My Alpha Chose His Sister-in-Law Over Me, Now He Begs Me to Return

Kieran Blackwood hated two things: being slow and waiting. As the youngest Alpha in the Blackwood Pack, he expected everything to be done fast. I was his fated mate—and the slowest wolf in the pack. My wolf didn't awaken until I was nineteen. While others needed five seconds to shift, I needed ten. Kieran never yelled at me. He just kept telling me to hurry up, to keep up, to be more like Valerie. Valerie Blackwood was the widow of Kieran's older brother, Marcus. Five months ago, Marcus died saving Kieran at the border. With his dying breath, he made Kieran promise to take care of Valerie and their unborn pup. Soon, Valerie could do no wrong, and I could never do anything fast enough. Still, I believed Kieran loved me. During the first three months of my pregnancy, he never missed a single Healer's appointment. He even promised he'd never miss an important moment in our pup's life. Then the Blood Moon came. Valerie and I went into labor on the same night, and there was only one dose of Moonveil Elixir left—the potion that could protect a mother and her pup during a dangerous Blood Moon birth. My daughter's heartbeat was failing. I begged Kieran to save her. He gave the Moonveil to Valerie. He stayed by her side while she delivered Marcus's son. I gave birth alone. My daughter didn't breathe for ninety seconds, and I nearly died. Kieran never came to see us. That was the night I finally stopped waiting for him. Chapter 1 Three years ago, the Full Moon was supposed to be the night Kieran and I completed our mating ceremony. He had scheduled it between a border patrol and a meeting with the elders, claiming it was "the most efficient arrangement." The patrol took longer than expected. By the time he reached the Moon Stone, the moon had already passed its highest point. The priest explained the rule. The ceremony could only take place at the seasonal Moon Peak. If we missed it, we'd have to wait another three months. During those three months, my mother fell ill. She had once served as the pack's Healer, and I'd grown up helping her copy out her herbal remedies. She didn't live to see my wedding day. In her final moments, she gripped my hand and whispered that she wished she could see me wear the moonstone ring. Kieran knelt beside her bed all night. "Serena, I swear I'll never let you miss another important moment. No matter what happens, I'll be there." I believed him. Why wouldn't I? In the first year after my wolf awakened, he ran every dawn patrol at my pace. When the pack teased him, he called it endurance training. I was the only one who knew he never once checked his watch on those mornings. My mother used to say the Moon Council wrote the Mate Code for wolves who forgot that a bond is a promise, not a leash. Abandon your mate in childbirth, and the Council will free her. I laughed when she said it. Kieran would never. Tonight was the Blood Moon. The elders always said births under a Blood Moon came fast and fierce. At one in the morning, my water broke. A full four weeks before my due date. I reached for him through the mind-link. "Kieran, I'm in labor. Now." He answered fast. "I'm at the infirmary. Valerie's gone into labor too." Valerie wasn't due for another three days. The Blood Moon sent us both into labor on the same night. In Blackwood's infirmary, the two delivery rooms were separated by a single wall. I was on the left. She was on the right. A wolf's hearing is too sharp. I could hear every one of her cries, and Healer Thea's hushed voice out in the corridor. "Alpha, a Blood Moon birth is too dangerous for both of them. We only have one dose of Moonveil Elixir left." Moonveil. Moonveil could slow labor, giving a mother more time to endure the dangers of a Blood Moon birth while protecting both her and her pup. But the flower it was made from only bloomed on the snow peaks of the far North, once in a decade. That single vial was the pack's last reserve. "The Luna's pup is four weeks early, and the heartbeat is dropping. She should—" "How dilated is Serena?" Kieran cut her off. "Seven centimeters. About an hour left." "And Valerie?" "Three centimeters. At this rate, eight to ten more hours." The corridor fell silent for a second. "Then give it to Valerie." My nails dug into the edge of the bed. "Kieran." I linked to him, my voice shaking. "Our pup's heartbeat is dropping." "I heard." His answer was calm, as if he were checking a ledger. "Think about it, Serena. You're almost done. The elixir takes time to work, and using it on a labor that ends in an hour would be a waste. Valerie has ten hours ahead of her. That's where it can do the most good." "It's simply a matter of efficiency." Efficiency. The pain was so bad I nearly cracked my teeth, and still I laughed. "That's our child, Kieran." "Don't be dramatic. You've always been good at enduring things. It's one hour. You can handle it better than anyone." "And Valerie is carrying Marcus's only child. He died for me. I won't let his pup come to harm." "And what