BOUND BY THE ALPHA'S DARK SECRET

"Shattered Bonds" Ariana’s POV From the moon, the forest shone silvery, and shadows flowed with the breeze. Although I could feel the cool night air on my skin, Luca's arms around me truly drove away the chill. Sitting on the edge of the cliff, we could see the unvarnished beauty of the Highland, our pack's large territory gaping beneath us like a living, breathing organism. Just Luca and me; it had always been our personal refuge, the one spot where the madness of the outside world seemed to fade. Leaching back, I placed my head on his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat. That was the sound I used to imagine defining my universe. His arms tightened around me, and I smiled in response to his small comfort-orientated gesture. For years we had shared everything—secrets, dreams, promises. Our partnership was expected to be intact, as our mate tie was designed to be an everlasting flame motivated by love and the divine connection. "I will always be at your side, Ariana," Luca murmured gently in my ear. "You and I—our bond—is stronger than anything, whatever happens." I had wanted to believe him. Goddess, I so very much desired. Turning in his arms, I beheld his warm hazel eyes—which had made me weak at the knees before. "I know," I whispered, stroking his forehead. Luca, with everything, I trust you. Then he smiled, the kind of look that used to make my heart skip a beat, and for a time I let myself forget the odd gap between us. For weeks something had been strange; his hand was cold, his gaze stopped. I discounted it, believing it was my own anxiety; I wasn't enough for him. But standing there wrapped in his arms, I hung onto the notion that we were still us—that the love we had could never be corrupted. But hope turned out to be a fragile concept very fast. And far more so is love. A week later. The sound of breaking glass rang down the corridor as I dropped the vase in shaking hands. Looking at the spectacle before me, my heart thundered in my chest, and I started to feel nauseous. Twisted in the sheets alongside her was my Luca, the man who had promised me eternity. Sister now. . Every second I stayed still in the doorway, as though a dagger had been plunged precisely into my chest and twisted. The air became thick and oppressive as the knowledge of their deceit washed over me like a tide. Originally a source of strength, the mate bond burnt me from the inside out like acid in my veins. My wolf wailed terribly in the emptiness of my heart. Luca stammered, scuttling off the bed, but the words were but a hollow echo in the room. I can clarify. Argent and unrepentant, Elara sat there, covering herself with her own coverings, her golden hair falling over her bare shoulders. "What should you do?" My voice was only a whisper, filled with agony and astonishment. I felt like I was unravelling as every thread of my existence seemed to be fraying. The man I had loved—the one I had trusted above all others—had shattered me in the worst possible manner. Luca came for me, but I stepped back as I tolerated his contact. "Ariana, kindly..." This was not supposed to happen. It isn't what you picture—“ "Not What I Thought?" I started to laugh sourly, a scream. You started to turn on Luca. You came back to us betrayed. For how long has this been going on? You have been lying to me for how long? He stuttered; the silence that followed was plenty. Every minute we spent together, every promise he made, felt like a lie—a terrible illusion meant to keep me in the dark while he destroyed what we had produced. The room appeared to be closing in on me, the walls pushing on my breast as my reality shattered to ashes. Elara laughed gently and deciduously while still lying on the bed, like she hadn't just broken my heart. Oh, sister, you seem not quite shocked. You have always been so foolish, thinking Luca was always genuinely yours. My hands tightened into fists at my sides, my nails snatching into my palms. Benevolent under my skin, the wrath boiled like a lethal beast poised for explosion. "You can have him," I replied, my voice faltering with the force of my rage. "Know this—both of you will regret crossing me—you can have whatever dismal scraps of loyalty he has left." I stood waiting, not for their responses. Turning on my heel and running, my mind racing, heart crushed, and the connection between Luca and me already frayed at the edges collapsed. Desperate for retribution, for payback, my wolf was seething inside me. And that was the instant the idea began to sprout. I wouldn't come apart beneath their betrayal; I wouldn't be weak. No; I would clean them out. And I understood just exactly how. A Month After. Years had gone by as I watched her. From the shadows of the forest, from the lonely margins, I had kept far from the Bloodmoon Pack's domain, but I had always known her. Ariana Thorne The woman's son claimed to be his mate. She had always had a strength, a fire, that drew me in even as I made myself remain away. From the periphery of the group, I noticed something else in her now: tall, despite the agony clinging to her like a second skin. Something terrible is bubbling just under the surface. I had heard of Luca's betrayal and of how he had broken her apart. And I realised, without thinking twice, the woman before me was not the same girl my child had been given. This Ariana was lethal. I could feel it in the air around her—the unsaid promise of retribution in her eyes and the crackling intensity of her rage. She had come for a designated purpose. She had come to me, and although I ought to have sent her away knowing the kind of destruction a woman like her could inflict—I couldn't. "Alpha Sebastian," she hissed, her voice as sharp as the wind across the cliffside. Here I am ready to provide something. Her bravado intrigued me; I wrinkled a brow. And small wolf, what would you possibly offer me? She corrected me without hesitation, her emerald eyes gleaming with dreadful intensity. "Revenge," she added, just as clearly. "opposed to your son." My mouth's corners drew upward in the faintest of a smile's trace. This sounded to be rather interesting. I understood then that rejecting her offer would be running over fire. Still, I had always appreciated the burn.