Too Late To Regret, My Alphas

Rosalie:

By the time I opened my eyes that morning, I already knew something was different.

The ache Eiden had warned me about hadn’t disappeared even after the entire week had passed. If anything, it had settled deeper beneath my skin, like a quiet storm waiting for the perfect moment to break loose. At first, it wasn’t unbearable. My muscles felt sore, my joints slightly stiff, and there was a strange heaviness in my limbs that reminded me of coming down with a fever. I convinced myself it was manageable. After all, Eiden had told me my first shift was approaching. This had to be part of it.

Tonight was the full moon.

Across Shadow Creek and the entire Nightfang Pack, the full moon wasn’t treated like an ordinary day. Schools were closed. Colleges shut their gates. Bookstores, cafes, restaurants, offices - almost every business remained closed from morning until the following day. It was less of a law and more of an unspoken tradition that everyone respected.

Those who had already shifted spent the day preparing for the night, while younger wolves stayed with their families for support. The past months, I’d always enjoyed these quiet holidays. I’d spend the entire day curled up at home with tea, working on my novel or reading until late into the night while the night wind rattled against my windows.

I’d planned to do exactly the same today, at least during the daytime.

Eiden and Zaiden had both insisted that I spend the entire day at Eiden’s house.

"Come over in the morning."

"We’ll stay with you."

"You shouldn’t be alone."

They’d repeated those words often enough that I could practically hear them even now. But when I’d woken up, I honestly felt almost normal. The ache was there, yes. But it wasn’t enough to justify making the two of them hover around me all day worrying over every little movement I made. They already worried too much. So I’d stubbornly promised them I’d finish a little work at home before joining them later in the evening, well before moonrise.

Neither of them had looked convinced.

And now, several hours later, I was beginning to regret every ounce of that confidence.

By noon, the ache had spread throughout my entire body. It wasn’t localized anymore. It was everywhere - my shoulders, my back, my ribs, my legs. Even my fingers hurt.

Every movement pulled at muscles that suddenly felt too tight for my bones, as though my own body no longer fit together properly. My skin had become strangely sensitive. Even the soft fabric of my sweater brushing against my arms felt irritating. Every now and then a sharp shiver raced through me despite the room being comfortably warm, only for the chills to be replaced moments later by waves of heat that left sweat beading across my forehead.

I tried writing and managed exactly three sentences before my hands started trembling too badly to type. Then I tried reading instead, only for the words to blur together.

My hearing seemed unusually sharp, picking up the distant creak of a neighbor’s gate several houses away and the soft tapping of tree branches against a window somewhere outside. Every unfamiliar sound made my head pound.

Then came the headache. A deep pressure settled behind my eyes, making even the afternoon light filtering through the curtains feel painfully bright.

I curled up on the couch, hugging a cushion against my stomach.

"It’ll pass," I whispered to myself.

It didn’t.

By three in the afternoon, my breathing had become uneven. By four, my heartbeat refused to settle. By half past four, I could barely sit still. Something inside me felt... restless. Like an animal pacing behind a locked door. Every instinct screamed that something was about to happen, yet I couldn’t explain what.

I stood and immediately regretted it as sharp pain shot through my legs, forcing me to grab the edge of the coffee table until the room stopped spinning. My body felt unbearably hot. Yet goosebumps continued racing across my arms.

I glanced toward the clock.

4:57 p.m.

Enough. I wasn’t going to stubbornly pretend I could handle this anymore. Eiden had been right. Both of them had.

I reached toward my phone lying on the coffee table, planning to call Eiden. But before my fingers touched it, a freezing chill ran straight down my spine. Not the kind of chills I’d been feeling all day.

This one felt... different.

My entire body went rigid.

Someone...

My eyes darted toward the living room window. Nothing. I slowly turned toward the hallway. Empty. The kitchen stood exactly as I’d left it. There was no sound coming from bedroom upstairs.

The house was filled with absolute silence. And yet the feeling refused to disappear.

Every tiny hair along the back of my neck stood upright. Someone was watching me - the thought appeared so suddenly that it stole the air from my lungs.

"No," I whispered.

I forced myself to move.

Every step hurt. The pain in my joints had become so intense that simply walking across the living room felt like climbing a mountain. Still, I checked every room one by one.

Kitchen - empty. Bathroom - empty. Bedroom - nothing. Even the closet and balcony had no one hiding there. I even pulled back the curtains and searched outside, but the narrow street beyond my house was deserted. There was no movement, no suspicious cars, no pedestrians. Nothing.

And yet the feeling only grew stronger. My instincts - my wolf, perhaps - refused to calm down.

Leave.

The thought came so suddenly it hardly felt like my own.

Leave.

Now.

I didn’t question it.

Grabbing my phone with trembling fingers, I hurried toward the front door. Even putting on my shoes proved difficult because my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. My breathing had become shallow, every inhale catching painfully in my chest.

The lock slipped twice before I finally managed to secure the door behind me.

Winter greeted me immediately. Cold air struck my overheated skin, but instead of relief, it only made me shiver harder. The street lay almost completely empty.

Of course it did. Today was the full moon. Most wolves had already retreated indoors with their families, preparing for the night ahead. Even the few businesses that normally stayed open had closed their shutters hours ago.

To make matters worse, winter darkness had already settled over Shadow Creek despite it being only five in the evening. Streetlights cast pale circles across the quiet road while long shadows stretched between parked cars.

I looked desperately up and down the street.

Please... just one taxi. One car. Anything.

But there was nothing. Not a single vehicle passed. I started walking. Then faster. Each hurried step sent another wave of pain through my body, but standing still somehow felt even worse.

The sensation of being watched hadn’t faded. It had intensified.

I glanced over my shoulder, but there was still nobody there. Another corner. Still nobody. My heart hammered so loudly I could barely hear anything else. With clumsy fingers, I unlocked my phone. My contacts blurred before my eyes as I looked for Eiden’s number.

Come on... just one call.

Just-

A dark shape exploded from the shadows beside the narrow alleyway. Everything happened too fast. A heavy impact and my phone flew from my hand, skidding across the pavement.

A terrified scream tore itself from my throat as something lunged straight at me from the darkness.

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