about the one I'm carrying?" He fell silent. A full three seconds. "Thea." His voice turned cold. "Alpha Command. Give Moonveil to Valerie." No wolf can defy an Alpha Command. "...Yes, Alpha." Thea's voice broke into sobs. Through the crack in the door, I watched them carry the silver-glowing vial into the room on the right. Kieran didn't so much as glance at my door. "Kieran," I said, scraping together the last of my strength. "You promised you'd be there for the moments that matter." "I'll come, Serena." His voice was already fading. "Wait for me." Wait. He had handed me the very thing he hated most: waiting. Then the mind-link went dead with a soft click. He had shut the link. I felt the mate bond grow cold, the chill spreading from my chest inch by inch. Chapter 2 Giving birth under a Blood Moon without Moonveil felt like being ripped apart from the inside. I bit down on the leather strap beside the bed, my nails gouging ten deep grooves into the wooden bed frame. Somewhere between contractions, I thought of the notebook. The man who never kept a calendar had filled a leather notebook with my checkup times in his sharp, impatient handwriting. "I won't miss a single moment of our pup growing up," he had said, one hand on my belly. Then Marcus died, and Valerie moved into the Alpha house. Page by page, the names in that notebook thinned out, until only one was left. It wasn't mine. Something inside me went quiet. The next contraction dragged me back. Thea kept urging me to push, tears falling onto the back of my hand. At 3:46 a.m., my child was born. A daughter. She was far smaller than a normal pup, wrinkled and wet, like a drenched little bird. She didn't cry. One second. Two. Ten. Thea went pale as the Healers rushed forward. Ninety seconds. For those ninety seconds, I kept praying to the Moon Goddess to spare my daughter. Then, at last, a thin cry rang out, as faint as a kitten's mew. My daughter had survived. Through the haze of blood loss, I heard Thea tell someone that the Luna had nearly bled to death. When I woke, dawn was breaking. My pup lay in the crook of my arm, a tiny bundle, her chest rising and falling faintly. I named her Wren. Wrens are tiny birds, but they have surprisingly powerful songs. "Where's Kieran?" Thea couldn't meet my eyes. Kieran's Beta, Neil, stood in the doorway. He held a note in his hand and read from it like an official announcement. "Luna, the Alpha says you should rest. He'll come once Valerie has finished giving birth." "Please wait a little longer." Wait, again. I said nothing. When Neil had gone, Thea leaned close. "He stood outside your door for twenty minutes," she said. "He even asked me twice whether you were all right. Then Valerie screamed, and he left." It didn't change anything. A man who stands outside a door is not a man who walked through it. At 11:38 that morning, a long howl shook the entire manor. Kieran. The Welcome Howl. By Blackwood custom, every newborn pup had to receive a Welcome Howl from the Alpha at the Moon Stone. It was a declaration to the whole pack: This is my blood, and this pup is under my protection. One howl. Two. Three. One by one, howls rose from across the pack, answering his call. Valerie had given birth. A boy. Marcus's son. And my daughter had been alive for more than seven hours. Not a single wolf had howled for her. According to ancient tradition, a pup who received no Welcome had no recognized place in the pack—and no promise of protection. I looked down at Wren. She was still asleep, her tiny fist wrapped around one of my fingers. My phone lit up. A video call from Valerie. I shouldn't have answered. But I did. On the screen, Valerie leaned against the headboard, looking far too well for someone who had just given birth. The baby boy in her arms was wrapped in a pale green blanket. I recognized it. I'd spent three months sewing that blanket for Wren by hand, every stitch made with love. And the cradle beside her was the oak one passed down through generations of Blackwoods. I had spent an entire summer restoring it with my own hands. Kieran sat beside the cradle, holding the baby. His head was bowed, his eyes filled with a light I hadn't seen in a long time. "Sorry, Luna," Valerie said with a smile. "My blanket got dirty during the birth. Kieran said yours was brand new, so I borrowed it." "You won't mind, right? You're always so generous." I didn't answer. The camera shifted. Kieran's gaze moved across the screen and found me. Not Valerie, who was still smiling beside him. Me. It rested on the dark circles under my eyes, then on the tiny bundle in my arms, and stayed there a beat too long. Something flickered behind his eyes. It looked almost like worry. For a moment, he seemed about to ask how I was doing. Then Valerie shifted beside him, and the moment passed. "Thea said you're both fine," he said. "Then stop making a scene, Serena." "Fine?" My voice was so hoarse it didn't sound like mine. "Wren didn't breathe for ninety seconds after she was born. I nearly bled to death." "Kieran, you weren't