My Mate Saved His First Love's Pup Instead of Ours

My world shattered the moment Maeve collapsed.

One moment, my daughter was chasing silver butterflies across the moonlit clearing behind our packhouse, her bright laughter echoing through the trees as she dodged between the ancient oaks. The next, her little body crumpled onto the grass as though every ounce of strength had been ripped from her.

"Maeve!"

My cry rang through the territory as I ran toward her, but Evander reached her first.

One heartbeat ago, he had been speaking with the pack elders beside the Moonstone Altar. The next, he was kneeling in the grass, gathering our daughter into his arms.

"Maeve, piccola," he whispered hoarsely, sounding nothing like the fearless Alpha the neighboring packs feared. "Open your eyes."

Her tiny fingers curled weakly around his tunic.

"Papa..."

"I'm here, little wolf."

His voice remained steady, but the bond between us betrayed him. Panic crashed against my mind through our mate link, fierce enough to steal my breath.

He turned to me.

"Summon the High Healer. Now."

I stumbled out of my shock and sent an urgent mindlink toward the Healing Sanctuary. Please... Maeve has collapsed. We need the High Healer immediately.

The reply came almost at once.

Bring her to the Sacred Healing Sanctuary. There is no time to lose.

Only moments ago she had been laughing.

How could this be happening?

"She was fine," I whispered, struggling to keep my voice from breaking. "She was just playing."

Evander didn't answer. He simply shifted Maeve higher against his chest before sprinting toward the sanctuary, his Beta and warriors racing after us.

The journey felt endless.

By the time we reached the sanctuary, the High Healer and her attendants were already waiting beneath the glowing Moonstone. Evander laid Maeve upon the sacred altar while the healer rested both hands over our daughter's heart.

Her expression darkened.

"What is wrong with my daughter?" Evander demanded.

The High Healer lowered her hands with a weary sigh.

"The curse has awakened. Her wolf spirit is fading."

"Then save her."

"I can," the healer answered quietly. "But only through the Blood-Binding Rite. There is only one wolf whose Alpha blood can restore her life."

Her eyes lifted to Evander.

"You."

Hope flooded my chest.

Then the sanctuary doors burst open.

A woman hurried inside.

Celestine.

Evander's first love.

The one everyone believed would one day become Luna before she disappeared without a word.

She wasn't alone.

A pale little boy clung to her hand, his face drained of all color, his wolf aura flickering as though it might vanish at any moment.

The High Healer's face went still.

"Luna Celestine... why are you here?"

Celestine's voice trembled.

"My son needs your help."

The healer examined the child, then slowly closed her eyes.

"He carries the same curse."

Silence settled over the sanctuary.

When the healer opened her eyes again, they rested on Evander.

"There is something else you must know, Alpha."

Evander frowned.

"What is it?"

The healer drew a slow breath.

"The boy carries your blood."

The world beneath my feet seemed to disappear.

Evander stared at the child, every muscle in his body locking into place.

"What did you say?"

"Alaric," Celestine whispered through her tears, "is your son."

No one spoke.

Even the Moonstone seemed to lose its glow.

The High Healer finally broke the silence.

"The Blood-Binding Rite will consume nearly all of the donor's life essence. Alpha Evander possesses enough to complete only one ritual."

She looked from Maeve...

...to Alaric.

"You have two children."

Her next words destroyed everything I believed.

"But only one can be saved."

I looked at Evander, my mate, my Alpha, the father of my daughter.

"Please," I whispered, barely able to breathe. "Choose Maeve."

His eyes lingered on our daughter before drifting to the little boy standing beside Celestine.

For the first time since I had known him...

...my Alpha hesitated.

I held Maeve tightly against my chest, her tiny body growing colder with every passing moment as her breathing became little more than fragile whispers.

"Please, Evander." My voice cracked beneath the weight of my desperation. "She needs you. Our daughter needs her father."

His jaw tightened.

His gaze lingered on Maeve before drifting toward the little boy standing beside Celestine.

Alaric.

His son.

Through our mate bond, I felt every emotion crashing through him—shock, guilt, disbelief, and unbearable anguish. They tangled together until I could no longer tell where his pain ended and mine began.

