The Alpha’s Outcast Mate

I woke up with a strange feeling, as if my body didn't quite belong to me.

My head was throbbing, and the light streaming through the window forced me to close my eyes again. For a few seconds, I lay still, breathing slowly, trying to remember where I was, how I had gotten there... but my mind refused to give me any clear answers.

Nothing seemed familiar.

The bed wasn't mine.

Silence, too.

I sat up slowly and that's when I felt it.

An arm encircled my waist, firm, heavy, warm.

Too real to be an illusion.

my heart stuttered.

Still with my back turned, I knew I shouldn't look. That I wasn't prepared for what I was about to find. Even so, I did.

There was a man lying next to me.

Naked. Deeply asleep. Oblivious to the chaos that was taking hold of me.

And he wasn't just any man.

Alpha Ronan Blackthorn was.

The Blood Alpha of the Northern Reach.

My father's rival.

the breath suddenly left my lungs.

No.

It couldn't be.

My gaze slowly descended to my own body, barely covered by the sheet. The dull ache between my legs finally crushed my last hope.

It had happened.

He had handed over what he was supposed to protect... and he remembered nothing.

Not even a caress.

Not a word.

Not a single conscious decision.

Just an uncomfortable emptiness and a guilt that began to oppress my chest.

I swallowed, feeling a lump in my throat.

Of all the possible mistakes... this was the worst.

The phone vibrated on the floor, and the sound made me flinch. I bent down to pick it up with clumsy hands before it rang again.

"Yes?" I whispered, as if raising my voice might break something else.

"Where are you?" my sister asked nervously. "Dad's looking for you. I told him you were with me, but he wants us to go back now."

I looked around, as if the walls could give me an answer.

"I'm still at the The Bellamy House," I murmured.

The silence on the other end was immediate.

"Elara..."he finally said." Tell me you haven't slept with the Alpha."

I closed my eyes tightly.

"No," I lied." I fell asleep in a room. Alone."

I couldn't drag her down with me. Not her.

Okay. Say you were with Brielle Knox and me. I'll be there in a few hours.

He hung up.

I got up carefully, gathering my clothes from the floor as if each garment weighed a ton. In the bathroom, the mirror reflected an image I barely recognized: glitter on my skin, smudged makeup, a version of me that didn't fit the Alpha's daughter I was supposed to be.

I got dressed quickly.

Before I left, my eyes returned to the bed.

He was still asleep.

Beautiful. Intimidating. Dangerous.

Perhaps he would never know who I had been to him. Perhaps I would only be a blurry memory... or not even that.

I left the room without making a sound.

I bumped into a man in the hallway.

"Hey."

He was one of his betas. I had seen him the night before, although I doubted he would recognize me.

"Is the Alpha in there?" he asked, with a half-smile.

I nodded, avoiding his gaze.

"Is everything alright? Do you want me to give you a ride home?"

I give a soft, nervous laugh.

"Do you usually take home the one-night stands of your Alpha?"

She smiled.

"Only the pretty ones."

I shook my head and left without answering.

I walked quickly, my heels clicking too loudly on the hotel floor.

I had to get home.

I had to hide this.

I had to pretend that nothing had happened.

Because if my father were to find out...

There would be no words capable of saving me.

I knew something was wrong before I even dared to say it out loud.

It wasn't just the tiredness. Nor the persistent nausea. It was a strange, deep feeling, as if my body were warning me of something I refused to accept.

Wolves don't get sick like that.

Not for days.

Not without reason.

My father took me to the pack doctor a week later, when he could no longer pretend he didn't see my face fading away. He barely spoke during the drive. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white, his jaw tense.

I stared out the window.

I knew that, as soon as we crossed that door, nothing would ever be the same again.

The doctor returned soon. Too soon.

The expression on her face was the first thing that made me tremble.

"She's pregnant."

The words fell like a sentence.

I felt the air leave my lungs and something inside me silently break. No. It couldn't be. It had only happened once. A confusing, blurry night, of which I barely remembered shapeless fragments.

"That's impossible," roared my father, jumping to his feet." Repeat the test. My daughter hasn't found her mate. She can't be pregnant."

I couldn't move.

I was seventeen. I hadn't yet turned eighteen. I had been taught since childhood that a she-wolf should reserve herself for her mate. That breaking that rule was shameful. A stain impossible to erase.

The doctor repeated the test.

The result did not change.

My father began pacing the room like a cornered animal. When he stopped in front of me, his gaze was no longer that of a father. It was hard. Strange. Unfamiliar.

"Tell me it's not true," he demanded." Tell me you didn't do this to me."

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

"No," I finally whispered." I didn't mean to... I didn't..."

It didn't matter.

"I won't allow it," he spat." This will be resolved right now."

I looked at him, not understanding.

"As...?"

"You won't have that child," she declared." No one has to know. After that, everything will go back to normal."

I felt nauseous. Not because of the pregnancy, but because of the fear.

"No," I said, this time more forcefully." I can't do that."

His hand arrived before I could react.

The blow was sharp, brief, but enough to take my breath away. The burning sensation on my cheek took a while to subside, but the real pain was something else entirely.

"Then you are no longer my daughter."

The phrase was worse than the blow.

He left the room without looking back.

That day I lost more than a home. I lost my name. My place. Everything I had been.