Chapter 1 – Piper Harper and Alpha Bradley Novel

Piper sobbed softly out in the middle of the woods, it was all too much to handle nowadays, it was time to leave her home pack here in Montana. She could no longer take the pain of his betrayal anymore. Not that her Alpha, Alpha Bradley of the Black Haven Pack, knew that it hurt her, every time that he was with another. He had no idea who she was to him.

She however had scented him out 3 years ago, at the age of 18. On the first full moon after her 18th birthday. Had felt pain almost instantly, and not because he’d been with another at the time, but because he’d not scented her, not recognized her as his Mate. He had bumped right into her that day even.

Piper and her wolf Harper were more than nervous tracking his perfect woodsy scent through the pack-house it had a hint of blackberry, had led them all the way to him, she had been standing right behind him, only half a foot away, he was taller than she was by a long way he stood 6 foot 4 inches and was all muscled up, he’d been wearing faded blue jeans and a dark purple tee-shirt that day, his dark brown hair had been a little messy.

Alpha Bradley had been talking on his phone that day, and when he had turned around, had run right into her, his deep blue eyes with those flecks of green in them, had turned right on her and then he’d frowned right down at her, she was only 5 foot 6, he’d towered over her. There had been no recognition in his eyes at all “Don’t stand so close girl.” he casually stated and then had stepped around her and just walked away from her, and her heart had broken.

Harper had howled in pain inside of her mind. They’d known what he was to them, but he had no idea.

It was what she and her wolf had always feared, all her life even after gaining Harper, even since she was little, had lost her parents to a rogue attack at the age of 10, and no-one here seemed to notice her after her parents’ death, no-one seemed to know who she was, it was like she just didn’t exist.

That had been her life, though she had attended school here in the packs small K1 to year 12 school, and had graduated with good marks, people were always bumping into her and telling her to watch her step. No-one knew she was there, invisible to the entire pack is what it felt like, unless someone was looking directly at her, and she knew why.

She had no scent.

Though she could smell every one of them, no-one could smell her, she had gotten a job and worked long quiet hours, tucked away in the back room of a dress making store inside the pack. She’d loved to learn how to design and create beautiful dresses.

Even a lot of the packs she-wolfs wore her dresses to the pack’s events and mating balls. To their 16th and 18th birthday celebrations. She how ever did not, she lived alone away from the pack out in a tiny cabin away from everyone so that they would not hear her sobs and distress as she put up with the pains of betrayal.

The first time she had felt him with another, she and Harper had howled in pain and run away deep into the woods, found that tiny cabin no longer in use, and curled up into a ball had stayed there in agony till he’d stopped being with another. Then had just stayed there for a whole day unable to go back to the pack. Their pain would have been for all to see if anyone saw her that was.

There was nothing they could do about it. It had hurt like nothing she’d ever felt before, and continued to do so right to this day, and to hide their pains they had hidden themselves away unable to tell him, what he was to them.

She knew he would never believe her, only if he scented her out would he recognize her as his Mate.

She and Harper both knew this, and they both knew he was never going to be able to do that either. The pains were worse when he was away from the pack, mating some other she-wolf in another pack. Did not hurt her any less than the one she-wolf here in the pack he bedded on a regular basis.

3 long years she’d had to suffer now, 3 long years she’d walked the halls of the pack-house, came across him, and not once did he pay her the slightest bit of attention and when he did bump into her as did so many others, because they couldn’t smell that she was right there, he would just frown down at her, either apologize or ask her to move out of the way, and just move on. Had occasionally snapped at her all angry to watch where the hell she was going.

For 2 years she slipped into his bedroom when he wasn’t here in the pack, looked at his things, touched his clothes, felt hot tears slide down her cheeks for the man that was her Mate. The man that had never once scented her out. The man that she and Harper loved, but would never love them.

Had even slept curled up in his bed, not that he’d ever known it. No scent of her remained, she could wander at will anywhere she liked, left no trail at all, had even sat in his Alpha’s chair once, touched his desk and wondered what it would be like to be his Luna.