Then he looked at me.

"I'm sorry, Aurelia."

The words struck harder than the sharpest blade.

"No..." I shook my head violently, clutching Maeve even closer. "No... you don't mean that."

But I saw the answer in his eyes before he spoke again.

He turned to the High Healer.

"Perform the Blood-Binding Rite."

"For whom, my Alpha?" she asked quietly.

Evander closed his eyes for the briefest moment.

"Save Alaric."

A broken cry escaped my lips.

"Evander..."

He never looked back.

The healers hurried to prepare the sacred circle around the Moonstone while the warriors standing inside the sanctuary lowered their heads in silence. None of them dared question their Alpha's command, though every pair of eyes betrayed the horror of witnessing the choice he had made.

Not his daughter.

Not the pup blessed to him by the Moon Goddess.

I pressed my forehead against Maeve's.

"I'm here, little one," I whispered as tears soaked her silver hair. "Mama is here."

Her tiny hand rested in mine.

Then, slowly...

...her fingers loosened.

The warmth left our bond.

The thread connecting our souls dissolved into nothing.

A scream tore from my throat.

I barely realized the healers were pulling Maeve from my arms until I was fighting against them with every ounce of strength I had.

"No!" I sobbed. "Don't take my daughter away from me!"

No one listened.

Not even Evander.

He remained where he stood, one hand resting protectively on Alaric's shoulder while everything I had ever loved crumbled around me.

At that moment, I made a silent vow beneath the Moon Goddess.

I would never forgive him.

Not in this lifetime.

Not in the next.

**

Maeve's Moon Return was held three nights later.

Only our closest pack members attended as the elders returned her little body to the earth beneath the Moon Tree, where the spirits of our ancestors were said to watch over every fallen wolf.

A gentle rain fell from the heavens, soaking my mourning robes until they clung to my skin, but I felt nothing.

I stood beside my daughter's grave, watching the tiny white coffin disappear beneath the waiting earth.

There were no tears left.

Hatred had swallowed them all.

Evander stood several paces away, surrounded by his Beta and the pack warriors. Since the night Maeve died, he had not spoken to me once.

Perhaps he knew there were no words capable of mending what he had destroyed.

The High Elder offered prayers to the Moon Goddess, asking Her to guide Maeve's young spirit across the Silver Path.

I heard none of them.

Then Evander suddenly stiffened.

His eyes clouded for an instant before he turned away.

A mindlink.

He listened in silence before striding away from the grave without another glance.

I already knew who had called him.

Celestine.

Even today...

Even while our daughter was being laid to rest...

She summoned him, and he answered.

A bitter laugh rose in my throat before dying there.

Alpha Evander left his own daughter's Moon Return because Celestine had reached out to him through the mindlink.

I should have begged him to stay.

I should have demanded that he mourn the child we had created beneath the Moon Goddess' blessing.

Instead...

I watched him disappear into the rain.

As the first handful of earth covered Maeve's coffin, I swore before the Moon Goddess that I would never forgive him.

Because Celestine had stolen everything from me.

She had abandoned Evander years ago and chosen another mate instead.

Only after that mate died did she return to our pack.

Not merely for Evander.

For everything that belonged to me.

My place.

My family.

My future.

And Evander...

My mate...

Had opened the gates for her.

**

I remained beside Maeve's grave until the moon stood high above the forest.

The cemetery was silent except for the wind whispering through the ancient trees.

My body ached from the cold, yet I could not bring myself to leave.

Only my memories kept me company.

They came one after another, refusing to grant me peace.

I remembered the day rogue wolves kidnapped me.

Their ropes burned against my wrists while they laughed, certain they could use the Alpha's mate against him.

Then the forest exploded with furious howls.

Evander came alone.

His wolf tore through the rogues without mercy, silver eyes blazing with enough rage to make even seasoned warriors tremble. When the last rogue fell, he shifted back into his human form and rushed to me.

His hands shook as he cupped my face.

"Did they hurt you?"

I could only shake my head.

He pulled me against his chest so tightly I thought my ribs would break.

