Sorry Alpha I Don't Want To Be Your Mistress: Opening Chapters 1-5

Jessica’s POV

Alpha Johan cupped my jaw gently, thumb brushing the corner of my lip before he lowered his head and murmured, “Jessica, are you ready to be marked tonight?”

"Y-Yes." I nodded faintly, smelling our mixed arousal.

I had been waiting for this night, clinging to his promise that he would finally claim me. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might break through my ribs.

He leaned closer, his mouth brushing my neck.

I gasped when his lips pressed to my skin and I felt the faint scrape of his teeth.

But then he suddenly pulled away.

His gray eyes went distant, and his pupils glowed a faint silver when a mindlink came through.

It was my stepmother, Lydia.

“Where are you, Johan? You’re supposed to be with your mate right now?”

My mind spun in confusion. What mate? Who was she talking about?

Most wolves couldn’t hear someone else’s private link, but I could.

My late mother used to say our blood carried a rare gift, the Seer’s Gene. That’s why I can slip into others’ links when my emotions run high.

Lydia hissed, "Deal with Suzette before she finds out that you took in that tattered doll. My daughter is dying, Johan. She can't stand any stress."

Johan let go of my waist and turned his back to me, water running down his shoulders. His voice was low when he answered her.

"I won’t break my promise. Just give me a few hours. I’m not abandoning Suzette. She’s my love."

Those words hurt worse than any silver chain ever had. The warm water started to sting, and my chest felt tight. I couldn’t tell if I was crying or if it was just the shower.

Lydia’s voice came again, "Suzette needs you right now. She is very ill."

Johan’s jaw clenched. “I’m coming.”

The link snapped closed. He sighed, then turned toward me. I wiped my face fast so he wouldn’t see.

“You okay, babe? You look pale.”

“I’m fine,” I whispered, even though I wasn’t.

He smiled, the kind that said he wanted to continue what we started.

“Sorry about that,” he said. “My Beta brought news at the wrong time.”

He stepped closer, but then my eyes caught the mark on Johan's collarbone, a faded crescent bite glowing faintly beneath the droplets of water.

A mate mark?

I froze. His touch made my stomach twist. The scent that once comforted me now made me sick.

“I don’t feel well,” I said. The disgust in my voice cracked the air between us.

He frowned, confused and still breathing hard. “Should I call the healer?”

I shook my head, too shocked too even think of what to do.

Before he could say more, another link came through.

“My love, feel so dizzy. The pack doctor is here already but I need you. I need only you.”

Johan’s jaw tightened. "I'll be there in a minute."

When the link ended, he looked down at me again. He thought I didn’t know.

“Something came up at the Council Hall,” he said quickly. “Finish your shower and rest. I’ll send someone to guard you.”

He grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist, and left. The door slammed shut.

I knew exactly where he was going, and exactly whose bed he would end up in. Suzette. My own half sister.

Johan was already mated to her, and I had been too blinded by love to see it.

Since when? Goddess, since when?!

As I covered my naked self with my trembling hands, I couldn't help but recall the past.

Suzette, together with her mother Lydia, used to torture me ten years ago.

It wasn't just a simple torture. They locked me in a rusted iron cage and forced my first shift out of me in the most brutal way a young wolf could experience.

Bones snapping, skin tearing, my wolf screaming inside me while they watched like it was entertainment.

But one moonless night, I broke free with every ounce of strength left in my battered body.

Torn, bruised, and half-shifted, I didn’t make it far before collapsing at the feet of a visiting Alpha, Johan Vale.

In that moment, it felt like he was a savior sent by the Moon Goddess herself. He carried me away, tended to my wounds, and swore that from then on, I was his to protect, his family, his promise under the moon.

I turned off the shower. My hands were shaking as I wrapped the towel around me and stood by the window, looking at the full moon.

I didn’t know what to do now, but something clicked inside me when I remembered something.

I wiped my tears and opened my mindlink. "D-Dahlia? Are you hearing me now?"

She responded immediately. “Jessica?”

“I accept your offer, Moon Seer Dahlia,” I said softly. “I’ll join the Silvercrest Healing Dominion. I’m leaving Johan for good.”

