Chapter 1
It had been seven days since I woke up in the hospital, the sterile white walls a constant reminder of the ordeal I’d endured.
My body was battered, bruises dotting my skin, and the faint ache of my wounds was a dull reminder of the ambush I had barely survived.
Thinking of him–my mate, the Alpha of the Nightwish Pack, Ethan–made my chest tighten with a familiar ache.
The memory of his cold decision, the way he had abandoned me without a second glance to save another Omega, another she wolf named Vanessa, flashed in my mind like shards of glass.
“Why wasn’t I enough?”
I’d tried to reach out to him, calling out his name through the mindlink. But each attempt was met with a wall of cold darknes.
With a sigh, I picked up my phone, half–expecting there to be a message waiting, some small proof that he cared enough to ask if I was okay.
But the screen was blank.
I was about to turn the phone off when, suddenly, his name appeared across the screen, lighting it up like a lifeline. My heart leapt, a wave of hope flooding through me as I answered, bringing the phone to my ear.
But before I could say anything, his voice, sharp and irritated, cut through the silence.
“Claire, what are you trying to pull now?”
I froze, the harshness in his tone like ice water over my skin. I opened my mouth to respond, to explain, but he didn’t give me the chance.
Chapter 1
“Don’t you know that Vanessa has a heart condition?! What’s wrong with me taking hier away to safety?” He continued, his voice filled with a righteousness that made my skin prickle.
“We were both rescued, and a second team was on its way for you. Why didn’t you just go back with them? I had to leave because I have a billion dollar project that’s critical to the
pack’s future. You do nothing all day; so what exactly are you so upset about?”
Mach word hit me like a blow. My throat went dry as I struggled to form a response, my
ingers gripping the edge of the hospital bed. I hadn’t spoken to him in days, and yet here he was, accusing me while defending her.
My mind reeled, searching for something, anything to hold onto. But I couldn’t find my
voice, only able to listen in stunned silence as he went on.
“I don’t have time to call you, Claire! I don’t even have time to deal with your shitty moods.
You always make everything about yourself,” he snapped, a sneer seeping into his tone. “It’s pathetic. You never trusted me around Vanessa, did you? No wonder she says you’re full of
schemes.”
I swallowed, the anger that had been simmering beneath the surface now turning into a hard, bitter lump in my chest.
How could he not see what this was doing to me?
A bitter laugh escaped my lips, but the sound felt foreign, hollow.
I had spent seven days in this hospital, waiting, hoping, clinging to the bond we shared. And
yet, he had not spared a single moment for me.
‘I am nothing,‘ I realized, the weight of the truth settling over me like a shroud.
Without a formal Luna ceremony, I was just a lonely Omega, no different from the day I’d first met him. Ethan had never seen me as his equal; he had never wanted me as his true
mate. I was a placeholder, someone to be cast aside whenever it was convenient.
‘Maybe I would be better off without him.‘
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Chapter 1
I clutched the hospital bed sheets, my mind reaching out in desperation to the only one who could help me now.
Closing my eyes, I called out in a trembling whisper, “Moon Goddess…. please… take this pain away. Sever the bond between us.
For a moment, I thought she hadn’t heard me. But then, a voice, soft and ancient, resonated in my mind.
“Are you certain, child?” The Moon Goddess asked, her tone filled with both warmth and sorrow. The bond between mates is sacred and breaking it will bring you immense suffering. From this moment on, your heart will bear endless pain.”
My throat tightened, but I nodded, the tears streaming down my face unbidden. “Yes,” I choked out. “Anything is better than this.”
The Goddess fell silent, and then I felt it–a tearing, searing pain in my chest as the bond was shredded, leaving a gaping hole in its place. I clutched at my heart, gasping as agony shot through me, deeper than any physical wound I had ever known.
The ties that had bound me to him, the strings that had kept me tethered, were gone. It felt like I was being torn apart and pieced together, leaving nothing but a shell of what I once
was.
With a hoarse whisper, I finally said the words I had been holding back for so long, words. that felt both foreign and freeing.
“Ethan, I can finally stop loving you.”
O(9)
