Chapter 12: The Alpha Who Lost Everything

Damien's POV

The moment the Head Elder told me Isla had initiated the Severing Ritual, something inside me went completely silent.

I couldn't breathe.

I couldn't think.

For five years, that bond had been a part of me.

Even when Isla was angry, even when she pushed me away, I could always feel her presence somewhere inside my soul.

Now there was nothing.

Only an unbearable emptiness.

"Where is she?" I demanded.

The Head Elder looked at me with pity.

"She's gone."

"Gone where?"

"Europe. The Laurel Healers' Guild accepted her into their research program."

My blood ran cold.

She had actually left.

Without saying goodbye.

Without waiting for me.

Without looking back.

I turned toward the altar, where the guests were still staring at me.

The ceremony decorations I had ordered weeks ago suddenly looked ridiculous.

White flowers.

Sacred candles.

A throne prepared for my future Luna.

Everything had been arranged for Isla.

And she was nowhere here.

I had spent the past month telling myself that she would eventually understand.

That once Seraphina was safe, everything would return to normal.

That Isla would forgive me because we were fated mates.

I had been so certain she would always be waiting for me.

I was wrong.

My phone suddenly rang.

It was the pack healer.

"Alpha, you need to come to the infirmary immediately."

"What happened?"

"It's Seraphina."

I rushed there.

Seraphina was sitting on the examination bed, her face pale and frightened.

"Damien," she whispered. "Something is wrong with the pup."

I immediately went to her side.

"What's wrong?"

The healer looked uncomfortable.

"We repeated the pregnancy tests."

He placed several reports on the table.

"The results don't match the previous records."

My eyes narrowed.

"Explain."

"The original report stated that Seraphina was six weeks pregnant when she first showed symptoms."

He swallowed hard.

"But according to the new bloodwork, she was already pregnant before the first marking ceremony."

The room went silent.

I looked at Seraphina.

Her eyes immediately filled with tears.

"That's impossible," she whispered.

"Is it?" I asked coldly.

She lowered her head.

For the first time, I noticed something I had ignored for weeks.

Fear.

Not the fear of losing a child.

The fear of being exposed.

"There is another issue," the healer continued.

"We found traces of an ancient fertility compound in her blood. It can cause symptoms similar to Moon Sickness."

My heart stopped.

Moon Sickness.

The disease I had used to justify everything.

The disease that had supposedly forced me to mark her.

"Are you saying she was never dying?"

The healer didn't answer immediately.

"I'm saying the evidence doesn't support the original diagnosis."

I stared at Seraphina.

"Who gave you the fertility compound?"

"I don't know."

Her voice trembled.

"I swear, Damien, I never wanted to deceive you."

"Then why did you give me that medical report?"

"Because I was scared!" she cried.

"You said you would save me. I thought I was going to die!"

Her tears fell freely.

Normally, I would have comforted her.

This time, I couldn't.

Because one sentence kept repeating in my head.

Six weeks pregnant.

Before the marking.

Before the excuse.

Before Isla.

I remembered Isla standing in front of me, her eyes filled with disbelief.

I remembered her asking whether I even needed her permission anymore.

I remembered telling her she should be on my side.

And the worst part was that she had been right.

I had betrayed her before I ever asked her to forgive me.

I left the infirmary without saying another word.

On the way back to the Pack House, I ordered the guards to investigate every medical record connected to Seraphina.

Within an hour, they found something even worse.

The original medical file had been accessed and altered twice.

Both times, the access came from the private terminal of a healer who worked directly under Seraphina's sponsor.

Then another report arrived.

The fertility compound had been purchased three months earlier.

The buyer's name was hidden behind a private account.

But the payment trail led to one of Seraphina's relatives.

I stared at the documents until the words blurred.

She had lied.

And I had destroyed my bond with Isla because I believed her.

I picked up my phone and opened Isla's contact.

My thumb hovered over her name.

I wanted to call her.

I wanted to tell her everything.

I wanted to hear her voice, even if she screamed at me.

But what could I possibly say?

I'm sorry?

I didn't know?

I was trying to save someone?

None of it mattered anymore.

She had given me five years of her life.

And I had treated her love like something that would never run out.

I finally pressed call.

The line rang once.

Then a cold automated voice answered.

"The number you are trying to reach is unavailable."

I lowered the phone slowly.

For the first time in my life, I understood what it meant to truly lose someone.

Not because death had taken them.

But because they had finally chosen to walk away from you.

I looked out the window at the dark mountains surrounding the territory.

Isla was somewhere beyond those mountains.

Building a new life.

Without me.

And I had no right to stop her.

Behind me, the door opened.

The Head Elder entered with a sealed document.

"Alpha, there is one more matter."

"What is it?"

He placed the document on my desk.

"The Council has reviewed the Severing Ritual."

I opened it.

My eyes stopped on the final line.

"Isla Harper has formally renounced all claims to the Luna position."

My fingers tightened around the paper.

She hadn't just rejected me.

She had rejected the life I had planned for her.

And somehow, that hurt more than the severing itself.

The Head Elder looked at me gravely.

"Alpha Damien, the Council is asking whether you still intend to recognize Seraphina as your mate."

I slowly raised my eyes.

For the first time, I knew my answer.

"No."

The word echoed through the room.

"I don't recognize her as my mate."

Because the woman I had once called my Luna was already gone.

And I was finally beginning to understand that I had been the one who drove her away.