The Alpha's Regret: Return Of The Betrayed Luna

Chapter 7 - 7 A Better Luna Than Her

All this time, she had done her best, enduring and sacrificing because she believed she owed the pack and Alpha Zion a debt. But looking back now, she questioned if that debt had ever truly been hers to bear.

When she took over as Luna, the pack had already been on the verge of collapse. They had lost their former Alpha, Zion’s father, and while the entire pack was consumed by grief, war raged on at the front lines, not far from their borders. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Being situated at the edge of werewolf territory, right next to the vampire lands, had never been a concern before.

Midnight River Pack was the second-strongest pack, surpassed only by the royal family, who had been blessed by the Moon Goddess herself.

As guardians of the border, they had stood as an impenetrable shield.

But the sudden death of their Alpha had struck a devastating blow to Midnight River Pack. Many of their core warriors had fallen alongside him on the battlefield, leaving the pack vulnerable, leaderless, and on the brink of ruin.

And in the midst of all that, Addison had stepped in, not because she had sought power, not because she had wanted this responsibility, but because someone had to hold everything together.

Along with his death, some of their allied packs began to withdraw from their alliance, turning their backs on the Midnight River Pack at their most vulnerable moment.

Worse still, these so-called allies took advantage of the former Alpha’s absence, cutting off cooperation and ceasing the supply of rations, supplies they were meant to provide.

The Midnight River Pack had never farmed or produced their own food; instead, they relied on hunting and guarding the borders, trading their game and resources gathered from vampire territory in exchange for necessities from other packs.

And since their territory was located near the border, they had an agreement with the neighboring packs: in exchange for protection, the neighboring packs would provide a monthly supply of their finest goods, including grains, wine, animal products, and other valuable resources.

This arrangement had been upheld for centuries, becoming an integral part of the Midnight River Pack’s way of life.

It was a system that had sustained them for generations. But who would have thought that a single tragedy—the sudden death of their Alpha—would bring their entire way of life crashing down?

Deprived of support, their pack weakened considerably, struggling to survive in the face of betrayal and abandonment.

As soon as Addison became Luna, she dedicated herself to making the pack self-sufficient by establishing their own farm. At the same time, she worked to mend alliances with other packs.

However, it was far from easy, her lack of strength made others reluctant to take her seriously.

Moreover, during the war, rations were a crucial resource, and other packs were more focused on preserving their own supplies rather than aiding a struggling pack led by a newly appointed Alpha who had only recently come of age.

She faced heavy scorn from her own pack members, as nothing like this had ever been done before. Being a territory near the border, they had never even attempted trade, let alone farming.

The pack had always been raised as warriors, making them resistant to change. Addison had to put in tremendous effort to convince them to work with her.

It wasn’t until they began struggling to gather enough rations, forcing their Alpha in the front lines more worries and putting him in real danger, that the others finally started following her lead. The journey had been anything but easy for her.

But she and Gamma Levi had done their best over the past three years. Yet, she had been ridiculed by the neighboring Alphas, who mocked the idea of an Omega leading a pack. Their scorn only deepened the shame and resentment of her own pack members, making them even more disdainful of Addison.

Now, after all the hardships she had endured, these very people, who seemed to have forgotten her sacrifices, looked at her as if she were the most despised and useless person in the pack.

But Addison was only human. No matter how much she tried to endure, she, too, had her limits. And now, as she reflected on the three years she had spent holding this pack together, she realized she had done enough. She had already repaid her debt to the former Alpha.

’I think it’s time for me to leave.’

The words echoed relentlessly in Addison’s mind. If nothing else, she knew one thing about herself: she was stubborn. She had to be. Otherwise, how could she have kept this pack together when no one truly listened to her without contempt? Despite her weakness, she had endured.

But now, after giving three years of her life to this pack, after enduring the constant backlash of her deteriorating mate bond with Alpha Zion, after suffering and nearly dying more times than she could count, she realized she had had enough.

Now that Alpha Zion had found his fated mate and was expecting the birth of his heir, stepping aside was the only right thing to do. Though it hurt, Addison knew she could no longer hold on. It was better to end her suffering now than to let the pain fester and consume her beyond repair.

But thinking about leaving and actually doing it were two very different things. The mere thought of walking away made her heart recoil in protest, the twisting pain almost unbearable.

Yet, there was nothing she could do. Her heart and mind were at war, each pulling her in opposite directions. But for once, she needed to think of herself. She had spent years being selfless, giving everything she had, until there was nothing left. She had reached her limit.

’Enough was enough.’

”Addison!!! For fuck’s sake! Don’t test my patience right now!” Alpha Zion roared.

The room trembled as his Alpha aura surged, a crushing force radiating from his body. Glass shattered instantly, and the pack members instinctively shrank back, lowering their heads in submission. The sheer intensity of his anger jolted Addison from her thoughts, pulling her back to the present.

Her gaze snapped to her mate, and she could see that he was already on the edge, his patience slipping fast. Any moment now, he might lose control and slam her against the wall.

’But, he would never do that to Claire.’ This thought whispered in Addison’s mind

Yet, Addison, who had done nothing wrong, was the one subjected to his wrath.

”I’m not!” Addison shot back, her voice rising without her even realizing it.

The pain from their decaying mate bond clawed at her, but fear? She barely felt it. Maybe it was because he was her mate, because, despite everything, there was still a lingering sense of familiarity, a twisted kind of comfort mixed with a storm of conflicting emotions.

Zion exhaled sharply through his nostrils, struggling to rein in his growing irritation. Shura wasn’t helping, his wolf was throwing a tantrum inside his head, making Addison an easy target for his frustration.

”Then go back and change! And before you leave, apologize to Claire. You’ve been my Luna for three years, yet you still don’t know how to fulfill your role? Claire is doing a better job than you ever have.”