Jessica’s POV

“It took you long enough, child,” the Moon Seer said through the mindlink.

I first met Dahlia during a grand pack gathering where the Moon Seer was invited as an honored guest. We talked between ceremonies, her questions sharp yet kind, and before the night ended, we exchanged mindlinks out of mutual fascination. From then on, we spoke often, sharing thoughts, lessons, and secrets until our friendship became my quiet refuge.

“I always wondered when you’d realize that Alpha Johan was never meant for you. You’ve been wasting your gift on a man who only saw you as a rebound.”

“Rebound,” I repeated. The word rebound cut sharper through the link than any blade.

“I told you before, Jessica. I warned you, but you never believed me.”

“I think I knew all along,” I admitted softly through the link. “I just didn’t want to face it. I kept telling myself he had forgotten Suzette.”

“I’m happy you’re finally leaving him,” Dahlia said next. “You have so much potential, Jessica. Even if Johan gave you a position in his pharmaceutical empire, you’d never grow there. He was hiding you, using your formulas, your genius, and letting LunaSkin Bloom take all the credit.”

I’d told myself I was helping him, building something together. But now I saw it clearly. He’d been building himself using my light.

“Why now, though?” Dahlia asked curiously, her tone turning softer in my head. “Why wake up from a one-sided bond only now?”

My chest ached. “Because he had marked another she-wolf as his mate.”

The link went quiet. Dahlia’s curiosity deepened. “Why?”

“Because she’s dying.” The words tasted strange on my tongue.

The seer’s sigh came softly through the link. “Ah. So the Moon Goddess has cursed her own deceit.”

I swallowed hard. “He swore before the Council that he would care for her until her final full moon. He said he owed her that, for the mistakes of their youth. But it doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

“No,” Dahlia agreed quietly. “It never does.”

After we spoke, my eyes drifted to the Moonstone Charm Chain hanging by the hearth. It was made from stones I gathered under each full moon while praying for Johan to recover.

Yes, recover.

Because three years ago, he had gone after rogues and came back torn and poisoned by silver.

I begged the Dark Spirit Healer to save him, even if it cost me everything. I gave him my soul-bone, something no wolf should ever give away. Without it, I could no longer shift.

But at least, he lived. And he promised that in our tenth year, he would make me his Luna.

When he was healed, he forged the moonstone charm into a chain, saying it symbolized devotion.

Now, it only mocked me.

When I reached to take it down, my elbow bumped a photo frame. The glass shattered, revealing two photographs inside.

Two?

I crouched to gather the fallen pictures. One showed Johan and me, taken a decade ago on the night he swore I was his forever.

But the second photo stole the breath from my lungs. It was Suzette and Johan. Suzette’s smile glowed beneath the moonlight, while Johan stood behind her with one arm draped around her waist, his eyes shining with the tender devotion I once believed belonged to me.

Below the photo, scrawled in Johan’s bold script:

Farewell, my love.

The date was marked beside the night of Johan’s healing under the full moon. That was hours later when he arrived at my door with a bouquet of moonroses and declared me as his intended mate.

My fingers trembled as I held the photo.

All of Johan’s tenderness over the years turned to ice in that single breath.

I wiped my face and forced myself to move.

As I threw on a shirt and leggings, I couldn’t help but ask this: Why would he mark me if he already had a mate?

I chuckled bitterly. Of course it was because of LunaSkin.

I was the mind behind his empire, the hidden pulse that made his name shine among the packs. It was his way of keeping me close, tying his fortune to the hand that built it.

And bonds forged for protection didn’t always awaken the mate’s pain. If he had marked me, it would register as a business claim, not a fated one.

Besides, if he marked me first, he could claim me later without his other mate suffering. The law of dual claim recognized the first mark as “legal,” as long as it was done for alliance.

When I opened my wardrobe, I chose only the things I had bought with my own money. I packed them neatly into a suitcase and tucked it away from sight, ready for the day I’d finally walk away.

Then my eyes landed on my jewelry box. Without hesitation, I called the jewelry store and asked them to collect the pieces and return them to Johan on the date I set.

When the jewelry box was gone, I gathered every gift he’d ever given me and carried them behind the manor. The servants stared, puzzled, but no one dared ask questions as I dumped them into the trash.

