Bought By The Rogue Alpha

~~Imogene's POV~~

“A cursed child!”

“She should have been the one who went missing!”

“Better still, she should have been the one who died.”

The words ripped through the quiet veil of my sleep, dragging me into consciousness. I shot up, heart pounding, breath catching like I had been drowning in my own nightmare. But this wasn’t just a dream. It was a memory, replayed so often that even my dreams had memorized it.

I closed my eyes again, just for a moment, hoping maybe I could push it all back. But the words had already sunk into me like splinters under skin—sharp, painful, impossible to remove. They were the voices of my people. My pack. My so-called family. No matter how many sunrises passed, they never let me forget.

The stainless steel cup sat on the nightstand, cool to the touch as I picked it up. I reached for the pills I’d been prescribed, something to help the migraines that plagued me like shadows.

I paused, pill halfway to my lips, then slowly put it back down. I had promised myself not to use it anymore. Just water today. Let the pain stay. Maybe it’s the only thing that reminds me I’m still alive.

I took a slow sip and stared out at the dusky morning light trickling through the window. I should’ve been numb by now, right? After twenty years of being the unwanted daughter, the cursed twin, the one whose very birth spelled death for someone else. But no. The words still stung. They still echoed. And it still made me bleed inside.

My name is Imogene. Firstborn daughter of Alpha Ronin of the Moonclaw Pack. Except, no one treats me like a daughter. Not really. I was born minutes after my twin brother, Malakai. Minutes. That’s all it took for everything to go wrong.

He was born perfect. I was born in blood and screams. My mother died birthing me, those few final moments of her life snuffed out by my arrival. My father had been in the room. He saw it all. And from that day, I wasn’t a child to him; I was the killer of his mate.

Malakai was everything I wasn’t. Bright. Loved. Celebrated. By the age of seven, he had shifted. A beautiful, strong wolf. The entire pack adored him, and he adored me, at least back then. He was the only one who didn’t look at me like I was filth. He used to sneak me extra desserts, sit beside me when others walked away, and whisper jokes that made me laugh.

But that ended too.

At fourteen, the Moonclaw pack was ambushed. A savage raid from a rival clan shattered the peace we knew. There was fire. Screams. Blood. In the chaos, Malakai was taken. One moment he was there beside me, the next, gone. No trace. No trail.

They searched for months. My father nearly burned through half the forest looking for him. But in the end, the search parties stopped. The prayers ceased. And the blame? It settled right back on me.

“Should have been you,” they whispered. “Always you.”

I blinked away the sting in my eyes and glanced to the right.

Damian lay beside me, chest rising and falling in the slow rhythm of sleep. My husband. My rock, I told myself on days I felt like shattering. He looked peaceful like this. Gentle. Trusting. Unaware of the thoughts that troubled me.

He is the son of the Beta of the pack, who presides over the high council, and has been by my side since two years ago, when my father’s failing health forced him to relinquish leadership to me, and at that time I also got married to Damian. We weren’t fated mates, but we loved each other. I was just eighteen. Too young, too hated, too wrong in the eyes of the pack. But tradition held tight: the firstborn child of the Alpha takes the mantle, especially when the other heir is lost to silence.

They grumbled. Fought it. Some even protested.

But in the end, they had no choice.

Imogene, the cursed one, became She-Alpha of Moonclaw.

They followed me. Not out of love, but law.

And I led them. Not out of pride, but because I had to.

Even now, after two years, I could still feel their eyes like knives in my back. They never called me Alpha with reverence. Never bowed with respect. I wore the title, yes, but they had brought my worth down to scraps long ago.

Still, I ruled.

Because someone had to.

He stirred slightly, his face brushing against the pillow, and I smiled faintly. I reached to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear, but the nausea hit before I could touch him.

I barely made it to the bathroom before everything came back up.

The retching must’ve woken him. I heard the covers shift and felt the thud of feet hitting the floor. A moment later, he was by the door.

