Alpha's Regret The Luna He Left Behind novel Chapter 1

Genevieve’s Story: Chapter 1

I woke up to a circle of pack healers standing over me.

Nobody was smiling.

“Ms. Sterling.” The one closest to me said. “Your lungs sustained severe burn damage.” He paused. “And your wolf…has gone silent.”

My fingers tightened around the sheet.

“For how long?” I asked.

The doctor looked away. “Permanently.”

I let that land. The last thing I remembered was the heat, my adopted sister Serena’s whimper-“Sebastian../my heart…“—and my chosen mate Sebastian, Alpha heir of Blackthorne Pack, peeling my bleeding fingers off his sleeve one by one.

“Serena’s heart is weak, Genevieve. You’re Alpha–blood. You can wait.”

I’d watched him carry Serena out of the smoke while my own lungs filled with it. Then everything had gone black.

Apparently, Alpha–blood could wait through a lot.

Then the doctor gave me the final blow.

“You have a month. Maybe less.”

I looked around the room. Empty. Not a single familiar face.

“Does my family know I’m awake?” I asked.

The doctor hesitated just long enough to tell me everything. “They’re… in

Silence swallowed the space between us.

I nodded once. “Keep this between us.”

He looked at me.

“All of it?” he asked quietly.

your

“My wolf is gone. They can know that.” My voice didn’t shake. “The thirty days stay between us.”

After they filed out, I pulled out my phone and called the final arrangements service. Scheduled everything for thirty days out. My voice didn’t shake. My hands didn’t either.

I’d barely set the phone down when the door swung open.

Sebastian Hartwell walked in.

Six–foot–three of muscle and ice–blue eyes, scanning me like he was checking off a box. “You’re up,” he said. “Good How are you feeling?”

I didn’t answer that.

“Genevieve.” He exhaled. “The wedding date is close. You know the Blackthorne succession is tied to the heir having a recognized Luna”

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< Genevieves

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He clasped his hands in front of him. Like he was about to deliver a business proposal.

“But given your current condition… without your wolf, you’re not fit to stand beside me as Luna.”

My chest tightened. Not from shock. Just from hearing him say it out loud, so cleanly, like it cost him nothing.

“For the sake of both packs,” he continued, “we’ve decided Serena will take your place.”

“We?” My voice came out flat.

“Your parents agreed. Derek too.”

I turned my head toward the doorway.

They were already there. Mom, Dad, my brother Derek. Standing just past the threshold, watching through the gap like they were afraid to come in all the way.

Diane Sterling, my mother, Luna of Silvercrest Pack.

Russell Sterling, my father, my Alpha.

Derek, my brother, our pack’s future Beta.

I turned back to Sebastian.

“The only reason I’m in this bed,” I started, “is because of-”

His hand closed over mine. Firm. Practiced.

“Don’t do this, Genevieve.” His voice dropped. “Serena has a heart condition. You know that. Last time she rode a roller coaster, she ended up in the ER.” He paused. “It was a car accident. If I hadn’t pulled her out, she would’ve died. You got burned, but you survived.”

I survived.

Right.

Thirty days, give or take.

He knew my wolf was gone.

He didn’t know I was dying.

I pulled my hand back and stared at the ceiling.

“Fine,” I said. “Do whatever you want.”

Sebastian let out a slow breath, relief loosening his shoulders. He turned and waved the others in.

Mom crossed the room toward Dad, wearing a little smile I hadn’t seen her aim at me in years.

“See?” she said. “I told you she’d come around. She’s not as difficult as she used to be.”

Derek laughed from the doorway. “Relax. Serena’s easygoing. She won’t even mind if Genevieve ends up staying around after the wedding.”

Sebastian’s jaw went tight. “Enough. Once Genevieve recovers, things go back to how they were.”

Their voices kept going.

Pack reputation The Blackthorne council. Serena’s condition. My missing wolf.

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< Genevieves

I stopped listening. I pulled the blanket up over my shoulders and closed my eyes.

When you have thirty days left, a lot of things stop mattering.

A chosen Alpha mate. A family. A pack.

A future that was never really yours to begin with.

If Serena Sterling wanted them, she could have all of it.

I couldn’t take any of it with me anyway.

Over the next few days, I organized everything.

Every account. Every asset. I put Serena’s name on all of it.

Ten million dollars. The money I’d made selling my paintings in secret, one canvas at a time, over years./

Dead weight now. Paper with numbers on it.

When Sebastian came to pick me up from Crestview Med

ter, Serena was already in the passenger seat.

I handed her the transfer documents through the window before I even got in the car.

She unfolded them and went still.

“Ten million dollars?” Her eyes went huge. “Genevieve, how did you even–She looked up. “And you’re just… giving it to me?”

“Consider it a wedding gift,” I said.

Sebastian’s grip went white–knuckled on the steering wheel. “That’s not-”

ed the papers to her chest and beamed. “Thank you, Genevieve, seriously.” e entire drive, smoothing them against her lap like they might disappear.

eastian didn’t say another word.

The car stopped.

I looked out the window.

Not the Silvercrest estate.

A bridal boutique.

Of course.

Today was the day they were picking out Serena’s custom bridal gown.

The gown

she would wear when Blackthorne Pack recognized her as Sebastian’s future Luna. Serena hopped out, then turned back with a bright smile. “It won’t take long, I promise.” “Take all the time you need,” I said.

I wheeled myself through the front door ahead of them.

Inside, while Serena was behind the fitting room curtain, Sebastian appeared at my side.

“Are you doing this on purpose?” he asked, voice low. “To make me feel guilty? I’ve told you, Genevieve. Once

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< Genevieve’s

you’re better, the title of Luna-”

“You’re reading into it.” I cut him off. “I’m just tired.”

He opened his mouth.

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“Sebastian.” Serena’s voice floated out from behind the curtain, carrying just enough of a pout. “I’ve tried on so many and none of them are right.”

I waved the manager over and told him quietly to bring out the gown from storage.

My gown.

The one I’d spent a month designing. Every bead was placed by hand. Every seam was chosen like it mattered, because back then, it had.

The manager carried it out.

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