The Alpha forbidden cure

"Do you know what my only goal is tonight, Ava?" my cousin Maya asked, catching my eye in the mirror as she carefully dragged a glossy red lipstick across her bottom lip. "The second I step through those doors, I'm locking eyes with a rich, decent Alpha driving a gold SUV. Honestly, it's the only way to survive this pack's endless, caveman bullshit."

I yanked on the laces of my dress, silently cursing whoever invented this torturous, suffocating corset.

"Don't be dramatic," Maya snapped, rolling her eyes in the reflection. "Tonight is Ethan's leadership ball. He's the pack's new Alpha. You're supposed to stand beside him looking like a proper, dignified female. The entire pack is going to be watching you."

I sighed and stayed quiet. The annual Mating Ball... Ethan... He was the new leader now. Even though he was arrogant, stubborn, and rough around the edges, everyone had been whispering since we were kids that we were destined to mate. Tradition dictated it, it felt like an inescapable fate, and I had basically grown up accepting it.

But a hidden corner of my mind couldn't stop wandering back to the envelope tucked under my bed: my acceptance letter to medical school in New York. God, I thought, smoothing down the skirts of my dress. If only I had a chance to leave. If only I could swap this whole furry pack drama for a white lab coat. But being an Alpha's destined mate meant burying that dream for good. So I had long stopped holding out hope and pretended to accept my fate.

"Alright, if you're ready, let's go," Maya said, grabbing her clutch. "My parents are already downstairs."

When we stepped into the grand hall, the place was a total circus. Bright lights, flowing champagne, high-ranking wolves walking around like peacocks... My parents stood right beside me, taking in the scene with smug pride. My mother leaned closer and gently straightened the collar of my dress.

"Stand a little taller," she whispered. "By tomorrow, everyone in this pack will be calling you Luna."

My father adjusted the cufflinks on his suit with obvious satisfaction.

"Richard finally gets the council seat," one of the elders nearby said with a grin.

"It's well deserved," another replied. "Once Ethan announces the bond, their family will become one of the most influential in the pack."

My mother couldn't hide her smile.

"I've waited years for this day."

None of them asked if I was happy.

None of them asked whether I wanted this life.

I swallowed the bitter feeling rising in my throat and forced myself to smile.

Just a few more minutes...

Music swelled through the ballroom as couples drifted onto the dance floor. Around me, wolves whispered excitedly about the announcement that was only minutes away.

"They're perfect together.The Moon Goddess couldn't have chosen a stronger pair."

I caught fragments of every conversation as they floated past me. Each word tightened the invisible rope already wrapped around my chest. I smiled politely whenever someone congratulated me, all while silently counting down the minutes until this ceremony was over.

Then Ethan walked toward me with slow, deliberate steps, his eyes locked onto mine. Something in his dark gaze tonight felt wrong distant, almost calculating.

"You look beautiful, Ava."

"Thank you, that's sweet," I managed, forcing a smile, though a sudden chill crept down my spine.

Suddenly, the chatter in the room cut out completely. Ethan took the stage. Wrapped in his heavy Alpha cloak, he stood rigid, arrogant, and unreachable as always. He leaned into the microphone, let his gaze sweep over the crowd, and spoke in that command-heavy tone of his.

"Valued members of my pack," he began, his voice echoing off the high stone walls. "As you know, tonight marks my official first night as your leader, and I am meant to announce my mate's bond. However... for the future of our pack, the continuation of our bloodlines, and the security of our borders... I reject my mate's bond with Ava. I declare Chloe, daughter of the North Clan's head warrior, as my Luna and the new Alpha female of this pack."

A dead silence fell over the room, so thick that seconds dragged like hours. As Chloe walked up to the stage with a triumphant smirk to join Ethan, hundreds of shocked, pitying eyes swung toward a single target: me.

"Oh my God..." I whispered, clapping my hands over my mouth.

