The Alpha I Rejected Was the Only One Who Came Back

I'm Ivy

The rain couldn't wash away the black blood I threw up.

I knelt in the mud full of rotten leaves, my fingers digging deep into the frozen soil beneath me. My nails bent backward, a piercing pain, but this little ache was not even a ten-thousandth of the agony of being torn apart alive deep in my spine.

—Go back.

Nyx screamed in my mind. The giant silver-gray wolf was frantically ramming her head against the cage in my mental landscape, every impact making my vision go black.

—The Alpha is looking for us. Go back!

"Shut up." I gritted my teeth, squeezing human words from the depths of my throat, my mouth full of the taste of rust.

I reached back to cover the back of my neck. There was a deep set of teeth marks there. Three months ago, Kael pierced my skin on the sacrificial stone, injecting his pheromones along with an Alpha's absolute dominance into my blood.

I could never forget that night. Covered in blood from the fight for the throne, carrying a suffocatingly intense scent of fir, he pinned me down with a massive body that could almost crush me. His eyes flashed with the bloodthirsty golden light belonging to Titan.

No asking, no pity. Only the possession of animal instinct.

"Mine." He growled in my ear.

That wasn't a sweet nothing. It was an undeniable death sentence. From that moment on, I became a precious breeding vessel, a trophy belonging to the new king.

But I was human. I had read the yellowed law books in the abandoned camp; I knew what freedom was. I didn't belong to anyone.

I took a deep breath of the bloody, cold air, closed my eyes, and summoned all my reason in my mind, turning it into an icy blade aimed at the faintly glowing golden Mate Bond connecting my soul to Kael's.

Severing the bond unilaterally was tantamount to suicide in werewolf history.

But I slashed down without hesitation.

"Ah—!"

I threw my head back and let out a tragic, bloodcurdling roar that fell somewhere between a human scream and a beast's dying wail.

It felt as if someone reached barehanded into my spine and slowly pulled out the core nerve. My retinas were instantly covered in blood red, and my heart stopped for a second due to the sheer agony.

Nyx let out a desperate shriek inside me. She curled into a ball, as if drained of all life force, and collapsed heavily into the darkness of the mental landscape.

Pain. Pain so intense I wanted to peel my own skin off.

But I smiled.

I pushed against the mud and staggered to my feet. The once-burning mark on the back of my neck now looked like a piece of dead, ashen flesh, devoid of all warmth.

The bond was broken.

Kael was no longer my god, and I was no longer his property.

Dragging my weak legs, I took the final step forward.

My boots stepped onto the hard, lifeless asphalt road.

There was no longer the rhythm of the forest's ley lines here. The air lacked the damp smell of pine needles, replaced by the pungent odor of car exhaust, the burnt rubber smell of tires, and the glaring, intertwined red and yellow neon lights in the distance.

This was the human world. This was the cruel yet free real world.

A red Aston Martin sports car was parked under the streetlight. The doors swung upward like a swan's wings.

Serena stood next to the car. She wore an impeccably tailored Dior haute couture trench coat and seven-centimeter red-soled heels, holding a transparent black-handled umbrella. Beneath the umbrella, her makeup was as flawless as a mannequin in a shop window, meticulous, without a hint of the earthy smell belonging to a werewolf.

She looked at my miserable state—covered in blood, like a ghoul crawling out of hell—without showing any surprise or sympathy.

She merely opened the car door, took a paper cup from the heated cupholder, and handed it to me.

"Black coffee. Added with a triple dose of neuro-suppressants." Serena's voice was soft, carrying a hint of condescending elegance and some secret pleasure. "Drink it, and Nyx will completely shut up. She will fall into a deep sleep, and you won't even feel her existence."

Trembling, I reached out a hand covered in mud and blood and took that scalding hot human beverage.

The temperature of the paper cup spread through my palm to my entire body. This was the first time in my life I truly felt that civilization could be held in my hands.

Just at the second my lips were about to touch the rim of the cup—

"Arooo—!!!"

A mournful, furious howl, carrying a world-destroying despair, suddenly exploded from the endless deep forest behind me.

The sound pierced through the curtain of rain, pierced through the barrier; even the puddles on the asphalt road trembled with it.