“Immy?” he called softly. “Are you okay?”

I wiped my mouth and nodded quickly, not turning to meet his eyes. “Yeah. Just something I ate.”

“You barely ate yesterday.”

He was right. My appetite had been missing for days now. But still, I waved him off. “Probably stress. I’ll be fine.”

At that moment, Vivian entered, my stepsister and, oddly, one of the few people who didn’t treat me like the plague. My father had gotten remarried to a single mom of one after Malakai’s disappearance. He was seeking comfort to deal with the loss and he chose to seek that comfort from a stranger rather than his own daughter who was right there with arms stretched wide open.

Vivian’s face scrunched with concern the second she saw me.

“Imogene! What happened? Are you sick?”

“I’m okay; it’s nothing serious.”

“It’s not nothing if you’re throwing up,” she said, folding her arms. “You need to see the pack doctor.”

Damian stepped in. “She hasn’t been eating. I’ve noticed. Even before yesterday.”

I frowned at both of them. “You two are acting like I’m pregnant or something.”

A half-laugh slipped out of me, dry and bitter. The irony of it hit harder than I expected. We’ve been trying to get pregnant for two years now. Trying. Hoping. Praying. And every time, the moon was silent.

“I’ll go,” I said finally. “Just to shut you both up.”

They smiled, relieved.

But I didn’t miss the way Damian looked away when I mentioned pregnancy. Didn’t miss how his eyes darted to the floor. I chalked it up to discomfort. Men were weird about that stuff.

Or so I thought.

The clinic smelled like pine-scented sanitizer. The nurse gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and led me to the back. It was routine. Blood tests. Vital signs. And then a urine sample.

I sat on the examination table, kicking my heels like a nervous child.

When the doctor returned, his face was unreadable.

“Imogene,” he said, holding up the chart. “You’re pregnant.”

The words knocked the breath from my lungs. I stared at him, then blinked hard.

“Wh-what?”

He repeated it. Patiently. Kindly. Like I might shatter if he said it too loud.

I wasn’t sure what emotion came first. Disbelief? Relief? Joy?

Tears welled in my eyes. I hadn’t expected this. Not now. Not ever. I had stopped hoping. And yet here it was, a tiny heartbeat forming inside me. A miracle, growing where only curses once lived.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you.”

I left the clinic with a heart lighter than it had ever felt. The sky seemed clearer. The trees are greener. I had to tell Damian. He would be thrilled. We would finally have a child. A family.

Getting home, I didn't go straight to our room; I took a detour instead.

My father’s room.

He was being treated there. Bedridden and bitter. But I thought maybe, just maybe, this news would melt some of the frost that coated his heart. Maybe he’d be happy. Maybe he’d smile.

I wanted that smile more than I cared to admit.

I had made him lose his mate and lose a son, but maybe with this child, I could help undo half of what I did. Maybe knowing his generation would live on would make him say he was proud of me for the first time in his life.

I walked in quietly. The guards stationed at the hallway leading to his room greeted me with a nod as I entered. Everywhere was quiet except for a maid snipping at the flowers blooming from the vases near the window. On seeing me, her eyes grew wide with an expression I couldn't quite fathom; she turned and curtsied, and I acknowledged her with a nod before walking up the stairs.

The hallway to his room was dim. Familiar. I paused at the door to his room. And that’s when I heard it.

Moaning.

Guttural. Rhythmic. Unmistakable.

Confused, I pushed open the door.

And the world shattered.

Vivian. Pressed against the wall. Gown hitched high. Legs wrapped around someone.

Damian.

My husband.

Thrusting into her like he belonged there. Her head was thrown back. His mouth at her throat. Passion. Betrayal.

The pain was instantaneous. Like a punch to the soul.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move.

They saw me.

Damian froze.

Vivian gasped.

My father, pale and skeletal on the bed, said nothing.

This was the final confirmation that yes, Imogene, the cursed one, had lost again.

~~Imogene's POV~~

I froze.