My eyes went wide, and I forgot to breathe for a second. Wait. Did that actually just happen? Is this mating really off?

Ethan had just rejected me in front of the entire pack. Honestly, the betrayal from a guy I'd trusted since childhood stung, but he'd also just handed me my lifelong dream of freedom on a silver platter. I forced a crushed, heartbroken expression onto my face, making sure my bruised pride was on full display. But in the back of my mind, a door that had been locked for years was suddenly swinging wide open.

Ethan walked right past me. He paused for a fraction of a second, not even looking at my shoulder, and muttered low... For one impossible second, I thought he was going to apologize.

Or at least look me in the eyes.

Instead, he walked past me as if I were already part of his past.

"Don't take it personally. The pack's future mattered more than you."

I feigned a lump in my throat and hung my head. Anyone watching would think my trembling lips were from devastation, but I was actually struggling not to crack a smile. Ethan walked off thinking he'd made a ruthless power play, completely oblivious to the fact that he'd just handed me the greatest gift of my life.

"Move, Ava," my dad barked quietly, his voice barely a whisper but freezing cold. He didn't hug me, didn't ask if I was okay nothing. He just kept his face turned away from the surrounding tables. "Everyone is staring. We're walking out quietly."

My mother didn't say a word either. She just gripped her purse until her knuckles turned white and stared at the floor. The precious social standing they'd craved so badly in this pack was instantly destroyed.

As we got up and headed toward the exit, Maya and a few other pack girls immediately blocked our path. I could practically smell the fake, performative sympathy oozing off them.

"Ava.Oh my god, we can't believe it. Are you okay, sweetie?" Maya asked, laying a hand on my shoulder. "What are you going to do now? I mean, staying in the pack as a rejected female..."

"I'm just... in shock," I lied, letting my voice quiver pitifully. "There's nothing I can do... I was rejected. Since I clearly don't have a future in the pack anymore, I guess I'll just go finish my education. At least med school is still an option for me."

I played it off like retreating to med school was my pathetic consolation prize. Under the heavy, pitying stares of Maya and the girls, I played the humiliated victim all the way out the doors.

Neither of my parents said a single word on the walk back home. The moment we stepped through the front door, my father stopped, exhaled sharply without even turning around, and spat out, "Go to your room, Ava."

"So I'm the problem here, is that it?" I asked, putting on a broken, hurt voice as I looked back and forth between them. "Ethan publicly humiliated me in front of the entire pack, and all you care about is your damn status. If being a rejected female brings you so much shame, then fine I won't stay here another day. I won't be a burden to this pack anymore. I'm leaving tomorrow for New York to finish my medical degree. I'm going up to pack my bags."

As I turned and headed up the stairs, my heart was practically racing with excitement. Playing the victim was the ultimate cover story it gave me a clean break from the pack without anyone asking questions.

Sure, I can't say Ethan's rejection didn't sting at all; in the werewolf world, public rejection is about the biggest humiliation you can suffer. But what hurt the most wasn't Ethan. It was my parents leaving me out to dry without a second thought.

Pulling my large suitcase out from under the bed, I glanced over at the letter sitting on my desk: my acceptance letter to medical school in New York. Ethan might have broken my heart a little, but in doing so, he shattered the heavy chains this pack had wrapped around me. My white lab coat was waiting for me.

Two days later, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, I grabbed my suitcase. My hand was right on the doorknob when my mother's voice called out from behind me: "Leave the keys on the table."

I dropped the keys onto the wood, shut the door quietly behind me, and walked toward the massive iron gates at the pack border. The border guards took one look at me pitying the poor, pathetic rejected girl and pulled the gate open.

The second my feet hit the cold asphalt past the boundary, it felt like a whisper of a completely new life. I turned around and took one last look at that dark, gloomy forest.

Nobody knew it yet maybe I didn't even fully realize it myself back then but that rejection wasn't the end of my life.

It was the moment it actually began.