The Alpha's Regret: The Broken Bond | Read Free Preview
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Chapter 1 — The Scent of Fate
Linda’s POV
My name is Linda Gaunt, an Omega who’s lived under the roof of the Bluemoon Pack for ten years.
Everyone says I’m lucky.
Maybe.
After all, I’m just a low-ranking Omega, yet I’ve managed to survive in one of the strongest packs on the continent. I haven’t been torn apart out in the wilderness. For an orphan, that’s considered “lucky.”
But the word “lucky” always leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Like an unripe berry forced down the throat—it only makes the gut churn and the throat burn.
Tonight is the Harvest Moon Festival.
On the Alpha estate’s lawn, bonfires crackle, laughter echoes, and the rich aroma of grilled meat hangs in the air… It paints a picture of celebration, a picture that has nothing to do with me.
In my world, there’s only the mountain of greasy dishes in the sink, the stinging scent of detergent, and the endless grind of work.
This is my fate. As the lowest of the low in the pack, all the dirtiest, most exhausting jobs fall to me. No questions asked.
I scrub the last plate until it gleams, my weary but calm face reflected on its smooth surface, along with my pale lips. I tell myself, Linda, you’re a survivor. Surviving is enough.
Rubbing my sore shoulder, I step out of the kitchen. The noise has faded. The cool night breeze sweeps away the heat of the celebration—and brings with it a deeper loneliness.
I walk the same shadowed corridor I’ve walked for ten years, heading toward my humble wooden cabin in the far corner of the estate. Portraits of past Alphas hang on either side, their stern eyes piercing the dark, like they’re judging the speck of dust that doesn’t belong—me.
As always, I come to a stop at the stairs leading to the Alpha’s quarters on the second floor. My gaze lifts toward that realm of absolute power cloaked in darkness.
That’s where our pack’s Alpha, Grant Bale, lives.
Ever since he officially took the Alpha position ten years ago, the carefree friendship we once shared as playmates turned into a chasm too wide to cross. Alpha and Omega—like a blazing star in the sky and a speck of cold dust on the ground. Destined to never meet again.
And yet, I always remember that afternoon ten years ago.
I’d just been taken in by the pack. I was scrawny, timid, and surrounded by a group of high-ranking wolf pups who laughed at me like I was some kind of freak, calling me a “stray mutt picked up from the forest.” Just as their claws were about to touch me, young Grant shoved his way through the crowd. He wasn’t strong yet, but he stood in front of me with unwavering determination.
He didn’t comfort me. He just stared at me with those green eyes, clear as lake water, and said clumsily but firmly, “No crying. Those tears are just for you.”
In that moment, he didn’t see me as a lowly Omega.
He saw me as a person.
That one shred of respect became a tiny spark that burned inside my cold, lonely heart for ten whole years.
The estate’s ancient grandfather clock strikes midnight.
I’ve turned eighteen.
And in that very instant, a scent I’ve never smelled before—so intense it makes my soul tremble—crashes into me out of nowhere.
No. It bypasses my nose entirely and strikes straight into my soul like a lightning bolt!
It smells like ancient pine shattered by a storm, mixed with the icy bite of polar winds and the hidden heat of magma deep beneath the earth. It’s overbearing. Untamed. And in a flash, it awakens the humble Wolf inside me that had only just surfaced three days ago.
“He’s… he’s our mate!” my Wolf, Mia, screams in my head with a mix of ecstasy and disbelief. “Find him! He’s here! He’s ours!”
My heart races wildly. My blood burns as it surges through me. I breathe in greedily, uncontrollably, chasing the scent as it grows stronger… and it’s coming from the second floor.
From Grant’s room.
No! That can’t be!
Panic and a secret, wild joy crash into me all at once, threatening to tear me apart. My fated mate… could it really be him? The one I’ve looked up to for ten years, so far out of reach that even thinking of him felt like blasphemy?
“Go!” Mia urges, her voice raw with primal longing. “He’s ours! It’s the Moon Goddess’s gift! Go now!”
But my feet feel like they’ve turned to stone, nailed to the floor.
That’s the Alpha’s territory—the one place every Omega is forbidden to enter. Ten years of oppressive hierarchy are carved into my bones, leaving me trembling. I’ve seen it with my own eyes: an Omega whipped in public for accidentally delivering something to the second floor. Their screams still stab into my memory like needles.
And yet that scent…
It clutches my soul like a hand I can’t see, dragging me forward. It whispers promises: the end of loneliness, the place where my soul truly belongs.