Time didn’t just stop; it shattered. Like a crystal vase thrown against a wall, all the pieces of my life scattered before me. Damian’s shirt was rumpled. Vivian’s blouse hung loosely off one shoulder. Their breaths were uneven, and their bodies glistened with sweat.

Damian.

Vivian.

My husband and my own step sister, two pillars I had built my whole world upon, and now, it had come undone.

My mind tried to make sense of it, looking for something, anything, that would make this a misunderstanding. That maybe they’d tripped and fallen—no, that was ridiculous. But wasn’t everything I was seeing ridiculous? This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be real.

Damian’s head snapped toward me, guilt painted across his face in thick, ugly shades. He staggered backward and clumsily adjusted his clothes, fumbling with the buttons of his shirt like they’d personally betrayed him too. Vivian didn’t even try to pretend. She looked up at me with the smug smile of someone who’d already won.

Damian looked like he wanted to say something, but the words hung in his throat, and he gulped them down. He went, mute.

I couldn't breathe. Couldn’t think. I was shaking so hard I thought my bones might shatter, but somehow I stepped forward, my legs moving against my will, being pulled only by the desperate need to believe anything but the truth standing clear in front of me.

“Damian,” I croaked, reaching out with a trembling hand. My voice was so small it barely felt real. “Please… tell me this is a mistake. Tell me I’m imagining things. Tell me I’m sick or dreaming or…” My words tangled and broke, shredded by the agony tearing through my throat.

My husband, the man I had given everything to, stood there silent, akin to a stranger.

“Say something!” I screamed, my voice raw and cracked, as if it was being ripped out of me. “Say you were drunk, say you were bewitched, or maybe you were just lonely. Lie to me, Damian! I’ll believe it. I’ll believe anything if you just… if you just tell me this isn’t real!”

No answer. Just his eyes, dull and lifeless, watching me fall apart.

I turned to Vivian, my closest friend, my sister in every way that counted. “Vivian,” I whimpered, tears flooding so hard I could barely see. “You didn’t mean it, right? It was an accident, right? You thought he was someone else, you were lost, confused, anything, please, just say something I can hold onto!”

I stumbled closer, more desperate, clutching at the scraps of hope like they were the last air I’d ever breathe. “I forgive you,” I sobbed, collapsing to my knees before her. “I forgive you, Vi. We can fix this; we can pretend this never happened. Please… please… tell me it’s not what it looks like!”

My voice broke, dissolving into hopeless gasps, because even as I begged, I could see the truth in their faces.

Still, I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't.

“Please,” I whispered again, my voice barely more than a prayer, “lie to me if you have to. I can’t bear this. I can’t bear that you—that you two—”

Damian looked away, silent and cold.

Vivian laughed, cruel and sharp as glass and suddenly she shoved me hard, the floor slamming into my back as I let out a gasp. From the ground I looked up at her stunned, but her words stung more than the fall ever could.

“You’re pathetic, Imogene,” she said coldly. “Do you really think love is enough to cover up stupidity? You saw everything. And yet here you are, still begging. That’s just sad.”

Her words tore something inside me wide open. My whole body trembled. She’d always been warm and kind, hadn’t she? She used to braid my hair when I was sick. She stayed with me some nights when it all became unbearable. I loved her like she was my blood. Like a real sister.

Vivian walked over to Damian and slipped her hand into his like it belonged there.

“I’m done pretending, Damian,” she said, her tone sharp and certain. “After all these years, it's finally time. Let’s stop the act.”

Act?

I pushed myself up, palms scraping against the rough stone floor. “What do you mean, act?”

Vivian tilted her head slightly, as if she pitied me. “You really didn’t know? Imogene, you’re more foolish than I thought. Damian never loved you. He’s loved me all along. I’m his fated mate.”

The words hit me harder than her shove had.

No.

No! No!!