That night, I tried to sleep, but sleep never came.

By morning, I forced myself to look calm.

I was having breakfast on the patio when Johan returned, looking like someone who had lost the war before it began. He leaned down and kissed my cheek, but I didn’t feel the flutter I once did.

Before, I would’ve thrown myself into his arms. Now, I just sat still.

“Are you okay?” Johan asked casually. “Did you sleep well?”

I didn’t sleep at all. “Yes, I’m fine,” I said instead.

He sat across from me and reached out to touch my face. I nearly slapped his hand away but stopped myself. I couldn’t stand being touched by a man who was already mated.

“You seem pale,” he said. “What’s wrong, Jessica ?” He paused, then chuckled lightly. “Oh, I know what it is. Our night didn’t finish, did it? I was supposed to mark you for our tenth anniversary.” His lips curled into a mischievous smile. “We can resume it tonight. What do you think?”

I smiled politely. “I don’t think I’m in the right shape, Johan.”

He frowned. “Oh, I must’ve made you upset. Okay, if you don’t want that, how about this. Tomorrow is the launch of our newest beauty line, LunaVeil Essentials. Why don’t you come with me? They will finally meet the Alchemist, the genius behind LunaPharma's cosmetic and fragrance line.”

I paused, my attention caught completely. Was he really serious? He had never invited me before to any launching.

“Are you sure?” I asked quietly. “You’re finally revealing me?”

Before he could answer, my phone buzzed. I frowned at the unknown number, and Johan’s brow furrowed when he noticed.

“Who’s calling you?” he asked.

Jessica’s POV

I froze, my heart dropping when I saw the number flashing on my screen. The digits belonged to the Dark Spirit Healer, a man no one in their right mind wanted to deal with, not even Seer Dahlia. He was the one who’d helped Johan survive three years ago. But why was he calling me now? Our deal had ended long ago.

“Probably some werewolves pretending to be seers trying to sell charms,” I shrugged.

Johan looked up from his tea, unconcerned. “I’ll have my Beta change your number tomorrow. I’m sick and tired of people pretending to be real, but the truth is, they’re fake,”

I stared at him. Coming from you, really?

Before I could reply, his eyes glazed slightly, the sign of a mindlink connection.

His aura shifted, distant and private, and his jaw tensed. “I’ll… speak with my Beta,” he muttered quickly, standing from his seat. “Give me a moment.”

He walked toward the terrace, pretending calm, his mind still locked in conversation.

I reached for my moonstone mirror, a relic Dahlia had once gifted me. Through it, I could capture and relive anything I saw or heard beyond myself.

I activated the mirror, and the enchanted glass began to record everything I was hearing now.

“Johan,” Suzette’s voice purred through the invisible thread. “Tomorrow’s the LunaSkin Bloom launch, right? Can I come? I heard that you’re the alchemist behind it, the creator of the perfect formula.”

Johan glanced in my direction as if guilty, then quickly looked away and gave a shy, uneasy laugh. “Actually—”

“Oh, come on,” Suzette teased. “No one else could craft something that perfectly complements your company’s vision. Every masterpiece there has your mark.”

I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood. LunaSkin was my damn formula.

After Johan rescued me and brought me to his manor, I forced myself to learn everything about his world. I observed how his company worked, the markets, the formulas because I never wanted to be a burden. I wanted to be better, to help him grow his empire. Every formula, every potion, every scent I had bled, worked, and poured my soul into those creations.

And LunaSkin became their breakthrough product.

"But you know what, love...?" Suzette’s voice turned coy. “I’ve always wanted to be known for something great, as well. Since my illness is in the terminal stage, I want to achieve something before I die.”

Johan frowned from afar. “What do you mean, love?”

“I mean, can you introduce me as the creator of LunaSkin?”

I was taken off guard when I heard Suzette’s bold request. I didn’t see that one coming.

How could she even think of that? My hands trembled around the moonstone mirror as I stared at Johan from afar.

“You know it’s risky, Suzette. But… fine,” Johan finally said. “Tomorrow, before the Council and the packs, I’ll tell them you’re the controversial chemist blessed by moonlight itself. That should please your wolf’s pride, right?”