there." He frowned. "But you're both alive now. The outcome was good, wasn't it?" "Valerie was in labor for ten hours. You delivered in three. You're making it sound like a disaster when it clearly wasn't." I gripped the phone until my knuckles went white. Off camera, Valerie gently tugged at his sleeve. "Kieran, don't blame Luna. She didn't mean it..." She lowered her eyes and rolled up her sleeve. A ring of purple bruises circled her wrist. "Last night the pain was unbearable, and she kept cursing me through the mind-link from the other side of the wall, saying I'd stolen her medicine. I was so scared... scared it would hurt my baby." "I tried to shut the link, but she still..." I was speechless. I had cried out last night. I had begged them to give the medicine to my pup. But in Valerie's mouth, that became cursing. "Valerie was in labor," Kieran said, his voice darkening. "You frightened her, Serena." "Ask Thea," I said. "Last night I couldn't even sit up. How could I—" "Valerie already told me. What is there left to check?" He reached out, took Valerie's wrist, and looked down at it. "Does it hurt?" Valerie shook her head, though her eyes filled with tears. "I'm fine. I'm just a little scared... If Luna can say things like that, I don't know what else she might do." Kieran turned back to me. "Serena, apologize to Valerie." "Valerie has complained to me many times that you resent how fast she is." After Marcus died, Valerie moved into our home. "Have you forgotten?" I stared at him. "Before Valerie moved in, you never once said I was slow." He was quiet for a moment. "Before Valerie," he said, "I didn't know how fast a person could be." I knew I would never forget those words as long as I lived. "Apologize, and this ends here." He ended the call. A few seconds later, a notification popped up in my Luna account: Account frozen. A message from Neil followed right behind: "Luna, the Alpha says your access will be restored once you've learned your lesson." I asked, "When is he coming? Tell him to say it to my face." "That... depends on your behavior." Soon, a document landed in my inbox. The title read: "Luna Serena Frost: Waiting Period Agreement." In other words, the waiting period before I was allowed to see my mate. I opened it. [Complete all Luna duties on time, take the pup to scheduled Healer checkups, and submit proof: the waiting period before the Luna may see the Alpha is reduced by one-fifth.] [Remain emotionally stable and avoid outbursts: waiting period reduced by one-third.] [Apologize sincerely to Valerie in person: waiting period cleared.] The last line, in bold, felt like a dull blade. [Violation of any term: waiting period doubled.] Chapter 3 On the third morning, Kieran's voice came through our mind-link. "You blocked Neil?" "I only blocked his messages." The other end of the link went quiet for a few seconds. "Serena, the agreement is very clear. Emotional outbursts double your waiting period." I'd been home for a day. I was folding Wren's tiny clothes. Each piece was heartbreakingly small and soft. She was so small. Thea said her heartbeat was weaker than a normal pup's and had to be checked every day. Valerie had taken the oak cradle, so I lined an empty drawer with my coat and made a makeshift bed for Wren. Kieran was growing impatient. "Serena, the time you waste arguing with me will be added to your waiting period." I finished folding each piece and tucked them into my bag. "Then add it." My voice was flat. "Double it, five times, ten times. Do whatever you want." "Kieran, I'm done waiting for you." That afternoon, Kieran came home. Valerie walked at his side, with Neil trailing behind. He strode through the door in two steps, and his eyes landed on the tiny figure in the drawer. I thought he would stop. He did pause. For about two seconds. "She's small." "She's four weeks early. Thea told you Wren's heart is weak." "Thea tells me many things every day." He looked away. "She's alive, isn't she?" "I made the right call, Serena. You were in labor for three hours. Valerie was in labor for ten. Even if the medicine had gone to you, it wouldn't have changed anything." I laughed. "Kieran, do you know I almost died giving birth to her?" "You're standing here just fine now, aren't you?" His brows drew together slightly as his eyes swept over me. "Thea said you've been able to get out of bed for a while, yet you keep shutting yourself in this room. Is this how you're trying to punish me?" "Luna, under the agreement, emotional outbursts are grounds for extending your waiting period." Neil pushed up his glasses and quickly jotted it down on the document. "That also includes... the time you spend waiting for your account access to be restored." I looked at Kieran. "So you came today with Neil to keep a record of how much time I owe you?" Valerie slipped into a pair of slippers as if she belonged there, then smiled. "You've got it wrong, Luna. Kieran came to help shorten your waiting period." "As long as you stay calm and take Wren to her check-ups on time, and—" "Apologize to