After the hospital examination, the healer concluded it was just a mild concussion. If I refused to settle, Miriam would end up being held in the pack’s detention cells for a few days at least. Kohen stood there with a knowing smirk, his Alpha aura radiating confidence, as if he could see right through the situation. Miriam finally panicked, nervously clutching the hem of Kohen’s coat.

“Alpha Kohen, I don’t want to stay there overnight; it scares me,” she pleaded softly, her voice trembling with the submissive tone of a Beta.

Kohen reassured her gently, his Alpha tone softening as he promised to sort everything out. “Don’t worry, Miriam. I’ll handle it.”

With his influence and resources, I wasn’t naive enough to miss the bigger picture. Once we left the pack’s judicial hall, Kohen pulled me aside into a dark corner of the courtyard, his towering frame casting a shadow over me.

“All this for leverage, Brooklyn? You’ve really sunk low,” he sneered, his voice low and mocking.

I grabbed his tie and yanked it hard, forcing him to bend down to meet my gaze. My Omega status might have made me weaker in hierarchy, but I wasn’t about to back down.

“You should have considered the fallout of using me to boost her up,” I retorted, my voice steady despite the simmering anger.

Instead of getting angry, Kohen chuckled, his deep laugh reverberating through the night. He placed a hand on my lower back, pulling me closer until I could feel the heat of his body. “You better keep that temper in check, Brooklyn. No one can handle it but me,” he said, his tone both teasing and possessive.

I shoved him away with disdain, my wolf stirring faintly in the back of my mind, a quiet growl of frustration. I turned and headed toward the parking lot, but Kohen followed, his Alpha presence looming behind me.

“You know my mother’s situation, Brooklyn. Her health has been on the decline these past two years, and Miriam is her ideal choice for Luna,” he said, his voice steady yet impactful, carrying the weight of his position.

I ignored him, reaching for the car door, only for Kohen to block it with his hand, his muscular arm barring my way.

“Brooklyn, anything but the mate bond. I can give you everything but that,” he said, his voice softening, almost pleading.

“Get lost!” I snapped, slamming the door shut and starting the engine. My hands tightened on the steering wheel as I drove off, my wolf’s quiet whimper echoing my own pain.

In the rearview mirror, I saw him standing there, hands in his pockets, his broad shoulders silhouetted against the streetlamp. His lone shadow stretched long across the pavement, a reminder of the distance between us—both in rank and in heart.

In the pack’s infirmary, I paced the small restroom, my stomach churning with nausea. Kohen, the Alpha, and Miriam, his Beta and fiancée, had been there earlier, their presence suffocating. They thought my condition was repulsive, but I wasn’t faring any better. Once I returned to my quarters, I collapsed onto my bed, exhaustion dragging me into a restless sleep. The next morning, the shrill ring of my phone jolted me awake.

"Brooklyn, you haven’t come home for dinner in ages," my mother’s voice scolded on the other end.

I glanced at the date and reluctantly agreed to visit her. When I arrived at her modest house on the outskirts of the pack’s territory, a new face greeted me at the door.

"Brooklyn, this is Melvin," my mother introduced her latest mate, a man whose aura was far from the polished Alphas she usually surrounded herself with. He was a Beta, his demeanor unassuming, his scent earthy and unrefined.

I sighed inwardly but didn’t comment. During dinner, my mother kept piling food onto my plate, her attempts at motherly concern feeling hollow.

"Brooklyn, Melvin has a son, Raiden, who just graduated from the pack’s training program. Maybe he could help out at your company," she suggested, her tone hopeful.

Though I had braced myself for this, disappointment still tightened my chest.

"I quit," I said flatly.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Why would you do that? Did you get into trouble with Alpha Rice?" she asked, setting her fork down with a clink.

After a moment of thought, she added, "Why don’t you grab some coffee later and go apologize? Kohen isn’t one to hold grudges."

Bang! I slammed my fork onto the table, the sound reverberating through the small dining room.

My mother immediately burst into tears, leaning on Melvin’s shoulder as she wept, "This child has always been so stubborn, making a scene and getting angry when things don’t go her way. If her father hadn’t abandoned us, would I have had to raise her on my own, enduring so much judgment? Do you think it’s been easy for me?"