That was Titan. That was the Alpha who had lost his Mate, descending into absolute madness.

My hand holding the paper cup paused.

Deep in my mind, the already dying Nyx twitched instinctively upon hearing this call, letting out an extremely faint, tearful whimper.

Go back... hurts... She was begging me.

My heart stung as if pricked by a needle. I didn't know what kind of pain Kael was enduring right now, and I didn't want to know.

"He's calling you, Yvaine." Serena leaned against the car door and raised an eyebrow, her eyes full of scrutiny. "Turn back now, and you can still be his lofty Luna."

I lowered my eyes, looking at my pale reflection on the surface of the coffee.

"Yvaine died in this forest."

I threw my head back and downed the bitter suppressant, which carried a pungent chemical smell, in one gulp.

The drug took effect extremely quickly. Nyx's whimpers were completely sealed away by a thick layer of ice, and my brain welcomed a terrifying yet relieving dead silence.

I crushed the empty paper cup and casually tossed it into the rain-washed sewer.

"Call me Ivy."

I'm Here, I Will Protect You

Half a year later. Greystone University, Institute for Advanced Ecological Research.

Under the microscope, the cell wall of the fir leaf had been completely destroyed by the chemical reagent. I entered the data into the computer.

There was no smell of rotting dirt in the air, only the dry, cold wind blowing from the thermostat-controlled AC, and the mixed aroma of formalin and mellow coffee.

The scent of civilization.

"An amazing slice analysis, Ivy."

A deep, gentle male voice, carrying the distinctive speaking tone of high society, sounded behind me.

I turned around. Elliot was standing behind me.

He wore an elegant charcoal gray suit, his tie knotted meticulously. His golden hair was neatly combed, and his deep blue eyes were looking at me through gold-rimmed glasses with undisguised admiration.

"Your insights into the redwood forest's root network are even deeper than those of the tenured old professors in the institute." He handed me a document, his fingertips not even brushing against my gloves. "The consortium is very interested in your paper. If possible, I'd like to invite you to join my core team."

I looked into his eyes.

In those blue eyes, I didn't see the suffocating possessiveness an Alpha had for an Omega. I saw only pure respect. He was looking at my brain, not my womb.

This was what I had dreamed of and craved for the first half of my life. Respect.

"Thank you, Mr. Elliot." I took off my goggles and revealed a polite smile.

However, just as he took half a step closer to me, from the dead silence sealed by the suppressants deep in my mind, a very low, hostile, muffled growl suddenly echoed.

It was Nyx.

For half a year, I had taken the neuro-suppressants provided by Serena on time every day, and Nyx had almost become a corpse. But at this moment, Elliot's mere half-step approach actually triggered a stress reaction from this "corpse" as if it were a reanimated zombie.

The fine hairs on my arms stood on end instantly. A primal sour itch came from deep within my teeth.

That was the impulse a wolf had before wanting to tear into a prey's throat.

Danger... cold-blooded animal... dead air... Nyx issued a faint but extremely agitated warning beneath the ice.

"Are you not feeling well? You look very pale." Elliot sharply noticed my stiffness, his voice becoming concerned.

I fiercely gripped the edge of the lab bench, my knuckles turning white.

"No, I'm fine. Just didn't sleep well last night." I forcibly suppressed the beastly instinct that wanted to bare its fangs at him.

I hated this instinct. It was reminding me that no matter how white a lab coat I wore, no matter how much human knowledge I mastered, I was still a monster in my bones.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself." Elliot smiled faintly. "Although we humans don't have your incredible healing abilities, we know how to use tools to relieve fatigue. How about a glass of mulled wine after work? My fiancée happens to be away on a business trip, and I have many questions about ecological ley lines I'd like to ask you."

He openly mentioned his fiancée. This was an extremely gentlemanly sense of boundaries.

"Of course," I replied.

Watching his straight back as he turned and walked away, I went to the sink and swallowed my second neuro-suppressant of the day.

"Your wolf is rejecting him, isn't it?"

Serena had leaned against the lab doorframe at some point. She wore a white silk shirt today, still flawlessly exquisite.

"It's just the drug effect wearing off." I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on my face.

