ALPHA'S ENDLESS REGRET: After The Barren Luna's Leave novel Chapter 13

He collapsed at the territory boundary, the wolfsbane-infused whiskey shutting down even his Alpha metabolism. When his security team finally tracked his GPS signal, they found him half-shifted and dangerously close to the wild horse herd that territorial rangers used to patrol the borderlands.

During his toxin-induced hallucinations in the pack's medical wing, Tiberius swore he heard Giselle's soft, broken sobs near his ear.

He jolted upright, eyes wild. "Giselle? Is that really you?"

His vision cleared to reveal Lilith's startled face inches from his own, her carefully applied mascara streaking down her cheeks.

Her theatrical sobbing intensified when she heard Tiberius call Giselle's name, her body language shifting instantly from concerned to victimized.

"For god's sake, Tiberius," she hissed, fingers digging into his forearm, "everyone with half a brain knows she's probably dead by now. She went through official channels with Alpha Katrina to get that severance decree—the kind that requires blood rituals. She wanted every possible connection to you permanently severed. Your bond is legally and spiritually dissolved! Why can't you just delete her from your life and focus on what's right in front of you—me and our beautiful cubs?"

Something primal and dangerous awakened in Tiberius at these words. Before he could control his partial shift, he struck Lilith with enough force to send her sprawling across the medical bay floor.

"Don't mistake your reproductive value for actual rank in this pack," he growled, canines elongating. "You're speaking to your Alpha, not your mate."

"If Giselle's reproductive system hadn't been damaged—by MY actions—do you honestly believe you'd have ever entered my private quarters? Do you think you'd have ever occupied space in my bed?"

"Let me be crystal clear: in my eyes, you were never more than a breeding female with compatible genetics. A convenient means to continue my bloodline when I destroyed my true mate's ability to carry cubs."

"If you speak another word suggesting Giselle's death or disappearance, I swear by the blood moon you won't live through your next heat cycle."

Lilith remained frozen against the wall, her body instinctively submitting to the Alpha's dominance display, not daring to make eye contact or approach him again.

Their two older cubs witnessed this confrontation from the doorway and responded with frightened whimpers, ducking behind their mother's legs.

"Mama, why is Father's eyes so scary?" the younger female whispered.

"It's that bad woman's fault again, isn't it?" snarled the older male cub, already displaying dominant tendencies. "She's bewitched him like you said. I hate her! I wish the hunters had gotten her!"

Tiberius, who had started toward the door, froze mid-stride. He turned with predatory slowness, his shift progressing further as rage coursed through his system.

"What exactly have you been teaching my offspring, Lilith?" His voice had dropped an octave, the tone that preceded violence in Alpha confrontations.

"This is madness, son," his father growled. "Why sacrifice everything you've built—your pack, your bloodline, your territory—for a female who clearly wants nothing to do with you? Why can't you move forward like a rational Alpha?"

Tiberius paused in his preparations, turning toward them with an expression that silenced their protests more effectively than any growl.

"Because Giselle isn't just 'a female'—she's the other half of my soul. She always was."

"I systematically betrayed her trust, manipulated her emotions, and shattered her world. Now it's my responsibility to repair what I destroyed, no matter the cost. I will find her and earn her forgiveness myself."

His mother stepped forward, eyes flashing with concern. "And if she rejects you? If she's found another mate?"

Tiberius gazed toward the distant mountain range where the unregulated Wilderness Territories began, a calm certainty settling over his features.

"Then I'll surrender my Alpha status, my territory, and my life to her judgment. Whatever justice she demands, I'll accept without question or resistance." A ghost of a smile touched his lips. "But once her righteous anger burns out, she'll recognize the truth we both know—we were literally born to run together."

Despite their increasingly desperate attempts to reason with him, Tiberius left them with nothing but exhaust fumes and the fading rumble of his motorcycle heading toward the dangerous no-man's-land between allied territories and the lawless wilderness beyond.