ALPHA'S ENDLESS REGRET: After The Barren Luna's Leave novel Chapter 10

Before crossing paths with Tiberius Dorian, I lived as a nomadic healer, roaming the rugged Wilderness Territories with my parents and Aunt Diana. We served the unaligned packs that existed beyond the reach of Alliance law—outcasts, rogues, and those who rejected the oppressive hierarchy of the established territories.

Tiberius had been ambushed during a territorial skirmish—struck by an arrow laced with a rare strain of modified wolfsbane that neutralized even his Alpha healing abilities. Every pack physician declared him beyond salvation, giving him hours at most.

I encountered him by chance while gathering herbs, immediately recognizing the distinctive scent of Northern Creeper toxin. Using old-world remedies passed through my bloodline—treatments the Alliance had banned for their "primitive" origins—I extracted the poison from his system and stabilized his accelerated metabolism.

When he finally regained consciousness three days later, his behavior transformed into something obsessive. He insisted on claiming me as his mate, proclaiming it the only appropriate way for an Alpha to honor a life debt.

His focus on me was relentless, his attention absolute. He hunted a legendary white elk that had evaded capture for generations, using its prized hide to craft a thermal cloak that protected me from the brutal northern winters.

Despite his parents' vehement opposition and the carefully selected high-born females they'd lined up for strategic alliance pairings, he rejected them all without hesitation, demanding to take me—a wilderness wolf with no pack status—as his Luna.

During those early years, his devotion was undeniable.

He would have challenged the Moon Goddess herself if I had requested it.

Even throughout those ten years he kept Lilith hidden in that remote cabin on pack territory—

I remained completely oblivious, convinced that Tiberius loved me with the same intensity he'd shown when we first formed our bond. My trust was unshakable.

When he disappeared for days at a time, even as whispers spread through allied packs about a secret breeding female, I defended him with fierce loyalty.

At every inter-territorial summit, I proudly refuted the rumors, standing tall beside my Alpha and challenging anyone who dared question his fidelity.

All the while, I was the subject of their knowing glances and carefully concealed pity.

But such is the nature of our existence—bonds form and dissolve according to their predetermined fate. All connections eventually weaken and break.

The strongest oak eventually returns to the soil.

"Alpha, I beg you to end this futile search," she pleaded, placing a tentative hand on his arm.

"If Giselle doesn't want to be found, she's covered her tracks thoroughly. For all we know, she's already found some lone wolf to share body heat with. Would you really invade another male's territory to reclaim damaged goods?"

Tiberius's face transformed with primal disgust as he violently shoved her aside, his control slipping as partial transformation darkened his features.

"Watch your fucking tongue, Lilith. You know nothing about her."

"Giselle is nothing like what you suggest. She never was."

"She stood by me through war, assassination attempts, and betrayal for over a decade, consistently placing pack needs before her own. Apart from her inability to carry cubs—which was MY doing—she was the perfect Luna."

"Don't think your new Protected Status gives you the right to speak ill of her. She remains my true mate by sacred blood oath, regardless of what papers I signed in anger."