CHAPTER 1: THE NIGHT THE BOND BROKE
Something was off with the moon.
Alyssa sensed it as soon as she stepped outside. It hovered too low, bloated and heavy, spilling pale light over the forest almost like a warning. The air pressed against her: thick, smothering, and it made her wolf stir restlessly under her skin.
Something’s off.
That voice yeah, not hers.
Her wolf was talking.
Her chest buzzed with an uneasy growl. Alyssa crossed her arms, trying to ignore the strange ache twisting up inside her. It wasn’t pain. Not yet. Just tension like a cord stretched to breaking.
Like a thread that’s about to snap.
“Calm down,” she whispered, voice shaky. Her wolf wasn’t having it.
He’s lying.
She stopped breathing. Her heart dropped. No. No way. Her mate wouldn’t lie. It wasn’t possible.
Mates were bonded truth, loyalty, love. That was the promise.
But everything had shifted over the past few weeks. He was distant. Cold. His touch barely lingered, his eyes darted away from hers, and tonight he’d disappeared without a word.
Again.
Alyssa’s fists went white. “Stop overthinking,” she muttered. She didn’t believe it, not anymore.
Because the bond, it flickered.
Like a flame being snuffed out.
Her wolf snarled.
Find him.
And this time, Alyssa let the wolf lead.
She moved through the forest, feet soft against the ground. The pack house lights faded and instinct took over, drawing her deeper into the territory.
No thinking needed.
The bond tugged at her, thin but strong, leading her right to him.
Every step made her chest feel tighter. Every breath heavier.
Then
A sound.
Muffled. Breathless. A woman’s voice.
Alyssa froze, muscles locked.
No.
No, please
Her wolf exploded, snarling in her mind.
Go.
Her heart hammered. Slow. Then faster. Then wild.
She edged forward.
The trees thinned. And she saw
Her world just fell apart.
Her mate stood there back against a tree, hands on a woman’s waist, lips roaming her skin.
Alyssa’s lungs stopped working. The world tilted. She stared, trapped, her brain refusing to catch up with her eyes.
“No…” It barely came out.
But the bond didn’t lie. It twisted, surged, cracked.
Her wolf howled rough, guttural, soul-deep.
TRAITOR.
The woman turned toward the moonlight.
Alyssa’s heart? It didn’t just break.
It stopped.
She knew that face. That smile. That voice.
“Lily?”
Her sister.
Everything went quiet. Even the wind.
Her mate tensed, slowly turning.
And his eyes met hers
Guilt. Shock. Fear.
Alyssa felt something inside her snap. Literally. Her mate bond shattered.
The pain hit. Fierce. Blinding.
She screamed, knees buckling, hands clawing her chest, as if she could hold herself together.
She couldn’t.
It felt like something vital was being ripped out something sacred.
Her wolf thrashed, howling in agony.
He broke us… HE BROKE US!
“Make it stop” Alyssa gasped, vision smeared with tears.
It didn’t stop. It got worse.
The bond burned, then tore apart completely.
Nothing left but emptiness.
Cold. Dead. Gone.
“Alyssa wait…”
His voice.
She flinched.
She’d never hated a sound more.
“Don’t say my name.” The words came out broken and dangerous.
She lifted her head, tears glistening, eyes locking on him. Then her sister.
Lily stepped back, arms wrapped around herself. No shame in her face just annoyance.
“I didn’t mean for you to find out like this,” Lily’s voice was too soft.
Alyssa stared. Something inside her shifted.
“You didn’t mean” she repeated, voice eerily calm.
Her wolf quieted. Not in fear. Not in pain. Just still.
Her mate reached out. “It’s not what it looks like…”
Alyssa laughed. It sounded terrible, shattered, like someone else.
“Not what it looks like?” she whispered. “You were inside my sister.”
Silence thickened.
No way out. No way back.
Her wolf rose again.
But not in pain.
In rage.
Pure, raw rage.
We will destroy them.
Alyssa stood, shaking, gaze icy.
“You broke the bond,” she said, looking him dead in the eye.
He paled.
“I didn't mean to”
“But you did.”
Her words cut sharp.
She turned on Lily.
“And you, you were never my sister.”
Lily scoffed, defensive. “Oh please, don’t act like a victim”
Alyssa moved.
Fast.
Lightning fast.
She grabbed Lily’s throat, slammed her against the tree. The crack echoed.
Lily gasped, eyes wide.
“You don’t get to speak,” Alyssa said, voice soft but full of venom.
Her wolf surged eyes flashed gold.
For a moment
A heartbeat
She wanted to end it.
End them.
“Alyssa! Stop!”
His voice snapped her out of it.
That hesitation
Just a second
Enough.
Alyssa let go, stepped back as if burned.
Her chest shook, hands trembled, body ready to collapse.
But she didn’t fall.
She smiled instead.
And it was terrifying.
“You know what?” she said quietly, wiping her tears away.
“I’m glad.”
Both of them froze.
“What?” her mate sounded lost.
Alyssa tilted her head, calm too calm.
“Because now,” her voice dropped, dark and dangerous
“I don’t have to feel guilty about what I’m going to do next.”
A chill swept the forest.
Even the wind pulled back.
Her wolf purred.
Yes
Alyssa stepped back, gaze lingering one last time.
Broken. Betrayed. Not weak.
“You didn’t just break me tonight,” she said.
“You created something worse.”
She turned.
Walked away.
Hidden in the shadows, unseen
Cold eyes watched.
The Alpha.
He witnessed the betrayal, felt the bond snap.
Now he watched Alyssa leave her world shattered.
His lips tugged not with amusement, but with interest.
“Finally,” he whispered.
Because the broken ones?
They’re always the most dangerous.
