Alina

The steering wheel felt oddly chilled under my palms despite the harsh afternoon sun pouring through the windshield.

I had just returned from the market at the edge of Nightfall territory, my bags filled with carefully chosen ingredients—rosemary, thick cuts of beef, cream for his mushroom sauce, and the red wine he once said reminded him of “better days.” I always picked everything myself, even with servants available.

Because he liked my cooking.

Because whenever Alpha Soren ate what I made, the sharpness in his gray eyes softened, and for a moment, it felt like I mattered.

I placed the last bag on the passenger seat and leaned back, exhaling slowly. Five years. Three as his lover, two as his fiancée, still waiting for a wedding that never came.

He had proposed under the silver oak tree behind the packhouse, holding my hands like I was fragile and irreplaceable, saying, “You’re the only one who stayed.” I believed him.

I always did.

On my way back to the packhouse, I passed Mooncrest Bistro, his favorite restaurant just outside the pack borders—a neutral place where alphas often held business dinners. He liked it for its human-style dishes in wolf-sized portions, once calling it the “best of both worlds.”

A thought lingered. He had been distant lately—always “busy” with meetings, patrols, and alliances. Last night, he barely touched my food.

Maybe he was just overwhelmed. Maybe takeout from Mooncrest would make him smile again.

Without overthinking, I parked.

The bell chimed softly as I entered, warm air greeting me, scented with roasted garlic and grilled meat. My wolf stirred faintly at the familiar comfort.

My eyes moved through the room.

And then I saw him.

Alpha Soren.

He sat by a corner window seat, sunlight spilling over him, softening the sharp lines of his face. He looked… at ease. More at ease than he had been around me in a long time.

A smile formed on my lips before I could stop it. So he really was here.

I straightened my cardigan, a strange nervousness I hadn’t felt in years suddenly settling in, and started walking toward him. In my mind, I imagined slipping into the seat beside him, teasing him for not telling me he was here, maybe even stealing food from his plate just to annoy him.

But I slowed.

He wasn’t alone.

Across from him sat a woman. At first, it was only her hair—long, dark, falling in soft waves almost identical to mine. Then she shifted, and my breath caught.

Her face. The shape of her nose, her lips, even the faint curve of her smile.

It was like looking at a reflection—only softer, more refined, almost unreal.

I stopped completely.

No. That’s impossible. There are plenty of women with dark hair.

But then she laughed.

And Alpha Soren smiled.

Not just any smile—but one I had not seen directed at me in years.

I moved without realizing it, slipping closer and stopping behind a decorative pillar near their table. Close enough to hear. Close enough to confirm what I was seeing.

He leaned forward, elbows resting on the table, his gaze warm.

“I know how much you loved this place when we were children,” he said in a low, familiar tone. “You used to beg your father just to bring us here every full moon.”

The woman’s eyes lit up. “You really remembered everything about me, Alpha.” She reached out, brushing his hand lightly. “I can’t wait to marry you and become your Luna.”

Marry. Luna.

The words struck me like a violent blow to the chest.

My heart skipped before pounding painfully against my ribs.

Marry? But I’m his fiancée.

My hands trembled as I pulled out my phone, dialing his number without thinking. My vision blurred slightly.

Across the room, his phone lit up on the table.

He glanced at it.

For a brief second, I thought I saw surprise flash in his eyes. Then it vanished, replaced by something cold and controlled.

He turned the phone over and ended the call.

Just like that.

No hesitation.

The woman tilted her head slightly. “Who was that?”

“No one important,” he answered smoothly, not even glancing in my direction. “Just someone from the pack.”

No one important.

Five years.

Five years of standing beside him through his nightmares. Five years of enduring whispers that I was nothing more than “the maid who seduced the Alpha.” Five years of believing I mattered.

No one important.

I quickly typed a message instead. Are you busy? I’m near Mooncrest.

His phone vibrated again. This time, he didn’t even look. He continued speaking to her as if nothing had interrupted him at all.

“I’ll handle everything,” he said gently. “Just a few loose matters to settle.”

She hesitated. “What about… her?”

Her.

My stomach dropped.

He sighed faintly, as though the question itself was tiring. “I’ll get rid of that maid first. Then I’ll formally introduce you to the pack.”

That maid.

The world around me tilted.

So that was all I was. Not his fiancée. Not his future Luna. Just… that maid.

My breath caught, refusing to come properly.

Inside me, my wolf whined softly, confused and wounded. For wolves, betrayal cut deeper than anything else. Even chosen bonds carried sacred weight.