Suzette’s delighted laugh rang through the link. “I knew you wouldn’t say no to me. I love you, Johan.”

My chest tightened until I could barely breathe. I let out a quiet, bitter laugh that hardly sounded human. Suzette had already taken everything from me, She and her mother took my father, and my pack.

And now she was stealing the only thing I had left: my talent. How greedy of her, of them both!

Johan walked back to me.

“Jessica , I’m sorry, but you can’t attend the launch tomorrow.”

“Why not?” I acted as though I was surprised.

“Your identity has to stay secret. My beta said the rival companies will attend and it will be dangerous for you to come out.” he said. “Please understand.

I looked at him for seconds and until I exhaled nonchalantly. “Okay.”

He blinked, clearly not expecting my cold reaction. But then he said with a forced smile, “After tomorrow, I’ll make it up to you. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

I smiled faintly. What I wanted now wasn’t his affection.

---

The day of the event finally arrived.

I dressed in a moon‑white gown, bound my hair, and left for the LunaSkin launch.

The hall was crowded with pack leaders, nobles, and journalists.

And there Suzette was, clinging to Johan’s arm, radiant and smug. The mark of their bond glowed proudly on her neck.

Johan looked at her the way he used to look at me.

I smiled coldly and lifted my chin. "Traitors."

Heads tilted, eyes widening as I passed by as my moon‑white gown shimmered under the lantern light, hugging every graceful line of me. My hair framed my face like liquid gold, and even the nobles’ mates paused in their conversation, watching the woman who walked like she owned the moon itself.

Johan’s head snapped toward me, shock flashing across his face, the exact reaction I expected. His eyes widened, mouth parting slightly as if words failed him. The sight almost made me smile; after all, it was satisfying to watch guilt and surprise war in his expression.

He tore his arm from Suzette’s grasp and strode over, while my stepsister’s face flushed crimson with embarrassment as whispers rippled through the hall.

When Johan was in front of me, he grabbed my wrist and steered me toward a shadowed corner of the hall, away from the curious eyes and murmuring crowd.

"Jessica , Why in the moon are you here?"

Jessica’s POV

Johan’s grip tightened on my wrist as he dragged me into the corner of the grand hall.

He had never grabbed me this roughly before, not even during our worst arguments. For the first time, his composure cracked, and I caught the flash of panic hiding behind the silver in his eyes.

And all because I showed up.

I raised my face to him. “Is that fear I smell, Alpha?”

Then I saw the realization hit him first. His nostrils flared. His chest rose sharply as his wolf stirred awake, smelling the LunaSkin Bloom perfume in my skin.

“Jessica,” he warned, hissing in my ear, “What are you trying to do? Why are you wearing that scent?”

I leaned in slightly, letting the perfume coat him like memory. “Why not? This is my creation. LunaSkin isn't just a perfume. It's me.”

He clenched his jaw and looked toward the stage, where Suzette was speaking to the crowd, then turned his gaze back to me. “You’re not supposed to be here. This is Suzette’s night. You’ll only humiliate yourself.”

“Then why do you look like you’re about to fall apart?” I asked softly.

He turned his head slightly, and I knew he was going to mindlink someone the way his eyes glazed over for a second.

"Beta Kain, get her out of here, quietly. Send her home before anyone notices.”

My smile vanished. “Don’t you dare send me home,” I said aloud, cutting through his thoughts. “This is my event.”

He froze. The shock in his eyes told me he knew I’d heard everything.

And that was when Suzette noticed.

My stepsister glided down from the stage in her silver gown. Her arm looped through his as if she were claiming him in front of the world. Watching the two of them together made my chest ache, and my wolf snarled softly beneath my skin.

“Jessica, I didn’t expect you here. You should’ve let the guards know you were visiting, so they could escort you back to whatever corner of obscurity you crawled out of,” she cooed, tilting her head. "Showing up uninvited just proves how desperate you are to cling to relevance.”

I didn't respond to her insults. I knew they were coming afterall.

And now, my perfume has reached her too.

Her nose twitched, her pupils constricted slightly, and then she glared at me, her lips curling. “Wait, why are you wearing that perfume? Why are you using my creation?"