Valerie." Kieran finished the sentence for her. My nails dug into my palms, then slowly loosened. So that was his real purpose. He had come back only to make me bow my head to Valerie. And the worst part was, I realized he truly believed he was offering me a way back. "What about Wren's Welcome Howl?" I asked. "She's already three days old." "Sunday," he said. "The Moon Stone is fully booked for the rest of the week. Sunday is the next available time." "Her Welcome Howl needs to be scheduled?" "You howled for Marcus's baby the same day." "That was a special case." "Serena, you should learn to wait." I stared at him. He hated waiting more than anything. Yet with me, time and again, he made me wait. Suddenly, I understood. He didn't hate waiting. He just hated having to wait himself. Valerie raised her phone. "I'm going to record the whole thing, Luna. Maybe tidy yourself up a bit before you apologize?" After taking a few pictures, she casually posted them to the pack's private social media platform. In the photos, my hair was a mess, my face deathly pale, and dark circles shadowed my eyes. Holding my baby, I looked like I'd been through hell. Comments flooded in almost immediately. [This is our Luna? She looks like a maid washing dishes in the kitchen.] [Valerie is the one who belongs beside the Alpha. She's fast and efficient.] [It's just childbirth. Why is she acting so fragile? I had three pups and never needed a drop of Moonveil.] Kieran's expression darkened, but Valerie only leaned into his arms. "I just wanted everyone to see how Luna's doing. She hasn't left the house since giving birth, and everyone misses her." Kieran's expression softened. He looked at me again. "If you can't even apologize, then you can learn how to be a Luna." "Starting today, Valerie will temporarily take over your Luna duties." "Come back when you've learned to keep up with this pack's pace." A metallic taste filled my mouth. "Kieran, this is the third time I've told you." "Wren didn't breathe for a full ninety seconds when she was born. You gave the medicine to Valerie. You chose that yourself." Kieran's frown deepened, while Valerie let out a soft laugh beside him. "For someone who makes it sound so serious, Luna, you had plenty of strength to glare at me just now." She raised her hand. "Oh, right. Were you looking for this?" A solid-gold crescent moon pendant swung from her fingers. My eyes widened. It was my mother's keepsake. Chapter 4 Without thinking, I lunged for it. Valerie held the pendant high above her head, a mocking smile spreading across her face. "Look, Kieran. Doesn't Luna keep saying she can't hold up? She moved so fast. Does that look like someone who just gave birth?" "She's doing it on purpose to make you worry." A chill rose in Kieran's eyes. He reached out, caught me, and held me firmly in place. "Serena, you're even more unreasonable than I thought." "Let go of me! That's my mother's!" "Valerie was only looking at it. Don't make a scene." His tone was light, as if he were dismissing a piece of junk. "She's been gone for three years. Keeping her things doesn't mean anything anymore." It felt as though a hole had been gouged through my chest. My mother, on her deathbed, had refused her final round of treatment. She used the money she'd saved to have a jeweler craft a solid-gold crescent moon pendant set with a moonstone. "Serena, this is the last thing Mom can give you." "Gold carries the Moon's blessing. May it keep you and your pup safe." "Mom won't get to see your little one, so let it watch over the pup for me." After saying that, she never woke again. Because Kieran failed to show, she had missed my mating ceremony. And for the sake of my future child, she had spent the last of her treatment money. Ever since, Kieran had kept the pendant locked away in the deepest part of his private vault. Only he and I knew the vault's passcode. Yet Valerie had opened it as if she had every right to be there. My heart sank. Valerie caught my look and laughed softly. "Oh, the vault? The passcode is the date of your missed ceremony. Honestly, Luna, you'd think he'd move on." Three years, and he had never changed it. He had never forgotten. And Valerie had been watching over his shoulder. "Besides," she went on, tilting her head, "isn't it even more unlucky to put a dead person's belongings on a newborn pup? I'm doing this for Wren's sake, Luna." The moment she finished speaking, she let go. The pendant slipped from her fingers and hit the marble floor with a sharp crack. The moonstone shattered into three pieces. The whole world spun. Kieran released me. I stumbled to the floor and picked up the fragments one by one. It hurt so much I couldn't even cry. The last tangible piece of my mother I had left was gone. "See, Luna? You're rushing again." Valerie's voice drifted softly above my head. "So it broke. Is it worth kneeling on the floor to grab it?" "Kieran always says you're slow. I didn't realize you could be this fast." I clenched the fragments in my fist and didn't hear a single word. Not until