I stepped back unsteadily, nearly bumping into a passing waiter. I muttered an apology I barely heard myself say before turning and rushing out.

The moment the door closed behind me, I ran.

I didn’t know where I was going. I just ran.

Past parked vehicles. Past market stalls. Past the forest line marking pack territory.

My lungs burned, but I didn’t stop.

Was I only ever a reflection of her? Was that the reason he chose me that night?

The memory returned without warning.

Five years ago.

I had been kneeling on the cold floor of the packhouse hall, cleaning spilled liquor after one of his drunken breakdowns. I was just a maid in the Nightfall Pack then.

Alpha Soren, once powerful and feared, had been broken. The pack was unstable, and he drank himself unconscious almost every night.

I was new. Invisible. Until he suddenly grabbed my face.

His grip was rough, yet trembling. He tilted my chin upward and stared at me as though he were seeing a ghost.

“You’re back… you’re back for me, Evelina,” he whispered hoarsely.

Then he collapsed.

I wasn’t Evelina. I was Alina.

But the next day, he came looking for me. He apologized, spoke to me, and little by little, his drinking lessened while the emptiness in his eyes softened. Eventually, he began to smile again.

He told me I had saved him.

I once believed it was fate. Now I wondered if I had only been convenient.

I don’t even remember how I got back to the packhouse. By nightfall, I was already lying alone in our bed, staring at the ceiling.

He never came home—or maybe he did, I couldn’t tell. I didn’t move when the door creaked open; I only pretended to be asleep.

But sleep never came.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face.

My face. No—her face.

Morning arrived too quickly.

The packhouse was unusually lively. Laughter echoed from below, mixed with hurried footsteps and excited whispers. My head throbbed heavily from the sleepless night.

A young omega maid knocked softly at my door.

“Miss Alina? There are visitors downstairs. The Alpha said you should cook… he said he missed your food.”

Missed.

The word tasted bitter.

I forced myself upright, washing my face with cold water until my skin stung. I dressed simply and tied my hair the way he liked.

Because I needed to see it through.

As I went down the grand staircase, the voices grew clearer.

Then I saw them.

Two strangers sat in the main hall—a man and a woman.

The woman from the restaurant looked even more striking in daylight, wearing a cream dress with a graceful posture and a soft, composed smile.

She looked like me.

Or maybe I looked like her.

Alpha Soren stood beside them. When his eyes met mine, something flickered across his face before he quickly masked it.

“Alina,” he said. “Come here.”

I walked forward slowly, each step heavier than the last.

“These are my childhood friends,” he continued. “They just returned from abroad.”

The man stood and offered his hand. “Gideon. Pleasure to meet you.”

I shook it automatically.

Then Soren turned to the woman, his voice softening in a way I knew too well.

“And this,” he said, “is Evelina.”

The name echoed violently inside my mind.

Evelina.

Five years ago, he had whispered it against my skin, holding my face like I was something sacred.

You’re back… you’re back for me, Evelina.

Everything suddenly made sense—the way he had looked at me like I was a miracle, the delays, the fading affection over time.

Because she had not been here yet.

And now she was.

So all this time… I was never the one he chose.

I was only what remained in her absence.

A replacement.

Alina

I didn’t cry.

Not when Alpha Soren presented Evelina as though she were something sacred, untouchable, irreplaceable. Not even when the pack’s gaze shifted toward her with open admiration and toward me with quiet pity that stung worse than any insult.

I refused to cry.

Instead, I drifted through the packhouse like something unseen, something already forgotten, even though I had once believed this place would always be mine.

Five years. Five years of loving him without hesitation. Five years of enduring the elders’ cold stares, the warriors’ silent judgment, and the maids’ hushed whispers that followed me wherever I went. I bore every word and every look because I convinced myself love made it worthwhile. I told myself birth meant nothing, that being a maid did not decide what I could become.

He chose me, I used to believe.

But now the truth had taken shape too clearly to deny. He had never chosen me at all. He had mistaken me for someone else.

And even after realizing I wasn’t Evelina, he kept me near—not out of love, but because I resembled a memory he couldn’t release.

So what was I to Alpha Soren? Never his Luna. Never his equal. Only a substitute wearing someone else’s shadow.

Evelina and Gideon, heirs of the Crosswell Pack in the south, had arrived recently, and the pack spoke of them with clear admiration. Crosswell was known for its wealth, its strength, and its influence among allied territories. Their visit was described as a simple “vacation,” but no one truly believed that. Alphas did not cross into another Alpha’s lands without purpose.

