CHAPTER 2
1111 Words
Valen Grey
Did she think I was going to make her my mate? Silly girl, there was no way. I was going to make her mate.
Immediately, I requested the mate-severing ritual but it wasn’t optional once an alpha declared rejection.
"There is only one thing left to do"
The elders said as they immediately formed the binding circle.
"What's going on here"
I was extremely confused. I assumed that all that needed to happen was my rejection.
Nothing more or nothing less but I couldn't see that there were marks on the ground
Mating rune-marks burned that into the ground, forcing a split between us the bond-carriers.
I couldn’t fight it. The rules are older than every arcane treaty. Truly this was the destiny of the moon goddess, I couldn't fight it.
"Why is she still here?"
I questioned because I didn't understand what was happening here. Then an elder spoke to my clarity.
"A rejected wolf isn’t banished unless the alpha calls it."
What did that even mean? Could it mean that the humiliation I had put her through was not going to get her banished anyway.
With a deep sigh, I agreed to the ritual.
I stood there, looking at her disgusted with her presence. Why did the moon goddess choose this mistake for me?
As the ritual ran, something unusual occurred.
The tether which I held snapped from my hand, but instead of dissolving into nothing like normal broken mate strings which was a custom.
The arcane glowed shrank and drove into her.
"What is happening?"
I questioned because I had never seen anything like this before.
I watched her fall to the ground as it began sinking beneath her ribs.
The elders froze as we were all shocked to see this.
None of them spoke about it publicly afterward. She was in pain, my wolf could feel it.
But then there was something worse. I couldn't understand it. I didn’t tell anyone that the energy felt alive in her.
Everyone separated as she left the festival. I concluded that it was best for her at this point. I didn't want her and how I rejected and severed ties with her should have sent her a clear message.
***
Lyra Ash
I left the festival before the second day. I couldn't risk it, I didn't want to.
The humiliation was enough but then something happened. I could feel it inside me.
My wolf was not the same. The bind I shared with Valen had done something to me. I just couldn't put a finger on it.
Now, I was without my pack, most territories are extremely dangerous.
So I knew I had one option and that was to head towards Arcspire.
It was a spell-research facility operated openly.
I had to leave my home here in Lunaris. There was no way I was ever going to be normal.
It was going to worse than when I didn't even half my wolf
I was going to be taunted and humiliated till I had no will to live.
And Valen Grey, he had done the unthinkable because who marks their mate and rejects them the way he did?
He even requested the bond ties be severed, that is why I'm the way I am. My wolf was extremely disoriented.
I stayed close to the border to avoid suspicion. I saw werewolves crossing into mage land without clear diplomatic intent. They were always watched.
But anomalies draw attention faster, so I kept moving through backroads, hidden wolf-paths carved through the wilderness.
When it had gotten to the third night, I understood just how unsafe the woods had become.
A rogue demon unit crossed the border from Grimholt, hunting for spell-carriers.
They killed smaller supernatural creatures for energy traces. I didn't understand how much trouble I was actually in at this point.
"Lyra, you're going to be fine. Just breathe"
I tried to console myself because I still believed the ritual had been poison for emergencies. I wasn't aware that there was magic within me.
So therefore did nothing productive with the magic inside me yet. I simply stood by the trees and hid, hoping nothing would befall me.
Just then a mage lightning fight broke out around me.
An enemy mage aimed a storm-strike spell. I could visibly see them. My heart panicked as I begged the moon goddess for her help.
"Help me"
I cried. I wasn't aware I could protect myself. I knew that life outside Lunaris was full of magic and brutality but I didn't expect it to be this bad.
I just had to face the path I had chosen.
I didn’t defend myself with an incantation. My body reacted faster.
The magic inside me was like a wind. I didn't believe I was doing this. I couldn't believe I had it in me
It clawed upward, met the storm-strike and ate it. The lightning didn’t explode outward. It folded inward and vanished into my chest. It felt stronger instantly so I ran.
***
Why did I run?
I ran because I knew the consequence of what had happened.
The Mage Council didn't tolerate unregistered energy-absorption. It was a taboo for anyone to possess that type of energy.
Long ago the idea that creatures who could take spells can also corrupt them was created because of how powerful it was to do something like that.
I knew the harsh reality of what I was going to face but how did I get here? I only had one person to blame. Valen Grey.
As I ran, I needed sleep. I was able to find a cozy spot to lay my head but when I opened my eyes two council wardens were looking at me.
They had caught me at dawn. They didn’t attack, they simply stared and studied me.
They looked at me like a danger they weren’t sure how to touch. I looked at my hands that were tied and looked back at them.
The one of them said quietly,
“Spell-absorption isn’t wolf magic.”
But I already knew that
The other answered,
“Her blood is doing it, not a spell focus.”
How could I tell them this was caused by a forced broken mate bond.
Once I made it through. It looked like I was arrested for study, not execution.
As I got there, there were questions about me flying everywhere and when the elders ran the blood-sight diagnostic over me.
The moon mark that appeared glowing on my skin wasn’t a wolf rune at all, it was an origin sigil.
"This is a rare occurrence"
I heard them gasp in curiosity.
- Writer
