Between Two Alphas: The Healer’s Revenge

CHAPTER 1

ELARA’S POV

“The Alpha’s pet is making a scene again,” a sharp voice whispered from behind the heavy oak door. “Seraphina is standing on the cliffs of Silver Falls. She’s threatening to shift and jump.”

The Silver Moon pack house was preparing to crown me Luna when the words reached me.

I went still before the mirror, my fingers tightening around the white fabric at my waist until the delicate lace wrinkled beneath my grip. My reflection stared back at me—a woman dressed for the future she'd spent five years praying for, fighting for, and sacrificing pieces of herself for.

Four times, Silas had walked away from our Ascension because Seraphina needed him.

Four times, I'd watched the dream of becoming his Luna slip through my fingers while telling myself there would be another chance.

Tonight was the fifth and final ritual. If Silas abandoned it again, I could never ascend as his Luna. The bond we already shared would destabilize under another failure, and there would be no sixth chance to repair what his decision had damaged. No tomorrow to cling to. No hope left to borrow.

And if he walked away again... this time, I wouldn't be waiting when he returned.

The lace of my white Luna gown suddenly felt like a bandage.

I had given those years to this pack as their head healer, stitching up shredded hides and pulling silver from warriors’ hearts. I had kept hoping that if I gave enough of my light, Silas would eventually make me his Luna.

Yet whenever Silas drew too close to me, whenever the pack began to acknowledge me as their future, Seraphina would find a new cliff to stand on or a new poison to swallow.

But today, Silas had promised it would be different.

I closed my eyes for the briefest moment.

‘Please,’ I prayed silently. ‘Don’t go. Just this once... choose me.’

“Let the scouts take care of it!” Silas’s voice carried through the balcony doors. “She has made this threat before. Send them to bring her down. I’m not abandoning the ritual again.”

I snapped my head toward the balcony.

The doors were ajar, and Silas’s growl carried clearly into the room.

My wolf, Nala, who had been pacing restlessly behind my ribs, let out a low, triumphant growl.

He pushed open the door and stepped inside, moonlight catching the silver embroidery on his black ceremonial leathers. He looked regal, and his scent of cedar and rain filled the room. When his icy blue eyes met mine, hope flared in my chest.

“Why are you staring, Elara?” he asked. “The elders have lit the pyres, and the pack is waiting. You’re going to ascend today. Don’t let one frightened report unsettle you.”

I reached out and ran my fingers along his cold leather sleeve.

“Silas...” I breathed. “Once the Great Wolf recognizes me as your Luna, promise me Seraphina will never come between us again.”

He stared at me for a moment, his face devoid of emotion.

Then he said, “Let’s go.”

The doors to the Great Hall swung open, and the pack erupted. Hundreds of wolves howled as one while we walked down the aisle. The sound should have lifted me. Instead, I swallowed. I had heard the same celebration at the beginning of every failed attempt.

I pushed down the familiar fear and held on to Silas’s arm until we reached the altar. The heat from the torches prickled my skin as we faced each other beneath the open roof, where the moon shone directly upon us.

The elders wore the same hesitation and pity I had seen at the four ceremonies before this one. By now, everyone knew this was the moment when one of Seraphina’s emergencies usually pulled Silas away.

Not this time.

I drew a deep breath.

“Members of Silver Moon, witness the Ascension,” the elder boomed. “By the blood of the Alpha and the vow of his mate, let the Great Wolf recognize your Luna.”

He lowered the ceremonial blade toward Silas’s palm.

My heart hammered against my ribs. This was it.

The tip of the blade was an inch from his skin when a sharp vibration cut through the silence.

The elder stopped and withdrew the blade. Silas looked at me once before reaching into his jacket and pulling out his phone.

My heart sank.

His phone was supposed to be switched off and in his Beta’s possession.

His nostrils flared as he listened. His body went rigid, and his open palm closed into a fist.

No.

No, no, no... this couldn’t be happening.

“I’ll be there,” he said before ending the call.

He was already moving when I caught his arm.

“Silas, no,” I pleaded. “The ritual has begun. If you leave now and don’t return before zenith, it’s over.”

“Seraphina shifted, Elara.” His voice carried the same panic I had heard every time before. “She hit the rocks. She’s dying.”

“Silas—”

“Keep the pack calm. I’ll be back before zenith.”

He pulled free from my grip and continued toward the doors.

No one spoke. Every gaze followed Silas toward the doors before returning to me.

I squeezed my eyes shut as tears burned behind them. Shame climbed my throat, but anger rose faster. He knew this was our final chance, yet he was willing to risk it again.

When he reached the doorway, I called after him.

“If you walk out now, Silas, I’m done.” My voice carried through the hall. “If you go to her now, there’s no coming back to me.”

He turned back.

“Duty comes before your temper, Elara.” His words were colder than his expression. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

Then he turned, broke into a run, and shifted before he reached the end of the corridor.

The silence held for several more seconds before whispers broke out across the hall. Some wolves looked at me with familiar pity. Others watched with open amusement.

The elder before me shook his head, his expression grim with sympathy.

Tears crowded my eyes despite my efforts to hold them back.

At that exact moment, the moon reached its zenith, and then the pain began.

It started as a dull pressure beneath my sternum. Then my spiritual core seized. Heat tore through my chest while cold swept over my skin, and sharp pain raced down both arms. I dropped to my knees on the altar, clutching my chest as my breath shortened.

‘Traitor!’ Nala snarled, throwing herself against the damaged bond.

The tether around my heart tightened with every pulse. My vision blurred, sensation drained from my fingers, and the voices around me faded into a distant murmur. Someone called my name, but I couldn’t answer.

I collapsed onto my back, fighting for air.

The last thing I saw before darkness took me was the full moon.