I chuckled bitterly. “You mean my creation?”

Suzette’s eyes flashed as she sneered. “Darling, I think you’re confused. LunaSkin Bloom is mine. And you’re stealing it."

"I will never steal something that belongs to me," I whispered, raising a brow.

Suzette chuckled, staring at me from head to toe. "Pathetic little thing, pretending to be a creator when all you ever did was steal!"

The crowd turned toward us, murmuring as whispers spread through the hall, the sound undercut by low growls and restless rustles as wolves fought their instincts to bare teeth or bow.

“What did she say?”

“Stole it?”

“Isn’t LunaSkin the Vale empire’s flagship perfume?”

“The girl seems like she couldn’t do such a thing,” another voice whispered. “She looks too innocent to be accused of stealing.”

Suzette’s fury boiled over. “Fine!” she shouted, turning toward the crowd. “Let me enlighten you all. This woman’s name is Jessica, the bastard daughter of my father and his mistress. We threw her out ten years ago for her disgraceful behavior. And now she dares to stand here claiming my husband’s best-selling perfume as hers? How could someone like her, who has never set foot in a lab or a healer’s den, possibly create anything of value?”

My hands curled into fists, claws aching to break through my skin.

The nerve of this woman, talking as though what they did to me had been my fault? When in truth I had nearly died in that house.

In that cage in particular.

I swallowed the fire rising in my chest and let a sharp, icy smile curve my lips. “Luna Suzette, you accuse me of theft just because of who I am. Don’t you think that’s rather arrogant? For all you know, I might’ve built my own name and power over the past ten years.”

Suzette let out a sharp, mocking laugh that echoed across the hall. “You? Build a name for yourself? Oh, that’s adorable,” she taunted. With a dramatic flick of her curls, she faced the crowd and spread her arms proudly. “Everyone here knows this event celebrates the LunaSkin Bloom line created by the mysterious Alchemist. Well, guess what? I’m the Alchemist of LunaSkin. That scent she’s flaunting is mine. And my mate can confirm every word.”

Gasps rippled through the hall.

“What? Luna Suzette is the Alchemist?”

“Alpha Johan, is that true? She’s the one behind LunaSkin Bloom?”

Reporters pushed closer, flashes bursting like lightning as questions fired from every direction. I ignored them all, keeping my gaze fixed on Johan. My fingers clenched the silk of my gown until the fabric strained between my hands.

What now, Johan? Are you really going to stand there in silence? After everything we’ve been through, will you not defend me even once?

Johan gulped as my mindlink cut through him. His guilt was written across his face, plain for everyone to see.

But then Suzette cupped his face, forcing him to meet her teary eyes. “Love?” she whispered, trembling just enough for sympathy to bloom around her. "Please don't let me down."

He hesitated, then forced a strained smile for the cameras. “Y-Yes. Suzette is the Alchemist. She’s been the mind behind LunaSkin Bloom for the past ten years.”

The words pierced like claws through my chest. No one knew better than he did how much of myself I had poured into those formulas. And now, without a blink, he handed it all to her.

Fine. So be it.

Suzette’s grin widened as the cameras flashed. “You all heard it. That scent is my work. Which means Jessica stole it. She probably took other formulas too.” She snapped her fingers sharply. “Warriors! Check her. See if she’s hiding the notes of my other perfume formulas on her body. I wouldn’t put it past her to smuggle my secrets like a common rogue thief!"

Two warriors immediately seized my arms and slammed me onto the cold marble floor.

With a sharp rip, my dress strap tore open, exposing my back.

The crowd gasped, horror spreading as they saw the long, faded whip scars running down my spine, proof of the cage, of the past I could never hide.

As I struggled against the warriors’ hold, trying to free myself, I noticed a man standing among the guests, his gaze locked solely on me. He clenched his wine glass so tightly that it shattered in his hand.

Blood dripped down his fingers, red against the white shards, while his glowing eyes fixed on me with barely restrained rage.

Who could he be?

Jessica's POV

“Release me! This is a violation of pack law!”

I thrashed against the warriors’ iron grips.

From my humiliating position on the floor, my gaze locked onto Johan.