"Don't be silly, Ivy. A wolf spirit's instinct is meant for the jungle, not for Wall Street." Serena walked over and handed me a tissue. "In Nyx's eyes, any odorless, suit-wearing civilized person is an anomaly. But you must understand, it is exactly these 'anomalies' that gave us the dignity to not have to fight other she-wolves for meat in the mud."

I took the tissue without speaking.

Reason told me Serena was right. Elliot was an impeccable gentleman, a scholar who respected knowledge, a perfect "human." I couldn't be controlled by the instinct of a beast that only knew how to go into heat.

Just then, the incandescent light overhead suddenly flickered violently twice, emitting a piercing sound of popping electricity.

Immediately after, the entire institute was plunged into pitch-black darkness.

"Did the backup power fail?" Serena complained.

The moment darkness fell, my heartbeat skipped a beat.

For werewolves, darkness should have been home turf. But under the suppression of the drugs, I had lost my night vision. Like a true human, I fell into a panic of the unknown. Worse still, Nyx in my mind took advantage of the moment of the blackout to frantically pound against the ice layer; she smelled a scent that made her extremely uneasy.

"Ivy?"

In the dark, I heard Elliot's voice. He hadn't gone too far.

"I'm here." I tried to walk forward but accidentally knocked over an iron chair.

The loud crash of metal hitting the floor made my nerves instantly snap tight, and I almost couldn't stop myself from letting out a low growl.

A strong, dry, but not rough hand grabbed my arm.

It wasn't a death grip, but a comforting, loose hold.

"Don't be afraid, it's just a rolling blackout."

Elliot's voice seemed particularly steady in the dark. He turned on his phone's flashlight, and that faint halo of light just illuminated the lower half of his face.

He used his body to shield me from the lab equipment that might trip me, tilted his head slightly, and his voice was as gentle as if he were soothing a frightened baby bird.

"I'm here. I will protect you."

Through the fabric of his shirt, I felt the normal body temperature belonging to a human.

He didn't say "Mine" to me. He merely said he was here.

In my mind, Nyx was still scratching irritably. But I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and pushed the beastly warning back into the abyss once again.

For the first time, I felt that perhaps this restrained, gentle warmth of a human was more reassuring than the violent love of an Alpha.

He Found Me

It was the night closest to the full moon.

Suppressants were ineffective against the lunar cycle; this was something Serena hadn't told me. Or perhaps she thought that as long as we stayed in a city of reinforced concrete, the moonlight wouldn't penetrate bulletproof glass.

But tonight, Elliot and I were comparing redwood root system data at the botanical conservation area in the suburbs.

When the first ray of silver moonlight pierced through the clouds and struck the greenhouse glass, the tablet in my hand fell to the ground.

"Ivy?" Elliot had just brewed two cups of black tea and turned around.

Crack.

I heard the sound of my own bones dislocating.

It was the sound of the ice layer built by the suppressants shattering loudly. Nyx, like a beast starved for half a year, awakened violently in my veins. My werewolf canines pierced my gums, my nails instantly mutated into sharp black claws, and I directly clawed the lab bench top next to me to pieces.

"Don't... don't come over!" I curled up on the ground in agony, hugging my head tightly, my voice already turning into a beast's roar.

I needed to crush something. I needed to tear flesh and blood.

The full moon's mania made me lose nearly all my reason. In the forest, Kael would use his absolute Alpha strength to suppress me during the full moon, guiding my mania into a sweat-drenched mating. But in the human world, I was just a monster about to lose control.

I closed my eyes, desperately waiting for Elliot to scream and hit the alarm, or to call security to shoot me to death.

However, there was no alarm. No gunshots.

I heard footsteps. Steady footsteps, without a hint of retreat.

A suit jacket, carrying body heat and a woody cologne, was draped over my head, blocking out that damn moonlight.

Then, a pair of human arms, devoid of any supernatural strength, tightly embraced me.

"I'm here." Elliot's voice was right by my ear, his breathing steady, carrying a soothing rhythm. "Take a deep breath, Ivy. Look at me, you're not a monster."

"Get away!" My reason was still struggling, but Nyx had already taken control of my right hand.

I swiped fiercely, my claws tearing right through his shirt, leaving a deep, bone-exposing bloody gash on his forearm.

The smell of blood instantly permeated the greenhouse.