Tonight, he had been with another, she knew who. He had one regular girl here inside the pack Bianca, she was older like he was, a warrior, highly ranked. She’d seen them together chatting and flirting on occasion. Seen the way he looked at her body, even that hurt too. He desired Bianca, she was tall and very fit, all muscle, he like that about her.

Piper had once been fit like that, not tall but very fit, and had been strong too. But the past 3 years had drained her, she was thin now, always had dark circles under her eyes and looked quite frail.

The small amount of joy she had taken from training as a warrior, to try and make her parents proud, they had been warriors, that joy of being a good fighter not that she had been old enough to go out and fight, had dwindled to nothing once she’d turned 18. she was barely a shell of her former self now.

She stayed away from all pack events, just worked in the small back room of the store, surrounded by materials and designs to be created. Orders to be filled. Her only solace, that she could create something so beautiful amidst her own misery.

Harper was a ball of sadness and pain, they could not take anymore, they had to leave, it was killing them, and she knew it. Bradley was going away on some Alpha meeting or some pack business in just two days and so that is when she was going to say goodbye and leave.

She had no idea if she could reject her Mate without him being there or knowing what she was to him for that matter. But that was what she was going to do, had to try it anyway it was all they could do.

Piper figured if he had no idea who she was for the past 3 years then why would he need to be there to hear her rejection, it was likely only going to cause her pain anyway, he would feel nothing because he knew nothing. Then once the full moon came and went after that rejection surely it would be official and severed completely by the moon goddess herself or at least she was hoping that’s how it worked.

She and Harper had put themselves in front of him many times, they had no choice left to them, they were nothing to him, never would be and they knew it. 3 full years and nothing not once had he so much as twitched a nose at her presence.

So, no more would she put herself or her wolf through that. They had enough money saved up to go out into the human world and make a living for themselves, she had good skills in fashion and design, though she mostly made dresses, there were millions of humans in need of wedding dresses. The equivalent to a Luna Ceremony Gown.

Spent the next 2 days in the pack-house library, looking at places she could go, her mind made up. She was not even going to look at him one last time, there was no point. Sat at a computer one hand on the mouse scrolling through places that were well away from the pack, away from forests and where packs could well be.

She maybe a wolf, but didn’t feel like one, was just invisible mostly.

Her other hand was on the Blue Azure Crystal Pendulum drop necklace that hung around her neck, it had a white gold chain that was fine and felt warm against her skin all the time and had white gold casing to hold the crystal itself and a smaller blue azure crystal ball right above the casing that attached to the chain.

It had been her mothers, she told her that one day she would get her daughter one too, a gift for her 16th birthday, and they would have matching mother daughter jewelry. But Piper had only been 10 when she had lost both her parents. She’d never taken it off, it was the only thing she had left of her, had found it on her body when the attack had been over and had retrieved it as her only heirloom.

She and Harper were at the point where they might as well live as human, no wolf would ever smell her, and she would remain Mate-less from the moment she rejected him. They were already resigned to that fact. Found a nice city several states away Harper didn’t care that there was no forest nearby. She had not shifted to her wolf in over a year now, couldn’t it seemed or perhaps just no longer wanted to. So she was fine with a city, didn’t want to be in the woods, didn’t want to run and be free, didn’t seem to care at all anymore about being a wolf herself.

Found and booked a flight out there, a hotel for somewhere to stay while they found a small apartment and sorted out their business that they were going to create. They would die and wither away, no more. They would become strong from this, live a human life from now on. Then they went back to their cabin in the woods by the southern border of the pack, and had just stayed there. They could see the packs gates with the use of a set of binoculars from the roof of her cabin.

Sat and watched and waited for his car to leave, not that hard to spot, it was white, unlike most of the other pack cars that were black or silver, he drove a white Mercedes SUV. Saw it leave and grabbed her hiking backpack, it was full of her belongings.

Living a simple life meant not much to pack, her whole life fitted in that one backpack it was large and designed to be used for long hiking trips but even with her small, weakened stature she could manage it. Walked through the woods until the pack-house came into view, sighed heavily and headed for it.

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