"I would burn every pack in these lands before I let anyone take you from me."

A sob caught painfully in my throat.

He had meant those words once.

Another memory followed.

Evander lay inside the Healing Sanctuary after taking a poisoned blade meant for me. His side was wrapped in healing herbs, yet he smiled the moment I entered.

"I've waited long enough," he murmured.

He reached beneath his pillow and withdrew a small velvet pouch. Nestled inside rested a moonstone ring blessed by the High Elder.

"Evander..."

"Become my Luna."

"You've barely survived."

He laughed softly.

"Then don't make a dying Alpha wait."

I laughed through my tears.

"You're impossible."

"Say yes," he whispered. "Before the Moon Goddess and every ancestor who came before us... you'll always be my home."

My knees gave way beside Maeve's grave.

Then came the memory of her birth.

Evander had paced outside the birthing den like a caged wolf.

When the healer finally placed Maeve in his arms, his entire face softened.

"Our little moon."

He kissed her forehead with trembling lips.

"I swear before the Moon Goddess that no harm will ever come to you."

My fingers dug into the damp earth.

A promise.

Broken.

The final memory was the Moon Festival.

Evander had reserved the entire sacred valley for our family after Maeve begged to see the floating lanterns.

She laughed as he lifted her onto his shoulders.

"Is all of this for me, Daddy?"

He smiled.

"For my little princess."

She pointed at me.

"And Mama?"

He reached for my hand.

"For Mama too."

That night, beneath thousands of floating lanterns, he wrapped his arms around me and whispered against my hair,

"This is everything I ever fought for. You. Our daughter. Our family."

I closed my eyes.

How cruel those words sounded now.

Once, he would have sacrificed the world for us.

But when the Moon Goddess tested his heart...

He chose another child.

Now I stood alone before my daughter's grave while my mate was undoubtedly at Celestine's side.

No tears came.

Because the woman who had loved Evander with all her heart had been buried beside Maeve.

All that remained was her empty shell.

Two weeks.

That was all it took.

Fourteen days.

Fourteen days after our daughter returned to the Moon Goddess, Evander had already erased her from his heart as though she had never existed.

The Frostfang Pack's grand hall blazed with silver moonfire, every crystal lantern glowing beneath the vaulted ceiling while Alphas, Betas, and honored guests from neighboring packs filled the room with laughter and celebration. At the far end of the hall, a great silver banner hung above the Alpha's dais.

WELCOME HOME, CELESTINE AND ALARIC.

My fingers curled so tightly into my palms that my nails drew blood.

Maeve had been gone for only fourteen days.

Yet my mate had chosen to celebrate.

The guards moved to stop me, but one look at my face made them hesitate.

I strode through the hall without slowing, my footsteps echoing against the polished stone floor as every conversation died around me.

Evander stood before the gathered packs in his black ceremonial robes, every bit the powerful Alpha they admired.

Beside him stood Celestine.

She wore the crimson robes of a Luna, one hand resting possessively around Evander's arm as though she already belonged there.

She was smiling.

As though she hadn't stolen everything from me.

As though my daughter hadn't been buried beneath the Moon Tree only two weeks ago.

The fury consuming me drowned every shred of reason.

Before anyone could stop me, my hand struck her face.

The sharp crack echoed across the silent hall.

Celestine stumbled sideways, one hand flying to her cheek.

"Aurelia."

Evander's voice carried the unmistakable warning of an Alpha.

I ignored it.

"How dare you?" My voice shook with grief and rage alike. "Our daughter has barely returned to the Moon Goddess, yet you feast and celebrate as though she never existed."

I turned to Evander.

"You couldn't even give her one moon cycle." Tears blurred my vision. "Not even that. Instead, you place your former lover at your side while your own pup lies beneath the earth."

A startled cry escaped Celestine.

Then she crumpled to the floor.

Tears spilled freely down her face as she clutched her reddened cheek.

"Alpha..." she sobbed. "She attacked me before everyone."

Her shoulders trembled.

"I only wanted to come home."

Before another word could be spoken, a small figure rushed toward me.

Alaric.

His tiny fists struck my stomach again and again.

"You hurt my mama!" he cried. "You're wicked!"

