I'm the strongest warrior of the Silvermoon Pack. For ten years, I've been secretly in love with my Alpha, Aiden. The only wolfless Alpha.

We grew up with nothing but each other. I bled for him. I cut down his enemies and searched for a cure to awaken his wolf.

He promised me a place at the top—always by his side.

The fated mate bond never snapped into place for us. It didn't matter. I loved him anyway.

Then I found out the truth. His heart belonged to someone else. A she-wolf named Gianna.

When a rival pack kidnapped her, Aiden sent me to get her back.

I did, but I died. And so did my wolf.

He welcomed Gianna home with open arms, ready for their Mating Ceremony, but he refused to believe I was dead.

He thought I was just jealous, hiding in a fit of rage. He even ordered my banishment.

But on the night of the full moon, as the entire pack gathered for their Alpha’s ceremony, my second-in-command crashed the altar in his war truck.

He walked toward Aiden, carrying my blood-soaked body.

Aiden’s body trembled. He collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest in agony.

"I can feel it. The mate bond…it’s breaking. Rhea was my fated mate... How can she be dead?!"

I died saving the woman my Alpha loved. Now, the Moon Goddess has turned me into a ghost, tethered to his side. I'm trapped watching his happily ever after.

I was in the great hall of the Silver Moon Pack's headquarters.

Pack members walked past me, but no one saw me.

I looked down at myself. A translucent, flickering form.

"Alpha! Alpha!"

The sound of hurried footsteps cut through my thoughts.

A warrior burst into the hall, gasping for breath.

Aiden came down the stairs, his handsome face etched with worry.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"Lady Gianna is back, safe and sound!" the warrior reported excitedly. "She's in the infirmary now, just for a check-up. She's fine!"

A grin split Aiden’s face. It was radiant, breathtaking. A smile I’d never seen on him before.

"Thank the Goddess... She's okay..." He let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.

The warrior opened his mouth to say more, but Aiden had already turned, rushing toward the infirmary.

"Wait, Alpha!" the warrior called after him. " Rhea… she went missing after the mission!"

"I heard him," Aiden snapped, not even turning around. His voice was sharp with annoyance. "She'll be fine. She's just throwing a fit. I'm seeing Gianna first."

My spirit trembled. So that's it. In his mind, me going missing was just an inconvenient tantrum.

The door to the medical wing flew open.

Gianna was sitting on a bed, wrapped in a blanket.

She looked shaken, but she didn't have a single hair out of place.

"Aiden!" she cried, throwing herself into his arms.

"It's okay, Gia. You're safe now," he murmured, holding her tight.

A spike of pain went through my heart.

I tried to pull my spirit away, to go anywhere else. But I saw Aiden's body go stiff in the hug.

His suppressed Alpha blood churned with a strange irritation, a primal rejection.

He frowned and gently pulled away from Gianna.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice sharp with suspicion.

"Nothing." Aiden forced the feeling down, his voice softening. "Rhea got you out. Where is she?"

Gianna's eyes flickered. She looked down, putting on a perfect show of being hurt and scared.

"Rhea… she got me to the edge of the safe zone and just left." Gianna bit her lip, her voice a timid whisper. "She seemed so angry… maybe because you sent her to get me. She said she couldn't stand to see us together and… I don't know where she went."

Lies. All of it.

I took a dozen silver blades to the gut so she could run. My insides were shredded.

Aiden was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head. "Forget it. With her skills, she'll be fine. She's probably just angry with me."

He stroked Gianna's cheek, his smile returning. "You just rest. Tomorrow, we'll hold a feast in your honor. The alliance with the Creek Valley Pack is ready. Soon, I can give you the grandest mating ceremony in the world."

I watched them, my soul twisting like a knife.

Ten years ago, he was the pack's shame: the wolfless, bastard son. We had no one but each other.

When the elders denied his birthright, I found the proof he needed.

When other wolves sneered at him, I won the victories that earned him respect.

When he needed power, I cleared his path of every obstacle.

The day the healers finally cleansed the poison from his system, the day his Alpha blood made him the true heir, he held me close and whispered how he couldn't have done it without me.

He promised that once he was Alpha, I would never have to suffer again.

He would raise me to the highest place in the pack, right by his side.

I thought he meant the Luna's throne.

Even without a mate bond, I knew he was the one for me.

But the moment his power was secure, he made a different choice.

He made me his General—a title created just for me—and announced his union with Gianna, the daughter of the Creek Valley Alpha.

He was even willing to send me to my death to rescue her.

And now, Aiden leaned down and kissed Gianna's forehead before turning to leave, a look of pure satisfaction on his face.

An invisible force pulled me along with him.

I stared at his back as he walked away, so satisfied.

One thought consumed me.

If he knew I died for her, would he still look so relieved?

My body was still in enemy territory.

I knew the pack's laws: no body, no funeral.

I knew how Aiden would see it. He wouldn't believe I was dead.

To him, I was just his scorned warrior, sulking in a corner. Not until my second-in-command, Liam, finally slammed my body bag on the council table would he know the truth.

It would take a few days for Liam to bring my body back in one piece.

Maybe, just before the full moon, Aiden would finally know I was dead.

What would his face look like? Shock? Sadness?

Or... relief?

After all, without me in the way, he could finally dote on his precious Gianna.

I followed him down the familiar hallway.

Portraits of past Alphas lined the walls, with his hanging at the very end.

I won him the eastern mines. That victory forced the Elders to finally recognize the bastard son.

"Alpha," his aide greeted him with a respectful bow. "Will you be escorting Lady Gianna to her room personally?"

"Of course," Aiden nodded. "She's been through a trauma. She deserves the best care."