There were always intentions beneath such visits. Often, arrangements. Sometimes, unions meant to bind power together.

The morning after they arrived, I went looking for Soren. I needed to hear him, even if the truth would hurt. Even a lie would have been easier than being left alone in silence.

I stopped a maid passing through the kitchen.

“Have you seen the Alpha?” I asked, steadying my voice.

She avoided my eyes. “He’s likely occupied, Miss Alina.”

“Likely,” I repeated softly.

“He usually tells me when he has meetings,” I added.

Her mouth tightened. “He’s with important guests.”

Important guests. I nodded once and stepped aside, though something inside me felt heavier than before. There had been a time when I always knew where he was. When he left, he told me—no matter how trivial it was. A patrol. A meeting. Even a brief errand.

Now I had to ask like a stranger.

Still, I went to his office.

The door was slightly open, and voices drifted out from within.

Hers.

I pushed it gently.

Soren stood by his desk, sleeves rolled up, expression focused. Evelina sat comfortably on the sofa, legs crossed with effortless elegance, reading through documents as if she had always belonged there.

They both looked up when I entered. His expression softened for a fleeting moment, instinctive, before hardening again.

“Alina,” he said flatly. “You shouldn’t be here. I’m busy.”

The words landed heavier than they should have.

I glanced toward Evelina. She met my eyes without hesitation, calm and faintly smiling, as though my presence did not unsettle her at all.

Soren followed my gaze and shifted slightly.

“She needs to be here,” he added quickly. “She’s from Crosswell. We’re discussing interterritorial matters.”

Interterritorial matters. Of course.

Important things.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came. What could I even say? Why didn’t you tell me she had returned two years ago? Why didn’t you tell me you were already close to her again? Why did you let me stay in a future that no longer existed?

None of it came out.

“I understand,” I said instead.

I turned and closed the door quietly behind me.

The hallway felt tighter as I walked away. Voices followed me, growing clearer as I passed.

“She really thought Alpha Soren loved her?”

A soft laugh trailed after.

“He’s been completely taken with Miss Evelina since she came back two years ago.”

Two years.

The words echoed, sharp and relentless.

Evelina had returned two years ago. That was when everything changed—when Soren began delaying our wedding without explanation, when his warmth faded, when his attention stopped lingering on me.

Everyone knew.

The warriors who bowed more deeply to Evelina. The elders who suddenly approved alliances. The maids who watched me with quiet pity.

Everyone knew.

No one told me.

Not one person warned me. Not one voice told me I should leave before it hurt more.

They let me stay, smiling at a future that was already gone.

By the time I reached the corridor bend, my steps had grown unsteady. I nearly collided with someone.

Gideon.

He leaned against the wall as though he owned it, arms crossed, eyes slowly tracing me without restraint. Not polite. Not respectful.

Just… assessing.

From my hair to my waist. Then lingering a moment too long.

He gave a low, amused whistle.

“Now that’s unexpected,” he said lazily. “For a maid, you’re… quite appealing.”

A chill crawled up my spine.

“I don’t understand what you’re implying,” I replied, stepping aside.

His smile deepened. “You look like my sister. I suppose Soren found that useful.”

My stomach tightened at his tone.

His gaze flicked over me again before returning to my face. “If things ever fall apart for you here, Alina, Crosswell might have use for someone like you.”

I didn’t wait to hear more. I walked away, pulse racing. Something about him felt wrong—too sharp, too invasive. My wolf stirred uneasily, though even she felt dulled, as if exhaustion had weakened her instincts.

By afternoon, I tried to bury myself in work.

Old habits returned easily. Before Soren chose me, I had been nothing more than a maid—cleaning, cooking, scrubbing stone floors until winter cracked my skin.

So I cleaned again.

I carried water into the garden and began wiping down the benches. The air was calm, almost too calm, the sky clear and indifferent above me. My head ached, but I pushed through it.

I knelt near the fountain, scrubbing a stain.

Then something struck the back of my head.

Everything went white.

Pain erupted instantly as I collapsed forward onto the stone path. I tasted iron before I understood what had happened. My ears rang so loudly I could barely hear anything else.

I forced my eyes open through the haze.

On the second-floor balcony of the Alpha wing stood Evelina.

She was looking down at me.

Our eyes met.

Her expression gave nothing away.

Then the world slipped away.