Each blow lacked strength, yet every one pierced deeper than claws.

"My papa doesn't want you anymore!" he shouted through his tears. "He loves us!"

The warriors exchanged uneasy glances.

No one moved.

No one dared interfere while the Alpha remained silent.

I could have stopped the child with ease.

I didn't.

He was innocent.

Even if his existence had shattered my life.

When I lifted my eyes, I caught Celestine watching me.

Only for an instant.

The corners of her lips curled into the faintest smile before she buried her face against Evander's shoulder once more.

"She wants to destroy our family," Celestine whispered between sobs. "She cannot accept that you've chosen us."

Evander's expression hardened.

Before I realized he had moved, his hand struck my face.

The force sent me reeling backward.

Silence swallowed the hall.

My cheek burned, but it was nothing compared to the ache spreading through my chest.

The mate who had once sworn to shield me from every harm had struck me before the entire pack.

His gaze remained cold.

Emotionless.

"This ends tonight."

He withdrew a rolled parchment from inside his robes and cast it onto the floor between us.

The scroll unraveled at my feet.

A formal rejection.

My breath caught.

Then several enchanted memory crystals tumbled after it.

As they shattered against the stone, glowing images rose into the air.

Images of me...

Naked.

Curled in another wolf's embrace.

Then another.

And another.

The entire hall erupted in horrified whispers.

"No..." My voice barely existed. "These aren't real."

Evander looked at me with nothing but contempt.

"You've dishonored your Alpha."

"I never betrayed you."

"You shared another male's bed."

"I didn't!"

Celestine leaned against his shoulder, dabbing at tears that no longer looked convincing.

"Alpha... perhaps we shouldn't do this today."

I looked directly at her.

This time I saw it clearly.

The satisfaction gleaming in her eyes.

She had orchestrated everything.

The false memories.

The humiliation.

The rejection.

"Evander." My throat tightened. "After everything we've survived together... after Maeve... do you truly believe I would betray our mate bond?"

For the briefest heartbeat, something flickered across his face.

Pain.

Then it vanished.

"I no longer care."

His voice carried the finality of an Alpha's judgment.

"Accept the rejection."

My heart broke all over again.

Not because he doubted me.

Not because the entire pack watched me fall.

But because the man standing before me no longer resembled the mate who had once sworn himself to me beneath the Moonstone.

I slowly lifted my chin.

One tear slipped down my cheek.

"You'll regret this."

Evander offered no reply.

He simply turned away.

Just as he had turned away from our daughter.

As the whispers spread through the great hall and every eye settled upon me, I finally understood the truth.

The Alpha I had loved no longer existed.

And the Luna he had cast aside would not leave without a fight.

I was dead.

Or at least, before another moon had risen, the entire werewolf world would believe I was.

The rejection scroll was still clutched in my hand as I walked away from the Frostfang Pack for the last time. My cheek still burned where Evander had struck me, but the pain was nothing compared to the emptiness inside my chest.

No one tried to stop me.

Not the warriors guarding the pack gates.

Not the elders.

Not even my mate.

The Moon Goddess had blessed me as Luna once.

Now I was nothing.

Not a mate.

Not a mother.

Only a woman cast aside.

I tightened my grip on the small satchel hanging from my shoulder.

Inside were the only treasures I had left—Maeve's favorite carved wooden wolf, the tiny silver bracelet Evander had given her on her fifth birthday, and the little cloak she always insisted on wearing whenever she followed him through the pack lands.

Evander could keep the Alpha's manor.

He could keep every jewel, every possession, every memory tied to our life together.

But he would never take away the last pieces of our daughter.

I wandered through the forest until my legs ached, unable to silence the memories that chased me.

His slap.

His rejection.

The disgust in his eyes.

The way he had allowed Celestine and her son to strip away every shred of my dignity before the entire pack.

No.

This was not the end.

At last, I reached into my robes and withdrew a moonstone communication crystal.

Only a handful of wolves possessed one, and there was only one person I trusted enough to contact.

The crystal glowed beneath my fingers.

"Ronan."

A moment later, his voice echoed softly inside my mind.

