I Left After My Alpha Chose His Mate

I am Ayna Radolf, the only White Wolf in Moonshadow Pack.

Everyone says I grew up cherished by Carlson Moonclaw, the Alpha.

When I was three, my father died in battle. Carlson held me in a pool of blood and swore to protect me for life.

When I was five, I was bullied in the pack because of my unusual fur color. He announced to the entire pack that anyone who touched me was his enemy.

For 15 years, I have lived under his protection, offering him my heart and my life without reservation.

At 18, Carlson falls under the vampires' death curse. I willingly sacrifice half of my lifespan and beg a witch to use a forbidden spell to transfer the curse onto me. With that, I take on his certain death.

On that same day, as I watch his unconscious form and tightly furrowed brows, I cannot help but kiss the corner of his lips.

He wakes up.

Unexpectedly, there isn't any tenderness or any trace of emotion—only overwhelming rage and disgust.

He grips my chin with horror in his eyes, as if he is looking at a filthy maggot. "Ayna, I am your brother! How dare you have such disgusting thoughts?"

From that day on, Carlson has avoided me like the plague.

This goes on until Selena Fang, his so-called fated mate, returns.

She cries and tells him that she is abused and abandoned by her former mate. Now, she is blind and covered in injuries.

The healer declares that only my White Wolf's eyes are a perfect match for her.

So my Alpha, the brother I loved for 15 years, comes to me.

Carlson stands in front of me and says solemnly, "Ayna, I know this is unfair to you. But if Selena doesn't have eyes, she will live in darkness for the rest of her life. As long as you give her your eyes, I will do anything you ask—except give you my love."

I snap back to reality and dig my fingers hard into my palm. The sharp pain clears my mind instantly.

I am not dreaming. I am reborn and back to the day Carlson forces me to give up my eyes.

In my previous life, I refused to the end. During the struggle, Serena "accidentally" fell off a cliff, and her body was never found.

Carlson blamed me for everything. On my birthday, he gouged out my eyes and threw me into the dungeon where rogue wolves were imprisoned.

There, I was assaulted endlessly. In the end, I died in the cold, damp darkness like a piece of discarded trash.

The despair and pain from before my death still linger in my bones. I look at the man in front of me. The love that once filled my chest completely fizzles out into nothingness.

I will give him these eyes as repayment for the 15 years he has protected and raised me.

From now on, we will go our own ways, and we owe each other nothing.

"I'll do it," I said.

Every argument and underhanded tactic that Carlson Moonclaw had prepared to coax and pressure me into agreeing with him suddenly died in his throat when he heard that. He was visibly taken aback with a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

"Well, since you agreed to it, then I will definitely carry through with it. You can ask for anything except for me to mark you."

I looked up, meeting his gaze, and said, "I only have one request. After the surgery, I want to leave Moonshadow Pack, and I will no longer be your stepsister from then on. I don't want to have anything to do with the pack or with you anymore."

Carlson's brows furrowed instantly as if he'd just heard a pathetic joke.

"Are you serious, Ayna Radolf?"

He probably thought that I would behave like I used to, crying and demanding that he give me all of his love and attention and make me his mate. He never thought that I would ask to leave.

"If you don't have pack protection, you won't be able to live on your own beyond three days with your current condition," he said in a warning tone, certain that I was only throwing a tantrum and playing hard-to-get.

I responded nonchalantly, "Okay."

I didn't care if I could live on my own after that. It was certainly better than certain death under his hands.

Carlson looked at my unperturbed expression and frowned even harder.

A few seconds later, the shock in his eyes vanished, replaced instead with disdain and mockery.

"I get it now. You think that I'm going to give in to your inappropriate whims and fancies just because you're threatening to run away from home?"

He looked down on me, his tone self-righteous and condescending. "Stop it with your little schemes. There will never be a future between us. My only mate is Selena, and Selena alone."

I looked at him behaving like this and felt a profound sense of helplessness.

I could still vividly recall the pain of being torn apart by the Rogue wolf in the underground dungeon in my past life. And so, this time, I certainly wasn't so pathetic as to cling to someone who wanted me dead ultimately.

"I know," I responded just as calmly.

Carlson looked like he still wanted to say something, but I couldn't be bothered to listen to him anymore.

"If you don't have anything else to say to me, then I'm taking my leave now."

I turned around and walked out of the room without a backward glance.

I'd only just made my way out to the hallway when a loud scream suddenly rang out.

A split second later, Carlson rushed out right past me, shoving me aside harshly with his shoulder, his eyes fixed on the figure lying on the ground.

"Selena!"

He rushed up to her and carefully gathered her into his arms, tenderly yet urgently asking her if she was alright.

"What happened?"

Selena Fang shrank into his arms, timidly raising her eyes to him and looking hesitant to speak. I saw her glancing toward me with malice in her eyes.

"It's not Ayna's fault, Carlson. I just couldn't see where I was going because I'm blind, and I guess I must have bumped into her… Please don't blame her for anything."

She then bit her lower lip and humbled her voice until she could barely even be heard.

"After all… She's a noble white wolf, and I… I'm just a blind, abandoned, used-up piece of trash. I don't mind living in the darkness for the rest of my life because I don't expect her to give me her eye…

"I just wish that she'd stop shoving me… It's hard for me to walk on my own, and I'm already frightened as I am…"

Tears then began streaming down her cheeks as she played the perfect role of the victim.

The same thing had happened to me in my past life, and I was nailed to the pillory of shame because of what she said here. But this time, I simply stood there and coldly watched her pathetic performance.

"Noble?"

Carlson turned abruptly to look at me, his eyes as sharp as knives. "She doesn't even deserve it."

His words stabbed right into my heart like a frigid icicle.

"If it weren't for my protection all these years, she'd end up nothing but trash, utterly destroyed by the Rogues! Forget about her losing just one eye—she'd still have to put up with it if she lost them both!"

So, the person whom I had loved with all of my heart for 15 years thought that I was nothing but a worthless piece of trash who didn't even deserve to exist.

My heart clenched uncomfortably at the thought, but still, I felt utterly relieved more than anything else.

I refused to continue listening to his degrading words and walked out of the healing center instead.

The cold wind whipped against my face. I pulled out my phone and called Mia Grayhound, my only friend in the world.

I went straight to the point as soon as she picked up.

"Mia, I heard that the Northwind Center is willing to take in homeless wolves. Is that true?"

Mia went silent for a second. When she spoke again, she sounded tense.

"It's true. But what happened? Did Carlson bully you again?"

"No," I said, leaning back against the cold wall, my voice soft yet firm and determined.

"I'm just asking hypothetically if I were to be exiled from my own pack, and my wolf was severely injured, would the Alpha of Northwind Pack still take in a useless wolf like me?"