Let Them Have Their Tragedy

I was seven months pregnant with our pup, yet I was about to die on the sacrificial altar of my Alpha mate, Caleb.

He believed a vile lie—that the heart's blood of my premature pup could "purify" the bloodline of his adoptive sister, Lorelei. He conspired with the pack's shaman, using dark magic to rip the life from my child. On that ancient altar, as the silver ritual dagger plunged into my belly, I felt the life drain from the pup in my womb. And he? He turned to comfort a crying Lorelei, abandoning our child to die.

Then, my pack members told me coldly, "You owe this to Lorelei. It's time to repay her."

My Alpha said, "We can have another child. Is one pup's life more important than Lorelei's bloodline?"

Overwhelming rage and grief caused me to bleed to death as our mate bond shattered in excruciating pain. My soul floated above, watching them perform the blood sacrifice for Lorelei. They didn't even grant me the final rites of a wolf.

No one mourned me. No one went mad from my death.

They unceremoniously shoved my lifeless body into the morgue and celebrated Lorelei's "recovery."

When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Three months earlier, on the very day the entire pack had forced me to agree to sever our mate bond.

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1

I sat in the grand hall of the pack house, the once-familiar faces now just a blur. Lost in memory, I could almost smell the metallic tang of silver and blood clinging to the stone carvings overhead.

"Aurora, please... just agree to sever the mate bond," the pack's Luna, Caleb's mother, pleaded, her eyes brimming with tears. "It's Lorelei's only hope for survival!"

She sat across from me, clutching Lorelei's hand, gazing at me as if I were a selfish, heartless sinner.

Caleb's father, the former Alpha, stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, his face a cold, hard mask.

"Your selfishness is making Lorelei's condition worse. You owe her this," he said, his voice sharp. "She'll be lucky to make it to the next full moon. Can't you find it in your heart to give her a chance?"

I placed a hand on my burgeoning belly and glanced at Caleb, who sat opposite me. "And you? Are you willing to abandon me and our pup for her?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, frustration etched onto his face. "Aurora, Lorelei is dying. I grew up with her. I have to protect her. Our lives were fine before you showed up—"

"Stop pressuring Aurora!" Lorelei interrupted, her voice trembling. "I know I'm not worthy of the Alpha's favor. Compared to Aurora, I'm nothing..."

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she collapsed into his arms, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her.

"Even though the Vance family raised me and I grew up with Caleb, I'm still just an outsider in the end—"

"Lorelei, don't say that!" the Luna cried. "You will always be our daughter."

She wiped away Lorelei's tears, her heart aching. But when she turned back to me, the tenderness in her eyes had curdled into fury. "You're the outsider here, Aurora! How can you deny Lorelei her only chance to live? You're a heartless bitch!"

"This is for Lorelei," the former Alpha warned. "Don't be so selfish."

"Lorelei, trust me. I'll stabilize your condition," Caleb whispered to her, then glared at me. "Aurora, I thought you were better than this. It's a temporary separation, just to keep her stable. Are you really going to let her die?"