Melvin wrapped his arms around her, murmuring reassurances that she wouldn’t have to face these struggles alone anymore.

"Yes, the whole world is against you, and you’re the most wronged," I scoffed, turning away from their display of affection and storming out of the house.

Since I became aware of myself, isolation and bullying had pieced together my childhood. I was merely a pawn for my mother to keep my biological father at bay. Repeated confrontations and attempts to hold on angered his family, so my mother and I drifted from pack to pack, like rogues.

No one welcomed us, always trying to take advantage of our vulnerable position. I fought like a cornered wolf to defend our rights, yet they called me a petty, fatherless stray.

"Without a strong Alpha in the house, we orphaned souls will be bullied," my mother would say. Her gentle nature led her to pin her hopes on men, constantly seeking another new mate, each with their own hidden agenda.

I was twelve when I came home to find a drunk Beta beating my mother to the ground. She was the only family I had, lying there, barely conscious. I used all my strength to fight the grown man, my small frame no match for his. Amidst the chaos, he pulled out a knife.

In that moment, I almost sighed in relief, hoping it would all end. But my mother shielded me without hesitation, wrapping herself around me, her white clothes slowly turning crimson.

In that moment, I realized—our lives were destined to be full of nothing but mutual torment.

"Are you really okay with leaving the pack-owned company after everything you’ve invested in it?"

Scarlett, who had been under my guidance for years as my trusted Delta, was clearly upset by my decision to leave. Her loyalty was unwavering, but even she couldn’t understand why I’d walk away from something I’d built from the ground up. I rested my chin on my hand and took a light sip of bourbon, the sharp burn grounding me.

At peace?

After a decade tangled in love and hate with Alpha Kohen Rice, I’d once envisioned a different future. A future where I stood by his side as his Luna, where our bond was unshakable. But when faced with a critical choice—when he’d chosen Miriam Meyer, a Beta, over me—there were no victors in this situation. You can’t turn back time; the best move in such a dire predicament is to cut your losses and move on.

Seeing my resolve not to revisit the past, Scarlett began to vent her frustrations. Kohen, in an effort to placate Miriam, had given her a cushy executive position at the company. Miriam, paranoid and suspicious, interrogated every unmated female in the pack, creating absurd rules and even banning makeup and dresses at work. Her paranoia extended to clients too, resulting in the loss of several accounts. The pack’s reputation was suffering, and Kohen seemed blind to it.

I hadn’t seen that coming. The usually composed and dependable Alpha allowing such irrational behavior. Maybe the Kohen I thought I knew never existed. Or perhaps Miriam was the exception for him. But none of that mattered to me anymore. I was done with the pack politics, done with the hierarchy that had always made me feel like an outsider.

The day I left the territory, a light drizzle was falling, the kind that clung to your skin and made everything feel heavier. My mother, ever the social climber, was busy nurturing her relationship with her new mate’s son. She ended our phone call with a few hurried reminders, her voice distant, as if she’d already moved on from me.

Just before I boarded the plane, Luciano Gordon, a Delta and one of Kohen’s childhood friends, called me. We’d met a few times during pack gatherings and were on good terms. Somehow, he’d heard about my plans to move abroad.

"Brooklyn, you don’t have to run away," he said, his voice steady but tinged with concern.

"I’ve arranged a get-together, and the Alpha will be there," he continued, as if that would change my mind.

"Let’s clear the air; we can still be friends."

I almost laughed. Friends? After everything? After he’d rejected me in front of the entire pack, after he’d chosen Miriam over me, after he’d let her turn the pack into a paranoid nightmare? There was no friendship left to salvage. The bond between us was broken, and I was done pretending otherwise.

"I’m not running away, Luciano," I said, my voice firm. "I’m moving on. Tell the Alpha that."

I ended the call before he could respond, the weight of my decision settling over me like the rain outside. It was time to leave the past behind, to find a life where I wasn’t just an Omega, a pawn in someone else’s game. I had a future to build, one that didn’t involve Kohen Rice or the pack that had never truly been my home.