Do I keep living in endless humiliation, or give in to the one yearning buried deepest in my soul—just this once?
My Wolf is howling. My reason is screaming.
My hand shakes as it reaches for the staircase railing. The cold metal makes me flinch and almost pull back.
But that’s enough.
I’ve lived as dust for ten years.
I inhale deeply. That fatal scent rushes back into me, and with it, the courage to gamble everything.
I raise my foot. Reason shrieks. Fear claws at me. But I place my foot on the first step leading to the second floor.
Thud.
That single sound echoes like a drumbeat at the turning point of my fate.
This step could lead to a bottomless abyss. But I know if I don’t take it, my whole life will stay buried in that abyss forever.
Chapter 2 — The Forbidden Step
Linda’s POV
My heart pounded wildly in my chest, so loud it nearly drowned out the ticking of the ancient grandfather clock at the end of the hallway.
The second floor… a place I had never dared to step foot on.
With each stair I climbed, that scent—wood smoke and fire—grew stronger, more potent, more forceful. It wrapped around my Wolf, Mia, like invisible chains, dragging me upward, step by step.
“Faster! Hurry!” Mia whimpered with excitement in my head. “Our mate is waiting! He needs us!”
Needs? That word made something in my rational mind pause. Why “needs”?
But I had no time to think. The portraits lining the hallway—the former Alphas—seemed to come to life, their eyes stern and cold as they stared down at me, an Omega who dared to cross the line. My skin prickled with unease, a fear embedded deep in my blood, passed down through generations: fear of those in power.
I forced myself to look away from their gazes, locking my eyes on the heavy oak door at the end of the hall.
My destiny—or my doom—waited behind that door.
Finally, I reached the landing at the top of the stairs. The scent here was overwhelming, thick as if it had become liquid, wrapping around me, seeping into my skin. My legs gave out. I leaned against the wall, gasping for breath, drowning in the pull of that scent.
He’s in there.
My mate.
Grant.
What should I do? Knock? What would I even say? “Alpha, I think I’m your mate”? Would he think I was just another desperate Omega trying to claw her way up, then have the guards drag me out and beat me to death?
Just as panic and doubt warred inside me, a cold, sharp voice pierced through like a poisoned dagger.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
I froze. Every drop of blood in my body seemed to turn to ice.
That voice—I knew it well. Susan Sue, the Beta’s daughter.
I spun around to see her storming down the hallway, her beautiful face twisted with rage. She wore a luxurious silk robe, already acting like she owned the place. The look she gave me wasn’t just disgust—it was the way someone would look at a filthy rat in their kitchen.
“I… I…” Ten years of oppression clamped down on my throat, making my voice shake.
“You filthy, worthless Omega! Who gave you the guts to step foot on the second floor?!” Susan stormed up to me, her fury and hatred laid bare.
“I smelled it… I smelled my mate’s scent…” I forced the words out, raising my voice to declare my truth. This was the Moon Goddess’s will—sacred and untainted.
Susan blinked, stunned for a moment. Then she let out a shrill, mocking laugh like she’d just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
“Your mate?” She looked me up and down, her eyes dripping with contempt, like I was a piece of spoiled meat. “Here? Don’t tell me… you mean the Alpha?”
Her laughter sharpened into a cruel screech. “Did scrubbing dishes finally rot your brain? The Alpha’s mate, you? You can barely hold your Wolf form, you pathetic excuse for an Omega! Get out! Before I call the guards and have them rip you to shreds!”
“She dares mock the Moon Goddess’s will!” Mia roared in my mind, fury flooding my chest.
I straightened my back and looked her in the eye. “It’s him. I know it.”
That single sentence made Susan snap. Whatever mask of elegance she wore vanished, replaced by raw, jealous rage.
“You b*tch! You’re dead!”
She lunged. Her hand swung toward my face in a vicious slap.
I flinched just in time. The blow missed, but the wind from it stung. Before I could recover, her foot slammed into my stomach.
“Ugh!” I gasped, the pain forcing me back—straight into the oak door behind me.
The heavy impact echoed through the hallway like a gunshot.
Then—from behind the door—came a low, guttural growl.
It was faint, but it didn’t sound human. It was the sound of something primal, something trapped in pain and fury. A beast barely restrained.
The hallway fell deathly silent.
Susan’s twisted face froze. My terror locked me in place. We both stared at the door like we’d been turned to stone.
Click.
A soft sound. The lock was turning. From the inside.
Chapter 3 — The Only Cure
Linda’s POV
Click.