That was human blood, extremely fragile. If I shifted just three inches upward, I could bite through his carotid artery.

I froze, trembling all over; an immense fear and self-loathing nearly drowned me.

But Elliot didn't step back.

He didn't even frown, as if that bleeding arm wasn't his. Instead, he used that injured arm to pull me even tighter into his embrace. He even lowered his head, defenselessly exposing his extremely vulnerable carotid artery to my canines.

"It's okay." He gently stroked my spine, which had grown coarse and hot due to the mutation, as if comforting a stray cat. "I'm not afraid of you. You can show me your worst side."

At that moment, I heard the sound of my psychological defenses completely collapsing.

* * *

[Elliot's POV]

I held this girl who was trembling in pain in my arms, letting her non-human nails pierce into my skin.

Does it hurt? It hurts a lot.

But I knew that at this moment, my eyes absolutely could not reveal a hint of fear. On the contrary, everything happening tonight made me highly excited.

As the heir to the consortium, I had seen too many perfect, hypocritical women who were like expensive porcelain. But Ivy was different. She was primal, she was dangerous, and she was full of a thrilling vitality.

Watching the blood run down my arm, I didn't feel offended in the slightest; instead, I felt a hopeless sense of satisfaction.

I was taming a beast that should belong to the deep forest.

I was using human tolerance, using this seemingly fragile "love," to slowly wash this beast clean, to strip away her uncontrollable wildness, and to turn her into a noble human partner who belonged solely to me.

The plan to clear the forest would launch next month; excavators and silvered weapons would completely wipe that backward pack off the map.

I calculated calmly in my heart, taking the opportunity to gently kiss her cold-sweat-drenched forehead.

But no matter what, I had to keep her safe. When everything was over, she would no longer need that savage forest. She would become my most perfect masterpiece.

For this absolute control, what did this wound matter? This was merely the most indestructible velvet collar I was slipping around her neck.

* * *

[Ivy's POV]

I didn't know how long that embrace lasted, until the moon was once again obscured by dark clouds, and my bones slowly shrank back into human form, my canines receding as well.

I slumped limply in Elliot's arms, tears uncontrollably dropping onto his suit.

"I'm sorry..." I looked at the blood on his arm, my voice trembling. "I couldn't control it..."

"Shh." He wiped away my tears with his clean hand. "You're safe now."

I looked up at him.

In this instant, I truly thought I had found salvation. I thought this human man, with his fragile flesh-and-blood body, had accepted this cursed shell of mine.

I closed my eyes and leaned against his shoulder.

Right at this moment.

"Arooo—!"

In my mind, Nyx, who had just calmed down, suddenly let out an extremely shrill, even fear-filled screech. It wasn't the mania toward the full moon; it was the shudder of encountering a natural enemy.

I abruptly opened my eyes and looked outside the greenhouse following Nyx's senses.

A late-night downpour battered the glass, washing the muddy streets.

Under the dim streetlight at the corner, stood a man.

He didn't even have an umbrella, thoroughly soaked, his black trench coat clinging tightly to his body. He had lost too much weight; the Alpha body once full of explosive power was now emaciated like a wandering ghost due to the prolonged pain of the severed bond and his refusal to eat.

But his eyes, those eyes that still burned with terrifying golden light in the rainy night, were staring fixedly at the scene of Elliot and me embracing.

It was Kael.

He had crossed a four-hundred-kilometer blockade, endured the agonizing pain of a torn soul, and found me.

Through the curtain of rain and the glass, I saw his hands hanging by his sides trembling frantically, his nails already mutated into wolf claws capable of tearing through steel plates. The air around him was distorting due to the extremely terrifying Alpha aura, and the streetlight bulbs emitted overwhelmed electrical noises before shattering one after another.

If he took just one step forward, if he smashed through this glass, he could tear Elliot into pieces of meat within three seconds.

But he didn't.

He bit his lip fiercely, blood flowing down his jaw into the rainwater. He watched me leaning into the arms of another man.

In the downpour, this once-imperious wolf king slowly, with extreme difficulty, retracted his claws. The golden light deep in his eyes dimmed instantly, like a spark forcefully snuffed out, leaving only endless ashes.

Then, he turned around and limped into the dark rainy night, like a stray dog abandoned by the world.