Severing the Alpha's Bond

Chapter 1

The bonfire roared, throwing wild shadows across the clearing. Every adult wolf of the Ash Pine Pack had gathered beneath the ceremonial altar.

Tonight was my eighteenth birthday.

It was also my first time officially attending the Full Moon Ceremony.

As a Beta, my place was meant to be at the back. I was supposed to fetch water for the high-ranking females, hand cloaks to the warriors, and scrub the spilled wine off the dirt when the night ended.

But as the moon climbed above the tree line, a familiar scent sliced through the crush of bodies. Pine and cold rain. It settled directly in my lungs.

My inner wolf woke up.

She was small. She was quiet. I’d buried her deep inside for years.

In that exact second, she clawed at the cage of my ribs, letting out a low, burning whine.

Mate.

The silver-rimmed tray slipped from my hands. It hit the ground with a clang that seemed to echo across the entire clearing.

Hundreds of eyes snapped to me. The weight of their stares could have crushed bone.

In the center of the altar, Victor turned his head.

He was the strongest Alpha Heir in Ash Pine history. Twenty-four years old, fresh from slaughtering a rogue pack at the border.

When the girls in the pack whispered his name, they lowered their eyes. They hid their flower crowns in their sleeves. They stood up straighter just because he walked past the training grounds.

I used to watch him, too. From the shadows.

Years ago, when we were young, he pulled me out of a hunter's trap. He taught me how to pack the wound with herbs. He told me a Beta could survive on her own strength.

Now, he had grown into the Alpha everyone bowed to, and I was just the quietest apprentice in the healing wing.

The pine scent grew stronger. Thicker.

But Victor’s expression shuttered. Ice settled over his features.

Stella stood beside him. Her blonde hair was pinned up, and the crescent moon chain—a necklace reserved only for the Alpha's chosen mate—rested against her collarbone.

She was a Gamma’s daughter. High bloodline. Top of the combat class. The Elders had been grooming her to be the future Luna since she was fifteen.

She caught his forearm. Her fingertips brushed his cuff.

"Victor, she’s just a Beta."

Low laughter rippled through the crowd.

"Did the Moon Goddess make a mistake?"

"Cecilia? She can’t even shift properly."

"Her mother was an outsider from the border. Who knows what’s mixed in her blood."

I kept my chin up and looked at Victor.

My pulse spiked so hard I could barely stand, yet a strange, heavy peace bloomed in my chest.

It was the soothing pull of a fated mate. The old ache from my childhood—from when they locked me in the cold storage—faded into nothing.

Just take one step toward me, I thought. Just one step.

Victor actually moved.

His heavy boots echoed against the wooden steps of the altar. He stopped right in front of me.

He was so much taller, his broad shoulders blocking out the firelight. His shadow completely swallowed my trembling hands.

The scent of him—pine and power—wrapped around me. My wolf did joyous laps in my mind.

Ours.

But he didn't reach for me.

His gaze swept over my rough, stained apothecary dress. It snagged on the herb burns scarring the back of my hands.

"Cecilia."

He pushed the word out with his Alpha aura. The sheer command in his voice made every lower-ranking wolf flinch.

My throat burned, but I forced myself to meet his eyes.

"Victor. I heard it."

I heard the pull the Moon Goddess gave us.

I heard my wolf calling for you.

I heard the only time fate ever extended a hand to me in this miserable life.

Victor’s brows drew together. A muscle ticked in his jaw.

"You shouldn't have answered."

Stella let out a breathy, delicate laugh.

"Of course she answered. Who wouldn't want to be the future Luna? Even if her low blood drags you down."

My wolf’s joyous whining stopped dead.

I shifted my gaze to Stella.

Her smile didn't reach her eyes, and her knuckles were white where she gripped the crescent chain.

Victor didn't tell her to shut up.

That hurt more than any insult.

I locked my knees so I wouldn't sway. When I spoke, I tasted copper.

"If you’re going to reject me, do it by the ancient law."

The silence in the clearing had teeth.

The Elders frowned.

A Beta rarely dared to demand an Alpha perform the formal Rejection Vow. It meant both sides would suffer the backlash. The one doing the rejecting wouldn't walk away clean.

Victor’s eyes went dark, dangerous.

"You're threatening me with the backlash?"

A laugh bubbled up my throat. It sounded broken.

My chest was already throbbing. The mate bond was tearing at my flesh because he was fighting it. I had to brace my hand against the wooden pillar behind me just to stay on my feet.

"Victor, you are the one rejecting me. I just want you to admit you stepped on me, instead of pretending your boots are clean."

Stella’s face paled. The whispers around us grew frantic.

Victor closed the distance between us. His Alpha aura pressed down on my spine like a physical weight.

"Cecilia. Don't push me."

I lifted my chin higher.

"Say it."

He stared at me for a long time.

The full moon rose behind his shoulder, bathing his face in silver light. It illuminated the tiny shred of hope I’d kept hidden in the dark for years.

And then, he opened his mouth.

"I, Victor, reject Cecilia as my fated mate and future Luna."

The moment the words hit the air, I heard something snap inside me.

The agony started at the base of my skull and drove straight down my spine like a silver spike.

My inner wolf let out a raw, shredded howl. She clawed at my ribs, desperate to run to him, only to be violently yanked back by the rejection vow.

I hit the floor.

Blood dripped onto the wooden planks of the altar. Drop. Drop.

Stella stepped back, pulling her dress away so my blood wouldn't stain it.

Victor’s breathing hitched.

His hand flew to his chest. His face lost its color.

Rejection was never a one-sided torture. Both wolves tied by fate paid the price. Alphas were just strong enough to hide it longer.

The lead Elder saw him wince and immediately pointed a shaking finger at me.

"Cecilia! Accept the rejection and sever the bond!"

I forced my head up, my face smeared with my own blood. I gave them a bloody smile.

"What's the rush?"

Fury rolled off Victor in waves.

"Stop this nonsense."

Nonsense.

Those two words ground my last surviving hope into dust.

I wiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand and used the pillar to drag myself upright.

Every cell in my body screamed in agony. But my wolf wasn't dead. She curled up in the pain, giving me the last bit of her warmth.

I looked Victor dead in the eye.

"I, Cecilia, accept Victor’s rejection."

The bond shattered completely. White-hot agony flared, then vanished into a hollow, freezing emptiness.

Victor let out a harsh grunt. He staggered back half a step, his hand slamming onto the altar to catch himself.

My vision blurred into blackness. The only sound left was the pathetic whimpering of my wolf.

Someone laughed. Someone else grabbed my arms, dragging me away in disgust before my blood could ruin the ceremonial rugs.

Right before I passed out, I heard Stella's soft murmur.

"Take her to the old apothecary. Don't let her ruin the rest of the night."

Victor didn't say a word to stop them.

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