The turn of the lock echoed like Death’s whisper, unnervingly loud in the silence of the corridor.
Susan and I stopped breathing. All motion, all sound, vanished in that instant. We stood frozen like pinned specimens, our eyes locked on the heavy oak door as it slowly creaked open.
A narrow gap appeared—then widened.
From the darkness beyond, the scent hit like a tidal wave—so thick and potent, it felt like something I could drown in. Pine and fire, sharpened to an unbearable intensity, swallowed me whole.
A tall figure appeared in the doorway.
Grant.
He wore nothing but a towel slung loosely at his waist. Droplets of water slid down the sharp ridges of his chest and abs, disappearing into the shadows along his hips. He’d clearly just taken a cold shower.
He leaned against the doorframe, as if using every ounce of strength just to stay upright. The dim hallway light cast deep shadows over his bronzed skin, turning every muscle into sculpted stone.
His dark hair clung wet to his forehead, and his green eyes—now burning with a terrifying, unnatural red—locked onto me with a savage intensity. He panted heavily, each breath a battle against some invisible beast inside him.
He didn’t look sick.
He looked like a volcano moments from eruption.
“Alpha…” Susan was the first to react. She put on a trembling, doe-eyed expression and rushed toward him, reaching out like a concerned lover. “Are you alright? Are you feeling unwell? Did this filthy girl… did she disturb you?”
She framed herself as both caring and victimized, tossing all the blame onto me.
But Grant didn’t spare her even a glance.
From the moment he appeared, his gaze passed straight through Susan, slicing through space and distance, locking onto me—still sprawled on the floor—as if I were the only thing in the world he could see.
Boom—
The moment our eyes met, I felt it.
The mate bond.
I felt his pain. His desire. And beneath all of that, a possessive hunger so raw and unrestrained, it nearly stole my breath away.
"Our mate!" Mia whimpered in my head, awestruck and submissive all at once.
“Alpha, don’t be fooled by her!” Susan’s voice sharpened with desperation and jealousy. She pointed at me, screeching, “She’s just a shameless Omega trying to take advantage—”
She never finished that sentence.
Because Grant moved.
He stood tall, and with him came a crushing wave of Alpha dominance that exploded outward. The sheer force of it slammed into Susan like a wall. Her words died in her throat. Her face turned ashen.
Grant’s eyes flicked from my face to my abdomen—where she’d kicked me—and then to the dent in the door behind me where I’d hit it.
Something in him… shattered.
A cold fury rose from him, more terrifying than any drugged lust. A rage that cut like ice and burned like fire.
“Alpha…” Susan trembled, still trying to speak.
He didn’t hear her.
He walked toward me.
Straight past her, as if she didn’t exist. A nuisance in his path.
He stopped in front of me, his tall frame casting me completely in shadow.
Then he reached out his hand.
For a split second, Susan’s face lit up with cruel hope—she thought he was going to punish me.
But his hand flashed past me—lightning fast—and clamped around Susan’s wrist just as she tried to grab me again.
“She is my mate,” he said.
His voice was raw, like gravel scraping steel. Every word dragged from deep in his throat, each syllable edged with warning—and death.
“And you think you can touch her?”
Susan’s face went blank. Horror replaced her pride. Her mouth fell open, but no sound came out.
Grant didn’t give her a chance.
With a single violent motion, he flung her aside.
“Get out.”
She screamed as her body slammed into the stair rail, then tumbled down the steps like a ragdoll.
And then—it was just the two of us.
Grant turned, slammed the oak door shut behind him with a heavy thud, cutting off the rest of the world.
He pulled a polished wolf fang, strung on a silver chain, from around his neck and hung it on the doorknob.
My heart jumped.
That was an Alpha’s token—his first milk tooth, a symbol of strength and power. Wherever the fang hung became sacred, untouchable. Not even the Elders could enter.
And he had used it to seal us inside—together.
He turned again, those crimson eyes locking onto mine as he slowly, deliberately, stepped toward me.
The air around us thickened with something dangerous—something magnetic. With each step he took, my breath caught. He was a caged beast who’d finally found the one thing that could set him free.
I pushed myself up from the floor, trying to back away—but there was nowhere to go. He cornered me, body scorching hot, pressing me into the cold wall behind.
He leaned in. His breath seared against my neck, sending uncontrollable shivers through me. My Wolf howled with joy. My reason melted.
His voice exploded in my ear, rough with pain and desperate longing.
“I was drugged,” he growled, lips burning against my ear. “And you… you’re the only cure.”
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