The Alpha Stole My Fate, The Lycan King Claimed My Heart

"Are you absolutely certain about this, Elena?"

The doctor's voice hovered above me, sterile and cold.

"I am," I said.

"Congenital kidney failure is severe," the doctor warned. "Removing your kidney poses massive risks to your own wolf. If you don't heal properly, you could lose your shifting abilities entirely."

"Where do I sign?" I asked.

Adrian squeezed my fingers.

"You don't have to do this," Adrian said.

"Vivian is my stepsister," I told him.

"She is weak," he argued. "The pack needs a strong Luna. You are risking your life for a half-blood."

"I've protected her since we were kids, Adrian."

"You always put everyone else first."

"She needs this to survive. She is my family."

Adrian leaned closer, his Alpha scent wrapping around me.

"When you wake up, we hold the Mate Ceremony," he promised.

"You aren't just saying that to keep me calm?" I asked.

"I will announce to the entire Thorn Pack that you are my one and only Luna."

"You swear?"

"I swear it on the Moon Goddess."

I grabbed the pen and signed the hospital forms.

"I'll be waiting right here," Adrian whispered.

The nurse injected the anesthesia into my IV.

The world faded to black.

***

A sharp throbbing in my side pulled me back to consciousness.

The hospital room was completely dark.

The door stood slightly ajar, letting in a sliver of harsh fluorescent light.

Voices drifted through the narrow gap.

"Is the spare part functioning?"

I recognized my stepmother's voice immediately. Helena Hale.

"The transplant was a flawless success," my father, Gregory Ravenshade, replied.

"Good," Helena scoffed.

"Keep your voice down," Gregory snapped.

"Why should I?" Helena countered. "I am sick of pretending to love your useless daughter."

My fingers clamped onto the thin hospital blanket.

"If Elena hears you, she'll cause a scene."

"Let her," Helena said. "Vivian has the kidney now. My baby is finally safe."

"Elena served her purpose," my father agreed.

"She actually thought we considered her family."

"Donating half her organs is the only value she ever brought to this house."

"I hated buying her those stupid gifts every year," Helena laughed softly.

"It was an investment," Gregory said. "A cheap price for Vivian's life."

"Do you think she suspects anything?"

"Elena is blind," my father replied. "She thinks the Mate bond with Adrian will save her."

"Adrian is a smart Alpha. He knows where true power lies."

A strange, dry chuckle escaped my throat.

Tears should have fallen. Instead, an empty amusement rattled in my chest.

Twenty years of family dinners. Twenty years of fake smiles.

All a lie to keep a living donor healthy for Vivian.

I shoved the blankets off my legs.

Pain ripped through my abdomen. I ignored it.

I needed Adrian. The Mate bond was the only truth I had left.

***

I stumbled out of the room, clutching my IV stand for support.

Adrian stood at the end of the hallway.

"Adrian," I rasped.

He looked up, stuffing his phone into his pocket.

"You shouldn't be out of bed," he said.

"My father," I gasped. "Helena. They lied to me."

Adrian crossed his arms. "What are you talking about?"

"They only wanted my kidney for Vivian."

He sighed heavily.

"They never loved me, Adrian. They just admitted it."

"Elena, you are being ridiculous."

"I heard them!"

"You just got out of surgery," Adrian said. "You're confused."

"I know exactly what I heard."

"Helena is exhausted. Vivian almost died today," he argued.

"So that excuses them using me like livestock?"

"Don't twist their stress into some malicious plot."

My jaw tightened. "You're defending them?"

"I am telling you to be reasonable," Adrian retorted.

"They played me for a fool."

"Stop trying to ruin your family over a few angry words."

"Angry words? They called me a spare part!"

"Gregory is a proud man. You misunderstood his tone."

"He said my only value was my organs!" I yelled.

"And you gave them freely. So what is the problem?"

"The problem is that my entire life has been a lie."

He turned his back on me.

"Go back to sleep, Elena. We will talk when you are rational."

"Adrian, wait!"

"I have a pack to run," he snapped.

He walked away, leaving me alone in the freezing corridor.

***

Night fell over the Thorn Pack territory.

Torches blazed along the stone path leading to the ceremonial altar.

Despite the agonizing pain in my side, I wore my white ceremonial dress.

Adrian had promised.

No matter what my family did, he was my Mate. We would face them together.

Pack members lined the pathway, murmuring as I limped past them.

"Look at her," someone whispered.

"Why is she out of bed?" another asked.

I kept my chin high.

Adrian stood at the top of the altar stairs, dressed in his formal Alpha robes.

A figure stood next to him.

Vivian.

She wore a dress identical to mine, though hers was trimmed in silver.

My stepsister looked pale, but a triumphant smirk played on her lips.

"Adrian?" I called out.

The murmurs of the pack died down instantly.

Adrian didn't look at me. He reached out and grabbed Vivian's hand.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"Tonight, we celebrate the future of the Thorn Pack," Adrian announced.

His voice echoed across the clearing.

I froze at the base of the steps.

"I present to you my true Mate," Adrian declared.

He raised Vivian's hand into the air.

"Vivian Hale. The only Luna I will ever recognize."

The words slammed into me like a physical blow.

"No," I whispered.

"You heard him," Vivian sneered, gazing down at me.

"We share the bond," I yelled at Adrian. "You promised me!"

"I promised to keep you docile until the surgery was over," Adrian replied coldly.

"You lied?"

"Vivian is my chosen Mate. She always has been."

Vivian leaned against his shoulder.

"Did you really think an Alpha would want a broken wolf?" Vivian asked.

"I broke myself for you!"

"And I am so grateful," Vivian mocked. "This dress fits me much better anyway."

"You used me," I choked out.

"You were useful," Adrian corrected. "Enough, Elena. Accept your place."

He pulled Vivian close and kissed her.

Inside my chest, the Mate bond snapped.

It didn't just break. It tore, shredding my veins and setting my blood on fire.

I collapsed to the dirt.

A scream ripped from my throat, raw and agonizing.

The pain in my abdomen was nothing compared to the agony of a severed bond.

Pack members stepped back, watching me writhe on the ground.

No one offered a hand.

My father stood in the front row, his face completely blank.

Helena leaned against his arm, smiling openly.

"Adrian!" I sobbed, clutching the dirt.

He finally glanced down at me.

There was no warmth in his eyes. No love.

Just disgust.

"Get her out of here," Adrian ordered his guards.

"You will regret this!" I cried.

"She's ruining my wedding," he added, waving a hand dismissively.

Rough hands grabbed my arms, hauling me upward.

Blood soaked through the white fabric of my dress, seeping from my fresh surgical wound.

I had given up my body for my sister.

I had trusted my heart to my Mate.

Now, I had absolutely nothing left.

The guards dragged me toward the edge of the forest.

"Throw her to the rogues," one guard muttered.

"Let the wolves finish her off," the other agreed.

The darkness of the trees loomed ahead, promising only death for a wounded, rejected wolf.

But as the shadows swallowed me, a low, terrifying growl rumbled from the depths of the woods.

The sound vibrated through the earth, freezing the guards in their tracks.

A massive pair of glowing red eyes pierced the gloom.

Who was waiting for me in the dark?