When I woke, antiseptic burned faintly in the air.

I was in a guest room, lying in bed with my head tightly bandaged. A dull, constant pain pulsed beneath the wrapping.

Voices reached me.

“She didn’t do it on purpose,” Soren said urgently. “Calm down, Evelina.”

I turned my head slightly.

He stood near the window, holding Evelina as she sobbed into her hands.

When she saw I was awake, she rushed over.

“Alina!” she cried, grabbing my hand. “I’m so sorry! I was holding a pot on the balcony and it slipped—I didn’t know you were down there. I swear I didn’t mean it.”

Her tears fell onto the blanket.

I looked at her in silence.

A pot.

My mind replayed the layout of the wing. No balcony plants. No decorations along the rail. The Alpha wing was kept minimal, precise.

There had been no pots there.

Unless someone brought one.

“You injured me seriously,” I said quietly.

Even my own voice sounded distant.

Soren stepped forward immediately, his expression tightening.

“Can’t you just let it go?” he snapped. “She didn’t mean it. Don’t make this difficult, Alina.”

I stared at him. “But I—”

“No excuses,” he cut in sharply. “I didn’t realize you were this ungrateful.”

Ungrateful.

The word cut deeper than the pain in my head.

It was absurd.

All of this was absurd.

The man who once held me like I mattered now looked at me as though I were nothing but a burden.

Evelina suddenly leaned in and wrapped her arms around me.

“I’m so sorry, Alina!” she sobbed again.

Her body trembled against mine.

Then, her voice shifted—so low only I could hear.

“It could’ve been worse,” she whispered. “But I only saw a pot.”

A pause.

“Lucky you, maid.”

She pulled back instantly, resuming her tears as though nothing had changed.

I froze.

Soren rubbed her back gently. “It’s alright. She understands.”

Alina

The bandages wrapped around my head felt even tighter as night settled in.

Or maybe it wasn’t the bandages at all—maybe it was my thoughts, pressing in on me, refusing to let me rest.

Ever since Evelina and Gideon arrived, Alpha Soren hadn’t once stayed the night in our shared room.

Our room. The phrase almost made me laugh now.

He had come in briefly that afternoon to take a few clothes. He didn’t look at me. He didn’t ask if the pain in my head had eased. He simply opened the wardrobe, gathered what he needed, and left like I was just another object in the corner of the room.

Five years of sleeping beside each other, and suddenly there was only emptiness beside me.

I pushed myself up slowly, wincing as a dull pain pulsed through my skull. Moonlight slipped through the curtains, spilling pale light across the floor. That was when I noticed something near the cabinet.

A phone.

It lay face down on the wooden floor, half hidden beneath the edge of the rug.

My breath caught. He must have dropped it earlier when he changed.

For a long moment, I only stared.

Then I got up and picked it up, my fingers shaking slightly. His scent still clung faintly to the case.

After a pause, I pressed the power button.

Locked, of course.

I exhaled slowly and tried his birthday. Wrong. Then I entered mine, though I wasn’t even sure why I expected anything different. Wrong again.

A humorless smile tugged at my lips.

Of course he wouldn’t use my birthday.

Then a thought slithered in quietly, uncomfortable and persistent.

Evelina.

My fingers turned cold as I grabbed my own phone and searched her. It didn’t take long to find her account—refined photos, soft smiles, comments overflowing with admiration from pack members.

I scrolled until I found an old post marking her birthday.

July 17.

My hand hesitated before I typed the numbers into his phone.

It unlocked immediately.

For a second, I forgot how to breathe.

Her birthday. He used hers. Not mine. Not anything that belonged to us. Hers.

My chest tightened painfully, but I forced myself to open his messages.

Evelina’s name sat at the top.

Of course it did.

I opened the thread.

The latest message from him read: I’ll end things with her this week. Just give me a little more time.

My vision blurred.

End things with her. With me.

Evelina replied beneath it:

I don’t understand why it’s taking so long. You said you only saw me in her because we look alike. But it’s been two years since we met again, and she’s still by your side. My patience is running out, Alpha.

Two years. They had reconnected two years ago. Two years of him standing beside me while thinking of someone else entirely.

My hands trembled as I continued reading.

Alpha Soren replied:

You know Fallendawn Pack has been harassing me—emails, letters, every day asking for that maid. They’re my rivals. I don’t know why they’re so fixated on Alina, but I can’t let them take her.

Fallendawn.

My stomach dropped.

