99 Times He Left Me Mid-Moon for a Fake Omega – The 100th? I Marked His Rival Alpha Chapter 17
“I’ve known I was Richard’s daughter this whole time.”
“Talk about unfair, right? She gets born with pure blood while I’m stuck being some bastard rogue. So I decided I’d steal you away and make her feel what it’s like to lose everything.”
“I thought it’d be hard, but damn, you were so easy. A few nights together and you were completely hooked, couldn’t get enough of me”
She twirled a strand of hair around her finger, looking at Finnian with pure mockery in her eyes.
He lunged forward, hands going for her throat.
The guards pulled them apart and dragged Morrigan back to her cell.
As she was being hauled away, she looked back over her shoulder:
“You’re gonna die alone and miserable.”
Those words became Finnian’s curse. Night after night, he’d wake up screaming, his wolf howling in agony inside his head.
Finnian searched everywhere for my burial site, but came up empty.
Finally, he had no choice but to shift and kneel outside the Shadowhowl territory gates in human form, begging Elara to tell him where I was laid to rest so he could at least pay his respects.
He knelt there for five days and nights, nearly dying on their doorstep, but the gates never opened.
After that, Finnian became a walking corpse. His wolf retreated so deep he couldn’t shift anymore. He developed severe depression, downing potions by the handful but never getting better-just wasting away.
He tried ending it several times, but they always managed to save him. Eventually, he kept himself alive just for Perrin’s sake, living in pure misery.
Ten years later.
In a hidden stronghold deep in the Frost Wastes, cheers erupted like a howl chorus as Order members embraced each other, some crying with relief.
“Mission’s almost done. We just need to escort the artifact out and we can finally go home.”
Thorne appeared beside me and took my hand.
“When we get back, want to spend the rest of our lives figuring out the whole mating bond thing together?”
I paused for a second, then laced our fingers together and kissed him instead of answering.
When I brought Thorne home, Mom’s teacup shattered on the stone floor.
“Lupa? Is that really you?”
Her lips were trembling, her aged hands hovering in the air like she was afraid I’d disappear if she touched me.
I dropped to my knees and grabbed her hands:
“Mom, I’m home!”
The next second, she slapped me hard across the face.
“You little brat! Do you have any idea what these ten years have been like for me?”
Thorne quietly handed her a cloth. Mom looked at him, immediately understanding, and pulled both of us into her arms
A week later, Mom hosted our Mating Ceremony at the Shadowhowl packhouse, inviting just a handful of close pack and family
We were halfway through our bonding vows when the doors burst open. Finnian came charging in wearing formal ceremonial robes.
“Lupa, I knew you weren’t dead!”
He’d been having the territory watched this whole time, so he’d caught wind of what was happening.
He dropped to one knee in front of me.
“Lupa, I’ve been trying to make up for everything every single day. I know I screwed up-please forgive me.”
Thorne tensed up, so I kissed his cheek to calm him down. Finnian’s face went white.
“Thorne and I are already bonded. Don’t come around anymore.”
“How could you bond with HIM? I thought you loved me!”
His voice cracked with disbelief, his wolf’s anguish bleeding through.
Hearing that entitled bullshit, I smiled coldly.
“I stopped loving you a long time ago. Morrigan was your registered mate anyway, Alpha Darkfang Please leave.”
“I severed the bond with her! I was an idiot-Perrin even lost a finger because of that psycho. He misses you so much. Don’t you care about him at all?”
My breath caught thinking about the pup I’d raised, then I remembered how he’d looked at me at those youth trials.
“People pay for their choices. Besides, I was never his real mom anyway.”
All the color drained from Finnian’s face. Pack enforcers moved to throw him out, but he pulled out a silver blade and pressed it to his own throat.
“I messed up so bad, Lupa. I can’t live without you!”
I watched this pathetic display with disgust.
“You seemed pretty happy with Morrigan back then. Didn’t need me-so why the dramatic act now?”
Seeing the revulsion in my eyes, he finally got it. I was completely done with him.
Finnian dropped the blade and left in defeat, his wolf’s broken howl echoing through the bond one last time before I felt it sever completely.
Much later, on a warm afternoon, my phone lit up silently.
“Finnian died during a depressive episode. His wolf and human consciousness tore each other apart until neither could survive.”
I stared at the message for maybe two seconds, then turned off my phone.
Thorne pulled me closer in his sleep. I snuggled into his arms.
Looking at the brilliant sunshine streaming through our den window, I’d never felt happier in my life.
