He Gave My Luna Ring To Beta, I Broke Bond

"The pup's heart has stopped." The pack doctor pushed the medical report toward me. When I arrived at the pack clinic 3 days ago, my child had still been alive. Darian Blackwood had always refused to complete our shared Moonmark. The incomplete bond let me feel his emotions but kept him from feeling my pain. The moment our pup's heart stopped, a rush of Darian's triumph flooded through the bond. He had won the border war. Our child died after we had spent 3 hours waiting for his approval. The Silvermoon Serum was right there in the Moonwell dispensary. If I had received it in time, the pup might have survived. But the Moonwell gate never opened. I was the Luna of Ravenridge Pack, yet Darian's chief Beta, Megan Reed, held the Luna signet ring. When the first request reached Megan, she demanded that a second pack doctor confirm the diagnosis. When the second arrived, she insisted on verifying that I hadn't exaggerated my condition. With my hand slick with blood, I called Darian's private line seven times. Megan answered the last call for him. "The Alpha is presiding over the victory council session." Her voice was gentle and patronizing, the way someone might soothe a spoiled child. "He gave strict orders not to disturb him unless someone had already died." "My child is going to die." "Elara, every time you don't get what you want, you act as though the whole world is ending." She paused, then added softly, "The pack just fought a war. You can't expect every resource to go to you first just because you're carrying the Alpha's pup." By the time the final authorization came through, it was already too late for the serum to help. I folded the report and slipped it into my old leather bag. As I stepped out of the pack clinic, Darian's name lit up on my comm stone. It was the first time in months that he had called me on his own. "Your Moonwell access and personal guards have been restored." His voice was almost tender. "As long as you stop opposing Megan at every turn and learn Ravenridge's rules, I'll take care of you." I lowered my gaze to my cuff. A dark bloodstain still clung to the fabric. "Is that why you called?" "I wanted to hear your voice too. The victory banquet is tonight, so stop giving Megan trouble. She's cleaned up enough of your messes already." I ended the call and went to Ravenridge Keep. Darian was signing documents in his office. Megan stood to his right, still wearing her silver-gray banquet gown. When she raised a hand to turn a page, I saw the black Luna signet ring on her finger. It should have been on mine. When the war began, Darian had said he was only lending it to her. The war had been over for 2 weeks, but he still hadn't taken it back. "I want to end our mate bond," I said. Darian kept writing. "Because the Moonwell opened a few hours late?" He finished signing the document before he finally looked up at me. "Your access has been restored. Don't turn a problem that's already been fixed into a crisis in our marriage." "It hasn't been fixed." "Megan was following my orders." His tone hardened. "She didn't have to ignore every rule just because you panicked." Megan lowered her eyes. "Alpha, please don't blame the Luna. She was frightened at the time. I understand." Darian's expression softened the moment he looked at her. "You're always defending her." Then he turned back to me, his patience clearly gone. "You pressured her in front of the pack doctors to release our most tightly controlled emergency serum, then accused her of trying to harm your child. Do you have any idea how humiliating that was for her?" I stared at him. So he knew there had been a problem with the child. He simply hadn't believed it was as serious as I said. "What happened to our child wasn't some mess for Megan to clean up," I said. "I want to reject our bond." Darian leaned back in his chair. After 2 seconds of silence, he laughed. "We never even completed the Moonmark. What exactly do you think there is to reject?" He had made me Luna 3 years earlier, but he had repeatedly postponed completing the mark, claiming the war made it too dangerous to expose his weakness. He demanded my loyalty while refusing to share his senses or his authority. Now that refusal had become the reason he was so certain I could never leave him. "Go back and rest." He stood and calmly fastened his cuff. "I'll bring you honey muffins after the banquet. We'll talk when you've calmed down. No one in their right mind would throw away a once-in-a-lifetime fated mate bond just to make a point." He walked toward me and reached out to brush the loose hair from my forehead. I stepped back. His hand froze in midair. For the first time, a frown creased his brow. I didn't explain again. I simply turned and left. As I walked out of the keep, the Moon Council's response appeared on my comm stone. My petition had been accepted. All I had to do was reject him aloud beneath the moon and cross the Ravenridge border myself. The fated mate bond would then be severed for good. There would be no taking it back.