Unbroken bond

Chapter 4

Killian’s POV

The moon was a witness, and I hated it.

I stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at the sea of faces in my father's house, and all I felt was a suffocating pressure in my chest. Everyone was waiting for the "Great Alpha" to awaken. They wanted the power, the glory, the predestined path.

I just wanted a drink and for everyone to stop looking at me like I was a prize stallion.

Clare draped herself over me, her scent—some flowery perfume that usually smelled fine—suddenly making my stomach churn. I kissed her back, but it was a reflex. A performance. I was looking over her shoulder for the only person who actually made this room tolerable.

Black.

He was standing by the pillar, looking pale and half-vibrating with tension. My best friend. My anchor. Seeing him there grounded me. Just hold on for ten minutes, Raz, I thought. Once this midnight crap is over, we’re getting out of here.

But then the clock started its final crawl to midnight, and the world began to tilt.

It started as a hum in my blood. Then, a roar. My wolf, which had been a quiet companion for twenty years, suddenly slammed against the walls of my mind like a caged beast.

3... 2... 1...

The transition didn't just happen; it exploded. Every nerve ending in my body caught fire. I hit my knees, the floorboards cracking under the sudden surge of Alpha weight. I felt my bones shift, my senses sharpening until I could hear the heartbeat of every person in the room.

And then, I felt it.

A golden pull. A tether, thick and warm, snapping into place with the force of a heart-start. It didn't feel like a stranger. It felt like... home.

Mate, my wolf howled, a sound of pure, primal triumph. Ours. Finally.

I followed the golden light, my heart hammering against my ribs. My soul was reaching out, ready to claim the person on the other end. I expected a stranger. I expected some Omega from a neighboring pack or a girl I’d never met.

The light didn't go to a stranger. It didn't go to Clare, who was standing right in front of me with her arms open.

It arched across the room, straight to the back, and buried itself in the chest of the boy in the black hoodie.

Raziel.

My vision blurred. My Best Friend. My Beta. My "Black."

The realization hit me harder than the transition. The moon hadn't given me a partner; it had stolen my sanctuary. It had taken the one person I could be myself with—the person who didn't care about my title—and turned him into a biological obligation.

No.

The word echoed in my mind, cold and sharp. If Raziel was my mate, I would never be free again. Every time I looked at him, I’d see a "destiny" I didn't choose. I’d see the moon’s hand on my throat.

The heat in the bond was overwhelming. It was trying to force me to run to him, to nuzzle into his neck, to show the whole world that I belonged to a Beta.

The Blair line didn't belong to anyone.

I looked at Raziel. He was reaching for me, his eyes full of a hope that made me want to scream. He looked ready to accept it. He looked ready to let the bond swallow us both.

The panic rose up, hot and oily, drowning out the love I had for him. I saw the "strings" Mila had talked about. I saw a lifetime of being "The Alpha and his Beta mate," a story written before I was even born.

"No," I whispered.

The bond flared, trying to soothe me, trying to show me the beauty of the connection. I shoved it back. I used every ounce of my new Alpha authority to slam a wall down between us.

"I said no!"

I saw him flinch. I saw the confusion in his eyes. It hurt—god, it hurt like a physical wound—but the fear of being "owned" was stronger. I had spent twenty-one years being the Alpha-in-waiting. I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life being a slave to a soul-bond.

"I am the heir to the Blair line," I spat, my voice sounding like a stranger's. I needed to be cruel. If I wasn't cruel, I’d give in. If I wasn't cruel, I’d go to him and I’d never be free again. "I am not being tied down to a Beta. I am not being 'destined' to my own shadow."

I walked toward him, my wolf screaming in agony at what I was about to do. I could feel Raziel’s heartbeat—it was frantic, terrified.

Do it now, the dark part of my mind whispered. Cut the cord before you lose your nerve.

"I, Killian Blair, Alpha heir of the Blackwood lineage, reject you, Raziel Black, as my fated mate."

The snap was deafening. Not in the room, but in my soul.

It felt like a part of my brain had been cauterized. The warmth, the cedar-and-rain connection, the shared heartbeat—it all died in an instant. I felt a hollow void open up where my heart used to be.I watched him fall.

I watched my best friend—the boy who had cleaned my knuckles and shared his fries and kept my secrets—collapse into a heap of agony on the floor.

My wolf went silent. Not a peaceful silent, but the silence of a grave.I wanted to reach out.

I wanted to scream that I was sorry. But the room was watching. My father was watching. The "Kings of the Campus" had to be strong.

"Party's over," I barked.

I didn't look at Mila’s horrified face. I didn't look at Clare. I definitely didn't look at the broken boy on the floor.

I walked out into the cold night air, my lungs burning as if I’d inhaled broken glass. I was free. I had fought the moon and I had won.

So why did it feel like I was the one who had just died?