I Am Not Your Mate
1439 Words
Killian’s words still echoed in my head as I stood frozen in the center of the ceremonial grounds, my chest burning from the shattered bond and my wolf whimpering weakly inside me like it no longer knew where it belonged.
“I am not your mate.”
The sentence refused to leave my mind.
The entire pack was watching me now, waiting for me to collapse, but I forced my shaking legs to remain upright even as pain pulsed through my chest again, sharp and unstable, like something inside me was being torn apart piece by piece.
Killian stood before them like nothing had happened, like he hadn’t just destroyed me in front of everyone who had ever believed I would become Luna.
Not once did he look back at me.
Not once did he hesitate.
My fingers curled tightly as I took a step forward, refusing to let my voice disappear.
“Killian… you can’t just erase a bond like that,” I said, my voice breaking despite my effort. “We were chosen. You felt it too.”
A ripple of silence passed through the crowd.
Killian finally looked at me again.
But his eyes were empty.
No warmth.
No recognition.
No bond.
Only finality.
“There was no confirmed bond,” he said coldly. “Only assumption.”
My breath caught painfully.
“That’s not true,” I whispered. “You’re lying.”
A faint murmur rose through the pack, but Killian didn’t react.
Instead, he turned slightly toward the elders.
“Confirm it,” he ordered.
My stomach dropped instantly.
An elder stepped forward hesitantly, avoiding my eyes.
“The Alpha’s bond signature is… unstable,” he said slowly.
Another elder followed.
“There is no enforceable mate link present.”
My knees weakened.
No enforceable link.
That was impossible.
I shook my head quickly. “No… I felt it. I know what I felt.”
But no one answered me.
Because they were not listening anymore.
They were agreeing.
My chest tightened as I looked at Killian again, searching his face for something—anything—that looked like the man I knew.
Nothing.
Behind him, Mia stood perfectly still.
Too calm.
Too quiet.
Too satisfied.
And that was when it started to click inside me.
Slowly.
Painfully.
This wasn’t rejection.
This was planned.
My breath turned uneven.
“Did you know?” I asked softly, my voice shaking as I looked between them.
Silence answered me.
Even Killian did not deny it.
That silence shattered something deeper inside me.
Mia finally stepped forward slightly, her voice soft but clear.
“I accept,” she said.
The pack reacted instantly, shifting and murmuring like everything had already been decided long before I arrived.
And then Killian spoke again.
“Mia will stand as Luna.”
The words hit harder than anything before.
My vision blurred for a second.
Not rejection.
Replacement.
I stepped back slowly, my wolf trembling inside me, weaker now, unstable, as though the bond that had once anchored me to this pack was being erased completely.
“No…” I whispered. “You can’t do this.”
But the elders were already moving.
A ceremonial elder stepped forward.
“By pack law,” he said carefully, “without confirmed bond recognition, the Luna title cannot be upheld.”
My heart dropped.
“I did nothing wrong,” I said quickly, my voice rising. “Nothing was confirmed properly—this isn’t justice.”
No one responded.
Another step backward.
Then another.
Mia’s eyes met mine.
And she smiled.
Not kindly.
Not gently.
But like someone who had already won before the battle even began.
That smile broke something inside me completely.
Because I understood it now.
She had been waiting for this moment.
And Killian had let it happen.
A guard stepped forward behind me.
Then another.
My breath shook as I forced myself not to fall in front of them.
Killian’s voice came again, colder than before.
“This ceremony is concluded.”
My world tilted slightly.
Everything I had ever known… erased in seconds.
And just as the guards moved closer, a distant howl suddenly echoed from beyond the ceremonial grounds—deep, unfamiliar, and sharp enough to slice through the silence.
Every head turned instantly toward the forest line.
Even Killian’s expression shifted slightly.
The air tightened.
Then the howl came again—closer this time.
My chest tightened strangely.
Something inside my wolf stirred weakly… not fear alone, but something I could not understand.
Killian’s voice dropped as he ordered the guards to secure the perimeter, but I barely heard him.
Because all I could feel now was one thing.
Whatever was out there…
was not part of this ceremony.
And it was watching me.
- Writer