Vivian wasn’t finished. “He used you, Imogene. You were the stepping stone to get him where he needed to be. From ordinary Beta son to Alpha's husband and soon…Alpha himself. You were just a tool in our plan.”

“Plan?” I whispered, my thoughts spiraling in different directions.

She smiled. It was vile. Proud. “We poisoned your father, my dear stepdad, to make him sick. The moment he weakened, you took power. Damian seduced you, made you fall in love, and married you. Once things settled, we were going to kill you. Some unfortunate accident, perhaps. Then Damian becomes Alpha, and I become his Luna.”

I couldn’t breathe.

Everything, every single moment, every memory, every laugh, every kiss, for the past 2 years had all been part of a plan? My father's illness. Damian’s courtship. Our marriage.

A lie.

A beautifully orchestrated lie.

For what? Power and authority?

I turned to Damian, who had been quiet all through this storm, clinging to the last shard of hope that maybe this was all Vivian’s fantasy. Maybe he wasn’t part of it.

“Damian,” I whispered. “Please tell me it’s not true. Say she’s lying. Your vows weren't just rehearsed lies, right?”

He stared at me with empty eyes. All the warmth I thought I’d seen in them over the years was now gone, like a mask melting away.

“I reject you as my mate, not like you were in the first place,” he finally spoke, his voice devoid of remorse. “And I dissolve our marriage bond, Imogene Howling.”

Pain struck me like a blade through the chest.

“No,” I whimpered, staggering forward. “No, you can’t do this. I gave you everything. My body, my love, my time… You were everything for me!”

He laughed, an actual laugh that echoed through my bones.

“That’s what made it so easy,” he said. “You were desperate for love, Imogene. And desperate women are easy to control. Your father didn’t love you. Your people despised you. And even you hated yourself. All I had to do was offer affection, and you came running like a starving dog.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks. My entire body shook, not from fear, but from devastation. My heart had cracked open, bleeding out right in front of the two people I’d trusted most.

“And you wonder why you never got pregnant?” Damian added, his voice slicing through my thoughts like a dagger. “I swapped your pain relief pills with hormone inhibitors. Every. Single. Time.”

My mouth dropped open. The truth struck me like a thunderbolt.

That’s why I never conceived.

But three months ago, I stopped taking the pills. I was trying to be strong, to heal from my past without depending on the drugs. And then… the recent nausea. The fatigue. The missed cycle. I hadn’t told anyone yet.

I was pregnant.

And Damian didn’t know.

Vivian’s voice yanked me back to the present. “Well, since it has come to this, it's now time for the final phase,” she said, pulling something from her pocket.

A syringe.

She turned at swift speed to my father, who was lying on the bed, and pointed the sharp needle in his direction.

“No…!” I screamed, rushing forward while ignoring the ache in my bones.

Too late.

She got to my father's bedside before me and stabbed it into my father’s arm.

He convulsed violently. Foam bubbled from his lips. I scrambled to his bedside, hands frantic and useless, trying to stop whatever poison she had administered. “Dad, please…stay with me!”

Just then Vivian’s cry pierced the air.

“Oh, my moon! Imogene, what have you done?!”

What?

She turned to Damian, who immediately joined in. “Imogene! You…you’ve poisoned the Alpha! Someone help!!”

My pulse hammered in my ears. “No! I didn’t!”

Vivian’s lips curled into a cruel smile as the shouting continued. “This is the end for you. You killed your own father, Imogene. And now there are two witnesses who saw it happen. It is your word versus ours… and everyone already hates you, so you know whose words carry more weight.”

Damian sneered. “You came in through the front door. We came in through the back. Everyone saw you arrive alone. And you’re the one who always gives him his medication. Who do you think they’ll believe?”

I staggered backward, heart pounding, hands trembling. Everything they said made horrible, twisted sense. They were building the perfect trap.

And I had walked right into it.

Banishment.

Or death.

Those were the punishments for killing an Alpha. For treason.

The realization struck hard and fast: they weren’t just breaking me, they were erasing me.