“Can you truly look me in the eyes and claim Suzette created LunaSkin with her own hands?” I stared at him. "You said you'd never let them hurt me again. So why are you letting them?"

"J-Jessica..." Johan stood frozen, caught between stepping forward and staying back, as if debating whether to help me or pretend I wasn’t there at all.

But Suzette clung to his arm, pressing her cheek to his shoulder. “Love, I feel dizzy...”

Her voice trembled just enough to sound pitiful. Her timing was perfect, making Johan attend to her.

Of course he would do that. Suzette was terminally ill, after all. She was his Luna now, his burden to bear, his excuse to abandon me again.

He forced the guilt down and lifted his chin. “Suzette is the Alchemist. My mate. She’s the one behind LunaSkin Bloom.”

The lie sliced through me sharper than claws.

The crowd gasped.

Flashes from reporters burst across the room like lightning. All around, murmurs stirred the room like wind before a storm.

“She stole it?”

“Isn’t she the one they kicked out?”

“Poor Alpha Johan, having to deal with this embarrassment.”

My throat burned.

Even after he mated with Suzette behind my back.

Even after I vowed to forget him.

Even now, I had hoped, foolishly, that he’d speak the truth.

But no.

My wolf paced furiously inside me, her fur bristling. I’d trusted him once. I’d let him see every raw, broken part of me. And now he was ripping it all away.

Suzette turned to the warriors. “Search her body. I want every inch checked. She might’ve hidden the rest of my perfume formulas.”

"Rightaway, Luna."

I kicked and twisted, desperate not to let them strip more of my dignity. "Stop!" I growled, still resisting.

I wasn’t just being searched.

I was being erased. Again.

Stripped of dignity. Painted as a liar. Even when my very scars screamed the truth.

My eyes snapped toward Johan as I shot a mindlink straight into him.

"How dare you stand there and pretend you don’t know me? Pretend you don’t know what I’ve survived?"

His throat bobbed. Guilt flickered in his eyes before he masked it.

“If you’re not hiding anything, Jessica, then you have nothing to fear.”

“I—If I’m not hiding anything?”

I let out a laugh. Cold. Empty. A smile that wasn’t a smile at all.

He didn’t need to explain. His words said it all.

He wouldn’t fight for me.

Murmurs broke out.

Some recoiled.

Some whispered.

“She looks like she’s been mauled…”

“How could anyone survive that?”

“Disgusting.”

“That’s enough,” Johan snapped, eyes cutting away. “Take her backstage. Search her thoroughly.”

A hot rush of shame and fury exploded in my chest.

He gave the order.

Not to shield me.

But to shut me away like I was a threat to contain.

He wasn’t just letting them humiliate me.

He was validating it.

His command wasn’t to stop the scene.

It was a message: I didn’t matter enough to defend.

But I wouldn't let them treat me like I was less than nothing ever again.

Not while my wolf howled inside me, begging to be set free.

Not while my dignity bled across this marble floor.

Heavens above, what manner of cruelty is this?

I should not suffer like this. I damn well should not.

I rose slowly.

The warriors stilled, stunned. Even the air held its breath.

“If the Alpha believes I’m hiding something,” I said, voice sharp enough to cut steel, “then why drag me behind curtains like some banished rogue?”

“You want me bare?”

“So be it.”

I grabbed what was left of my moon-silver dress, ripped and useless, and tore it away from my body.

Gasps erupted instantly.

My undergarments clung to my body, but what truly caught their eyes were the lash scars painting my back and legs like a grotesque mural.

The hall swelled with murmurs.

“Oh moon goddess, what happened to her?”

“Those marks aren’t from any normal punishment.”

“Was she tortured?”

The cameras clicked and flashed, capturing my pain as if it were a spectacle.

My stare was fixed like steel on Johan and Suzette. "Remember this day, you paraded me as a criminal."

Then I released my mirrorstone.

It dropped to the marble floor with a sharp clack, and in the blink of an eye, it flashed, glowing with a blinding light.

Everyone froze, eyes wide, jaws slack.

The light flickered once, then projected a massive moving image into the air, followed by a video playback.

The whole room fell quiet, eyes glued to the air as the truth played out in front of them, undeniable and clear.