Kieran crouched down and pried my fingers open one by one did I realize the moonstone's sharp edges had cut my hands bloody. His hands were shaking. For one second, I thought I saw him flinch at my blood. He called a Healer to bandage my hands and ordered Neil to gather the fragments. I shot to my feet. "What are you doing? That's mine!" Seeing me about to lunge again, Kieran pinched the bridge of his nose. "Valerie was hasty today, but she meant well for you and your daughter." "Don't forget, Kieran. That was bought with my mother's lifesaving money." He was silent for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. I'll have Neil take the pendant to be repaired." "Take care of the baby and wait for news." Wait, again. I slowly sat back down. "Fine. I'll wait." Kieran nodded and left with Valerie and Neil. Only the Healer stayed behind. It was Thea. She was rewrapping a bandage that was already perfect. Her voice was so low that even my wolf's hearing barely caught it. "Luna, there is another way. The Moon Council's Mate Code, Article Seven. Abandonment of a mate in childbirth is grounds for an expedited petition. The Council can sever the bond without the Alpha's consent." Something slid beneath the bandage on my palm: a folded form. "I wrote the delivery record. The time, the dose, the Alpha's Command, it's all in there. I'll sign as your witness." Kieran had told me to wait for news. I would. Just not from him. That evening, I took the form to the Moon Council's Registrar. "Abandonment of a mate in childbirth," she said. "Expedited. The Council hears these within three days. If granted, the bond is cut at moonrise." "Will he be told?" "Only at the moment it's done. A Council Envoy will serve him the instant I read the decree." She tapped the stamp. "Too many petitioners have been threatened, or worse, in the days between a filing and a ruling. So the other party hears nothing until it can no longer be undone." "Do I have to swear anything?" "No oath," she said. "The Council cuts the bond. I only read the decree, and you choose the moment within moonrise." "Three days. Sunday, at moonrise." Three days later, I finished packing my bags to leave. That morning, a single line had arrived from the Registrar: Granted. Effective at moonrise. My phone suddenly lit up. Valerie had updated her social media. The photos showed a complete set of gold jewelry. A bracelet, a ring, a necklace, all glowing softly in the sunlight. [He said a gift only means something when it's given to the right person.] My blood ran cold. A second later, Neil's call came through. "Luna, the Alpha asked me to pass along a few words." "At moonrise tonight, the Alpha will give your pup her Welcome Howl before the Moon Stone." "He hopes you won't be late." "Also, Valerie asked me to tell you that she had the pendant's gold melted down and made into jewelry for herself. She claimed the Alpha had approved it." "She says the Alpha apologized to her on your behalf, and your waiting period has been cleared." The line went dead. I stood there gripping the phone for a long time. So in his world, everything had to be fast. Faster. Faster still. It was only when it came to me that there was always so much "waiting." Whatever hope I had left finally died. I took a deep breath and walked into Kieran's study. I placed the Council's Receipt of Petition on his desk. The grounds were printed in plain black type: Abandonment of a mate in childbirth. Mate Code, Article Seven. Beside it lay a certified copy of the delivery record Thea had written. It read, in black and white: [1:52 a.m. Moonveil Elixir administered to Valerie Blackwood by Alpha's Command. The heartbeat of Luna Serena Frost's pup continued to decline.] Finally, I took off the moonstone ring and laid it gently on top. At moonrise, holding Wren, I stood before the pack's boundary stone. The Registrar was already there, her Council lantern lit, the decree unrolled in her hands. Far off, wolves were already gathering at the Moon Stone. Kieran's voice rang in my mind, carrying that familiar, impatient calm. "Serena, the moon's up. Where are you?" "Don't be late." I shut the link. He hated waiting. Then let him wait for once. I stood before the boundary stone for a full ten minutes. The Registrar said nothing. The Code let the petitioner choose the moment. Then I nodded. The Registrar raised the decree. "By the authority of the Moon Council, upon petition under Article Seven of the Mate Code, and finding abandonment of a mate in childbirth established, the bond between Kieran Blackwood and Serena Frost is hereby severed." The moment the bond snapped, it felt as though my wolf had been torn in two. I dropped to my knees and tasted blood where I had bitten my lip. In my arms, Wren let out a tiny whimper. It hurt, deep in my wolf, where no bandage could reach. But it was a pain that lived in my soul, not in my legs. I could still stand. I lowered my head and kissed her forehead. Then I stood up and crossed the boundary. From that day on, I would never wait for anyone again.