I let out a cold, silent laugh.

Two weeks ago, the Elders had been furious about this rescue mission.

"The Red Fang Pack are our mortal enemies!" Elder Elias had slammed his fist on the table. "Sending warriors into their heartland is a suicide mission!"

"Gianna is the daughter of the Creek Valley Alpha," Aiden had countered calmly. "We can't just leave her to die."

"Then send a diplomat to negotiate!" another Elder had roared. "Why must we use force?"

Aiden's eyes had found mine across the room.

For a moment, I thought he was asking for my opinion.

"Rhea is our strongest warrior," he said. "She can get Gianna back."

I remember feeling a surge of pride at his trust in me.

How ridiculous.

He just needed a powerful tool to retrieve his prize.

The elevator stopped at the top floor.

The Alpha’s den took up the entire level.

Floor-to-ceiling windows revealed a breathtaking, glittering cityscape.

I'd never set foot in here.

My place was a stark cell in the sub-basement. A warrior's due.

Gianna looked around in awe.

"It's so beautiful..." she breathed.

Aiden walked to a wall and pressed a switch. Hidden lights glowed to life, illuminating an entire wall of professionally shot photographs.

All of them were of Gianna.

Dancing under the moon, smiling in a field of flowers, gazing into a stream... each one a work of art.

"You... you did all this for me?" Gianna covered her mouth, her eyes filling with tears.

"Do you like it?" Aiden asked softly.

"I... I'm so moved..."

They embraced.

My soul shuddered.

He had been preparing this for her all along.

And me? Ten years of fighting and dying for him, and we didn't have a single picture together.

"Gianna," Aiden said, taking her hand and dropping to one knee. "At the next full moon," he said, his voice low and intense. "Be my mate, Gianna."

"Aiden..." Tears streamed down Gianna's face. "Yes."

The news spread like wildfire, and the pack was ecstatic.

The Elders called an emergency meeting that night.

"This is against protocol!" Elder Elias slammed his fist on the table, his face red with fury. "General Rhea is still missing! She risked her life for that girl! To hold a mating ceremony now… it will break the morale of every warrior we have!"

"Her father is the Alpha of Creek Valley," Aiden said from the head of the table. His voice was ice. "The alliance benefits this pack."

Other elders started to protest, but Aiden rose to his feet. "My decision is final. No one will stand in my way."

The elders exchanged nervous glances. They knew exactly how ruthless the bastard Alpha could be.

"What about… Rhea?" one asked timidly. "She's been gone for over a day. Shouldn't we send a search party?"

"She's my warrior, not a pup," Aiden cut him off. "She's probably sulking in some tavern, waiting for me to apologize. It doesn't matter. She'll be back."

As he spoke, his hand instinctively pressed against his chest. A strange tightness seemed to squeeze his heart.

I knew that feeling. It was his suppressed Alpha blood, protesting a decision that went against his very soul.

But my own heart had already shattered.

After the meeting, Aiden returned to his study, exhausted.

He rubbed his temples and closed his eyes.

Then, almost unconsciously, he spoke.

"Rhea..."

He only thought of me at times like this. Alone. Deep in the night. When his wolf was restless.

Only then did he remember the draught I made for him.

I watched the exhaustion etched on his face, and a bitter taste filled my mouth.

When the healers told him his wolf would never awaken, he shattered. He was hopeless.

So I went behind everyone's back. I journeyed to the Forbidden Forest to find the Moon Witch.

I traded half of my life force for a single, desperate chance: a potion to nurture his dormant wolf.

It wasn't just a calming draught. It was the hope of a cure, bought with my own life. A chance for him to one day become the Alpha he was born to be.

I still remember the shock in his eyes the first time he drank it, the way he felt a flicker of raw power surge through his veins for the first time.

His wolf wasn't awake, but for a moment, it wasn't completely dead.

He held me so tight, his voice trembling in my ear. "Rhea, only you… only you would do this for me."

The aid knocked, entering with a cup of tea. "Alpha, you should rest."

"Is Rhea back yet?" Aiden asked, rubbing his temples. His voice was raw.

The aid paused. "Not yet, Alpha. Lieutenant Liam's unit is on its way back, but there was no mention of the General's location in the comms."

Aiden's bloodshot eyes snapped open. His tone was sharp with absolute certainty. "She'll be back. She can't stay away from me. Now go prepare for the ceremony and stop bothering me with her drama."

The aid stared, stunned, before silently backing out of the room.

I just hovered there, frozen.

He's right. I took blades for him. I killed for him. I sacrificed my own life force for him.

After all that, of course he believed I would never leave.

---

Later that night, Aiden tossed and turned in his bed.

Gianna slept peacefully beside him, her breathing soft.

But he couldn't find sleep.

Flashes of a woman's back kept appearing in his mind.

A pair of cold, determined eyes.

A blood-stained silver blade.

He got up, threw on a robe, and began to wander the headquarters. His feet carried him, aimless, until he found himself in the sub-basement.

The warrior's quarters.

Damp, cramped, and smelling of antiseptic.

He stopped in front of a door.

The nameplate read: Rhea. Lead Warrior.

He heard a faint noise from inside.

Aiden frowned.

Who would be in Rhea's room this late?

He pushed the door open.

A young omega was inside, gently folding clothes.

When she saw Aiden, she gasped and fell to the floor.

"A-Alpha..." she stammered.

Aiden's eyes scanned the spartan room.

A bed. A simple desk.

Nothing else.

No decorations, no personal items, not a single trace of warmth.

It looked less like a home and more like a barracks cell.

His gaze fell on the omega.

Aiden asked casually, "What are you doing in here so late?"