Toxic Love An Alpha’s Regret by Sapphire Ryan Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As Alpha, he married me only because he had to.

But I went ahead and fell in love with him.

What’s worse, I have only six months to live.

I don’t want to die. And I don’t want to fight.

But he won’t let me go…

“Didn’t your family come with you, Ms. Rathborn?”

I frown. I’m just getting a routine physical and some bloodwork. Why would I need someone to accompany me?

What’s more, family… what family do I have?

My mother died during the last pack war. My dad, in a bid for peace, pledged me to Alpha Aaron when I was thirteen. I left everything and everyone I knew and grew up in Aaron’s mansion.

Aaron was tolerant of me as a kid. He was even kind. I

resented him for tearing my family apart, but as I grew older, I

ve him as a female loves a man.

On my eighteenth birthday, we were married.

What should’ve been the greatest day of my life marked the

start of years of disappointment.

Aaron never wanted to marry me.

He only ever saw me as his enemy.

My wolf never manifested-and that might be the greatest travesty of all, because what good is a wolf who doesn’t have one?

I’ve been groomed and raised to be a luna. As Aaron’s wife, that’s what I should be. But who would ever follow me? A lowly human.

I won’t give up hope though.

My father is an Alpha. My mom came from a long, powerful line of wolves. Their pack ruled the southern region for centuries.

I have to believe that my wolf will surface. Someday.

Just like I have to believe that Aaron will one day love me.

It’s why I’m here. At a pack-sanctioned physician, but one

outside of Aaron’s packlands.

I’m getting a second opinion.

Because I want to have a baby.

And though Aaron claims me… without a wolf, he will never mate with me.

If I’m pregnant though, that will change everything.

“Doctor,” I say as he stares at me. “I didn’t know I needed to bring anyone. I’m just here for a checkup.”

I’m not quite sure what his expression is. Uncomfortable maybe? It’s a small community of shifters in these parts, maybe he’s worried Aaron will be angry that he’s treating me.

“I realize that I’m a bit slow to shift. And I’ve done the

research, there are examples of ‘late bloomers’ so to speak.

There is still a chance-”

Doctor Henley frowns. He slides a stack of papers across the

desk to me. “These are the results of your lab tests.”

I flip through the file, but I’m not sure what I’m seeing. I’ve

been dizzy lately, and a little nauseous.

My heart beat doubles. Joy spreads through me and my eyes fill with tears. “Did it happen? Am I pregnant?”

I can imagine a little boy with Aaron’s dark eyes. A little girl

with his perfect smile.

“Uh, no.” He tugs the collar of his shirt.

“Oh.”

I’m disappointed, but not entirely surprised. Wolves only enter

an estrus cycle once per year. And for that one week, Aaron

avoids me like the plague.

“Luna Leah,” he says softly, and I’m touched that he honors. me with the title. No one in Aaron’s pack does. “You … have

cancer.”

I hear the words but they don’t really compute.

I’m twenty-three.

Too young for a serious disease. And as a wolf… I wouldn’t get sick. I’d be able to regenerate.

“Perhaps this is why your wolf has never surfaced,” he says

quietly.

“W-what?”

“The cancer. You have an aggressive form of liver cancer. It likely metastasized from a different region. You’re in the

advanced stages now…”

I swear it’s like I’m hearing his words from someone else’s body. This can’t possibly be happening.

I lean forward. “Is this some kind of joke?”

I’ve lived among Aaron’s pack for a decade and I’m still an outsider. They think nothing of pranking me or making my life.

harder.

He closes the file and comes around the desk to sit in the chair adjacent to mine. He leans forward and clasps my hands. “This isn’t a joke. I’m sorry.”

There’s a clock on the wall somewhere in this office, and the loud, tick, tick, ticking makes me want to scream. I’m hearing

the seconds of my life pass away…

The doctor releases my hands. He looks uncomfortable again. His dark eyes flit around the room, landing anywhere but on

mine.

“Are you still paying the blood debt?” he asks.

I flush. Even though it’s common knowledge that I was pledged to Alpha Aaron, it’s still kind of embarrassing to literally be bled as a form of reparation for his pack’s

grievances.

“Yes.” I nod.

“How frequently?”

“Once a month. Aaron’s physician draws my blood.”

“Those offerings need to stop. You can’t afford to weaken your body further.”

My head is spinning.

Cancer.

Dying.

Blood.

“Surely, there is something we can do, right?”

“Leah, we deal with Pack health here. Largely, that entails patching up wounds and delivering babies. For the most part, wolves are incredibly healthy. We don’t succumb to things like cancer. You’ll need to seek treatments outside of this facility. And you’ll need to do it quickly.”