Evelina answered again:

I understand you hate Fallendawn, but is she really worth keeping? What if she’s involved with them somehow? We don’t know everything, Alpha.

Then his reply came:

I’ll handle it this week. There’s a plan. I can’t let Fallendawn get her. I’d rather keep her out of their reach.

I stopped reading.

My head pounded violently.

Fallendawn Pack—I knew that name. Everyone did. They were Nightfall’s long-time enemies, rival alphas locked in conflict for decades over land and power.

But why would they want me?

I was nobody. Just a maid.

Why would two powerful packs fight over someone like me?

Footsteps outside snapped me back.

Panic surged through me. I quickly locked the phone, placed it back where I found it, and stepped away just as the door opened.

Alpha Soren entered, brow slightly furrowed.

“Did you see my phone?” he asked.

I forced my voice steady. I picked it up from the cabinet and handed it over. “You left it earlier.”

His fingers brushed mine briefly as he took it. For a moment, I thought he might notice how fast my heart was beating.

“Be careful,” I said quietly. “You might lose it.”

He barely looked at me. “I will.”

Then he left without another word.

I sank back onto the edge of the bed.

A plan.

They had a plan.

And I was part of it.

The realization settled heavily inside me. I wasn’t being kept because I was loved.

I was being kept because I was useful.

And whatever they were planning… it wasn’t safe.

The next day, I spent hours digging.

Old records. Archives. Pack gossip threads. Anything about Fallendawn Pack.

There was plenty about their influence, their wealth, their control over western territories—but nothing about their Alpha. No name. No face. No clear record. It was as if he didn’t officially exist.

The more I searched, the more restless I became.

Why me? What was I to them?

A knock sounded at my door.

I froze.

Soren never knocked. He walked in like everything belonged to him.

My pulse tightened.

“Who is it?” I called carefully.

“It’s me.”

Gideon.

My stomach twisted.

I shouldn’t open it—but if I didn’t, he might make a scene.

Slowly, I cracked the door open.

He stood there casually, hands in his pockets, wearing an easy smile.

“You skipped lunch,” he said, eyes dragging over me again.

“I wasn’t hungry.”

He leaned in, pressing his palm against the door and pushing it wider. “I just came to check on you… after what happened.”

The way he said “what happened” made it sound dirty.

“I’m fine,” I said quickly, trying to close the door.

But he forced his way inside.

“Gideon, leave.”

He shut the door behind him.

The room suddenly felt smaller.

“You know,” he murmured, stepping closer, “you look even better up close.”

My back hit the wall. “Stop.”

He reached out, brushing my hair aside. His touch made my skin crawl.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said softly, “if my sister doesn’t want you… maybe I should keep you instead.”

Fear shot through me.

“I’m engaged to Alpha Soren.”

He let out a small laugh. “For now.”

His hand slid down my arm, gripping too tightly.

“Let go of me.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t notice,” he whispered, stepping closer. “You’re wasted here.”

His fingers tugged at my dress.

I shoved him, but he didn’t move.

“Gideon!” I shouted.

He covered my mouth and pushed me toward the bed.

“Relax,” he murmured. “You’ll like it.”

He kissed me roughly, trying to force his touch on me. Terror flooded my body.

I bit down hard on his lip.

He swore loudly.

The door flew open.

Alpha Soren stood there.

For a moment, he just stared.

Gideon stepped back immediately.

I scrambled away, clutching my torn clothes, shaking.

Silence stretched.

“What is this?” Soren demanded.

“It’s nothing,” Gideon said lazily. “She misunderstood.”

Misunderstood.

I looked at Soren desperately, waiting—for anger, for action, for anything like the man who once protected me.

But he only stood there.

Still. Thinking.

Like he was weighing something.

The situation only stopped because he arrived—not because he intervened.

Something inside me broke.

Tears came suddenly, uncontrollable.

Soren finally spoke. “Gideon. Leave.”

Gideon smirked and walked out like nothing had happened.

The door closed.

Soren looked at me.

“Alina…”

I stepped back. “Don’t,” I whispered.

He didn’t move toward me. Didn’t comfort me. Didn’t promise anything.

And in that silence, I understood everything I needed to know.

I was alone in this pack.

Completely alone.

That same day, with what little money I had secretly saved over the years, I went to the regional pack council and filed a formal complaint against Gideon.

It was dangerous. Risky.

But I couldn’t stay silent anymore.

If they were building something behind my back…

then I would start protecting myself first.

Because no one else would.