CHAPTER4
1188 Words
CHAPTER FOUR: Fractured Bonds
Aria’s footsteps were unsteady as she walked into the forest, the shadows of towering trees swallowing her whole. She wasn’t sure where she was going, only that she needed to be far from the pack, far from Dominic, and far from Kiera, the sister who had slipped from her life like water through her fingers.
The world felt like it had shattered into a thousand pieces, each moment sharp, scraping against her insides with every breath.
Kiera is alive.
It was a truth that had turned everything she had ever known into dust.
Aria’s hand reached out to steady herself against a nearby tree, her breath coming in shallow gasps. The pain in her chest was unbearable, a constant ache that gnawed at her soul. She wanted to scream, to rage against the unfairness of it all. She had thought Kiera was gone forever—lost to the river’s ruthless current. But now? Now her sister was alive, and she didn’t even remember her.
A soft rustling in the distance caught her attention, pulling her from the fog of her thoughts. Aria straightened, her body tensing instinctively. She hadn’t heard anyone follow her.
Could it be Dominic?
The rustling grew louder, and then a figure emerged from the darkness, walking toward her with slow, deliberate steps.
The moonlight caught their broad-shouldered, unmistakably familiar.
Aria froze, her heart hammering in her chest.
Dominic.
He didn’t say a word as he closed the distance between them, his expression unreadable, his eyes cold. For a moment, they just stood there, staring at one another in the thick silence that had settled between them.
“I told you to leave me alone,” Aria said, her voice barely above a whisper, but sharp enough to cut through the tension. She didn’t want him here—not now, not when everything was falling apart.
“I couldn’t,”
Dominic replied,
His voice is low, steady.
“You’re my mate, Aria. I can’t just let you go.”
The words hit her like a physical blow. She had heard them a thousand times before, but now, in the aftermath of everything, they felt hollow. The connection they shared, if it had ever been real, felt strained, suffocating. He had never been the one she needed. Not when it mattered most.
“Then what are you doing here?” she demanded, her chest tightening with frustration. “You have Kiera now.
You have her.
What do you want from me?
Dominic was raw in her voice, but he didn’t back away. He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. “I’m not here to hurt you, Aria. But I can’t let you walk away from me. You’re my Luna. You belong with me.”
The words should have comforted her. They should have made her feel like she had a place. But all they did was make the emptiness inside her deepen.
Her eyes flickered to the ground, the weight of her grief pressing down on her shoulders like an invisible burden. I’ve never belonged to anyone but myself.
“I’m not your Luna,” she whispered, the words tasting bitter on her tongue. “Not anymore.”
There was a long, painful silence as Dominic seemed to process her words. His face tightened, and for a moment, Aria thought he might argue, and might try to convince her to stay. But instead, his gaze softened, his expression darkening with a mixture of sorrow and something else, something that Aria couldn’t quite place.
“You’re right,” he said quietly, as if the admission took everything out of him. But you’re still my mate. And I can’t just walk away from that. From you.”
Aria didn’t know what to say to her. She felt trapped between the past and the present, between what she wanted and what was expected of her. She longed to break free from this suffocating bond. But the truth was, she didn’t know how.
Suddenly, the night seemed to close in on her, the darkness pressing in from all sides. The weight of everything she had lost, Kiera, her family, her freedom, crushed her, and she felt the tears she had been holding back finally spill over. She wiped them away angrily, but the damage was done.
She couldn’t stop the sob that escaped her lips, the sound raw and unrestrained.
Dominic’s hand shot out, instinctively reaching for her. But Aria jerked back, pulling away from him, her chest tight with the need for space.
“No,” she choked out, her voice trembling. “I can’t. I can’t do this anymore.”
The words hung in the air between them, suffocating and final.
Dominic’s hand hovered in the air, caught between reaching for her and respecting her space. He seemed to struggle with what to do next, his brows furrowed in confusion and frustration. Finally, he dropped his hand, his shoulders slumping as he took a step back.
“I never meant for this to happen,” he said, his voice rough with guilt. I didn’t ask for this, Aria. I didn’t want any of this to fall apart.”
Aria didn’t respond. She didn’t know what to say. The truth was, she had always known that her bond with Dominic wasn’t what it was supposed to be. She had always felt like an outsider in her own life, like a passenger in someone else’s story. Now, standing here in the dark, facing the man who had been her mate, she realized that the life she had wanted, the one she had fought for, wasn't coming back.
“I have to go,” Aria whispered, her heart heartbreaking as she said the words. She took a step back, away from him. “I can’t stay here. I don’t belong here.”
Dominic’s eyes darkened, his expression hardening with a mixture of regret and anger.
“You don’t belong here?”
He repeated, his voice low.
Where do you think you belong?
Aria?
Huh?
"Do you think you can just walk away from this pack, from everything?”
Aria’s heart skipped a beat, but she refused to let him control her. She had walked away from everything before. She could do it again.
“I’ll find my own way,” she said quietly, her gaze never leaving his. “I’ve been alone before. I can do it again.”
She didn’t wait for his response. She turned and walked deeper into the forest, her heart pounding in her chest. The farther she went, the clearer the path became. She didn’t know where she was headed, but for the first time in a long time, she felt like she was finally moving toward something other than the life she had been trapped in for so long.
Behind her, Dominic stood motionless, watching her disappear into the night. His heart was heavy, his mind a storm of emotions he couldn’t sort through. He had never expected her to leave. Not like this.
But she was leaving.
And for the first time, Dominic realized that he might have already lost her.
- Writer
