Damon's POV
The bond didn't break.
It was ripped out by the roots.
Rhein screamed. Not a growl. Not the usual snarl he threw at me whenever her name came up. A high, broken sound. The noise of an animal that knows it's dying.
She severed the mate bond. She rejected me.
My hands locked on the wheel. The car drifted, fishtailed on the wet asphalt, and I dragged it straight again on instinct alone.
Impossible.
Aria Grayson, who'd made her father kneel for this marriage. Aria, who'd clawed her way into the title "Mrs. Hawthorne" over Liam's grave. That woman did not give up power. She hoarded it.
This was a stunt. A new one. She'd dangle the broken bond in front of me, wait for me to come running, and then—
I didn't finish the thought. I just drove faster.
By the time I reached the h
