maybe I was. I was Moonwolf’s youngest heir.If I had not spent a thousand years cutting pieces off myself for him,I would have been allowed to be as difficult as I pleased. Together,we watched the mantle collapse into ash. We would never wear it together. At least we could watch it burn together. Another thousand years of foolish hope seemed to turn to gray powder with it. “Take care of Seren,”I said.“That matters more.I can arrange the rest myself.” I turned to leave. Perhaps I was too calm,because Rhydian suddenly caught me and pulled me into his arms. “Wren,Seren is different from you.She lost her father.She has been having nightmares.I have neglected you because I needed to settle her here.” I laughed,and tears came with it. Different? Here,I was the nameless orphan with no pack. Seren carried the name of a fallen war hero.No one in Nightfall dared make her lower her head. When Rhydian saw my tears,his voice softened into something that sounded painfully like the wolf I used to know. “Wren,ask me for anything.Just stop crying.You know I can’t stand it when you cry.” Maybe he had never been completely without feeling for me. But my decision was already made. I steadied myself and asked for one last thing. “My fireplum wine is ready.Will you drink one cup with me tomorrow?” Maelis loved wine,so I had learned to brew it well.This batch had originally been meant for the day I married. I was leaving soon. I did not want to waste it. Unease flashed through Rhydian’s usually cold eyes,but it vanished the moment Seren’s attendant arrived saying her chest hurt. “I’ll have the kitchens prepare a small feast,”he said.“I promise I’ll come.I also have something to announce.” Before he had even finished the sentence,the edge of his black coat had disappeared through the door. I reached after him and caught nothing. Seren’s chest did not hurt. She simply could not bear to see me have one peaceful evening with him. A small feast was fine. Every beginning deserved an ending. Word of the Alpha’s feast spread through Nightfall almost immediately.Everyone assumed Rhydian was finally going to give me a formal place beside him. The next day,I waited from sunrise until sunset. Wolves came to watch whether the nameless stray would finally rise above her station. Rhydian never appeared. By dusk,the looks around me had changed from envy to mockery. Seren arrived last. “Rhydian took me to the lake today,”she said lightly.“He is tired from the journey.Why don’t I drink in his place?” So that was where he had gone. He had used my humiliation as the price of giving Seren a pleasant day. Before I could stop her,Seren lifted Rhydian’s cup and drank. A moment later,blood appeared at the corner of her mouth. She clutched her chest and collapsed. I had not even taken one full breath before Rhydian stormed through the garden gate. His dominance hit me with the force of an Alpha command and drove me backward into the stone.Blood filled my mouth. “Your heart is vicious enough without poisoning her too.” He did not ask what had happened. He did not let me speak. He lifted Seren into his arms and turned toward Garran,the captain of the outer gate. “Bind her wolf.Take her beyond the boundary and teach her what happens when she disrespects Lady Seren.” I tried to explain. “The cup was untouched until she picked it up.Search her cloak.Search the garden.” Garran blocked my path. “A servant giving orders to a captain?” His palm slammed into my chest and stole the rest of my words. Then his claws raked across my face. Pain tore through my skin. He seemed to enjoy how helpless I was.He struck me again and again until blood soaked through my clothes. Finally,he crouched beside me and tapped my cheek. “Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of.Keep talking and I’ll leave you to the border rogues.” He threw me into the snow beyond Nightfall’s boundary. I lay there through the night. By dawn,I could no longer feel my hands. Then gold light moved beneath my skin. The hundred-year price had been paid. The first Moon Mark returned as a spark beneath my collarbone. The second restored warmth to my blood. The third eased the pain in my lungs. One after another,the remaining marks awakened. When the ninth returned,heat rolled from my body and melted the snow beneath me. My wolf tore free in a burst of red-gold light. Bones shifted. Old wounds sealed. The weak servant body disappeared beneath crimson fur marked with nine silver crescent lines along my shoulders. The Moonborn sigil burned bright across my brow. I rose on four paws and howled. The sound crossed the entire valley. Every wolf in Nightfall heard it. When I walked openly through the outer road in my true form,alarm bells began to ring across the territory. Guards rushed to the gates. Then they saw the Moonborn sigil and stopped. I shifted back before them. Blood still darkened my torn dress,but the mark of Moonwolf’s ruling bloodline shone on my skin. Rhydian appeared above the gate last. His face went white. “You are Nyla Solmere.” “I always was.” I walked away before he could say anything else. Behind me,Nightfall’s bells rang three times. The guards whispered that Rhydian had ordered every road,den,and border crossing searched. The Alpha was looking for a missing wolf...