"Aurelia?"

"I need you."

Silence lingered before he answered.

"Where are you?"

"It doesn't matter."

I drew a slow breath.

"I need a body... a fire... and I need every pack on this continent to believe I've returned to the Moon Goddess."

Another pause followed.

Then a quiet laugh.

"So you've finally stopped living for him."

"Can you do it?"

"I can."

"Then make sure no one doubts it."

"Leave the rest to me."

The crystal dimmed.

Without another thought, I crushed it beneath my heel.

Aurelia Frostfang ceased to exist that night.

**

The plan was simple.

Years ago, I had saved Ronan's life after he had been abandoned by his own Alpha.

He had sworn a life debt before the Moon Goddess.

Now he intended to repay it.

By dawn, he had secured everything we needed.

A wandering she-wolf whose body had never been claimed after a rogue attack.

Clothing bearing my scent.

Several of my personal belongings.

Enough to deceive even the keenest wolf nose once the flames had done their work.

We carried the body to an abandoned hunter's cabin deep within the mountains, far beyond the Frostfang territory.

The dry timber would burn quickly.

No one would question the ashes.

Ronan was arranging the final preparations when I raised a hand.

"Wait."

"There is one last thing I have to do."

Using another communication crystal, I reached for the only bond I had once believed would never break.

Evander.

The crystal glowed.

Once.

Twice.

Then another voice answered.

"The Alpha is unavailable."

My entire body stiffened.

"Celestine."

She laughed softly.

"Still clinging to him? Even after he rejected you?"

"Put Evander on."

"Why?" she asked sweetly. "So he can reject you a second time?"

My fingers tightened around the crystal.

"You think you've won?"

"Oh, Aurelia." Her laughter grew brighter. "I already have."

I refused to answer.

Then her voice lowered into something almost playful.

"Do you know what I find funniest?"

A chill crawled down my spine.

"Your little Maeve never had to die."

The world stopped.

"...What?"

"Because Alaric was never suffering from the Blood Curse."

I couldn't breathe.

"The High Healer believed exactly what I wanted her to believe."

My knees nearly gave out beneath me.

"The Blood-Binding Rite was never meant for my son."

Every word struck harder than the last.

"Evander sacrificed your daughter..."

She laughed.

"...for nothing."

The crystal went dark.

I remained frozen, unable to move as her laughter echoed inside my head.

Maeve...

My little girl...

She had not died because fate had demanded it.

She had died because they had lied.

Because Evander had believed Celestine without question.

My daughter had been stolen from me by deceit.

A hand settled gently on my shoulder.

Ronan.

"You heard everything."

I nodded once.

No tears came.

Only fire.

Celestine.

Evander.

Every wolf who had watched my daughter die in silence.

Every one of them would answer for it.

"Once the cabin burns," Ronan said quietly, "there is no returning."

I looked toward the waiting pyre.

"There is nothing left for me to return to."

He lowered a burning torch onto the oil-soaked floor.

Flames climbed the walls almost instantly, swallowing the cabin in hungry tongues of fire.

The scent of smoke filled the night.

Soon only ashes would remain.

The Frostfang Pack would mourn the tragic death of their former Luna.

Evander would hear that his rejected mate had perished in the blaze.

Whether he grieved or not no longer mattered.

I was not dying for him.

I was burying the woman who had loved him.

Before sunrise, Ronan led me beyond the borders of every pack that had ever known my name.

I became a wandering she-wolf with forged lineage, hidden beneath a new identity that no Alpha would think to question.

When we finally stopped days later, I caught my reflection in the still surface of a forest pool.

My golden hair had been stained as black as a raven's wing with herbs known only to wandering healers.

The woman staring back at me looked nothing like the Luna Evander had once cherished.

I touched the dark strands gently.

He had loved weaving his fingers through my golden hair while whispering promises beneath the moonlight.

Those promises had burned with the cabin.

I looked into my own eyes and spoke the words aloud.

"Welcome back."

The world believed Aurelia Frostfang had returned to the Moon Goddess.

They were wrong.

The woman they had destroyed was gone.

The one who remained would make them pray they had never betrayed her.