I Turned Down the Moon God’s Blessing

Ariana's POV: Fire devoured my spine. I knelt on the charred stone at the center of the altar and let silver-blue wolf-soul fire stream from my eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Every time the flames touched me, another layer of flesh seemed to peel away, like hot wax sliding down my bones. The pain was enough to tear me apart. At last, I could no longer hold myself up. My body pitched forward, and my chin slammed hard against the stone. The taste of blood filled my mouth. I lay in a pool of my own blood, staring at the dying embers in the fire pit as my vision blurred. "Stop! Ariana! Your wolf soul is almost burned out!" Eleanor Ward, the High Priestess, rushed forward and pressed down on my trembling shoulders. "No. I cannot stop." I turned my head with difficulty. Blood-tinged foam slid down the corner of my mouth. Every breath felt like swallowing broken glass. "Kyle is challenging the Alpha of the neighboring pack." I clawed at the ground so hard my nails carved deep marks into the stone. "That is Logan Pierce, the warrior they call Bloodfang. If Kyle cannot win, he will be torn apart. I have to bless him. I am his only protection." Eleanor's hands went still. She stayed silent for a few seconds. Then tears welled in her cloudy eyes. "Silly child. Did he never tell you?" "Tell me what?" I struggled to raise my head and looked at her through my blurred vision. "He won long ago." Eleanor's voice was blunt and merciless, slicing away the last of my hope. "Yesterday, he took Bloodfang's territory and held his ascension ceremony. He became the new Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack." My heart clenched hard. I didn't understand. Why had he not told me? Why had he shut off the two-way mate bond between us? He wouldn't let me sense what was happening to him. Was he also trying not to feel that I was still covered in blood and blessing him with everything I had? Eleanor turned her face away, unable to look at me. "And at the ceremony, he marked Lena in front of the entire Blood Moon Pack." The air froze in that instant. 'Lena?' She was the gentle, fragile Omega who ran out of breath after only a few steps. She was his childhood friend and his stepsister. Her innocent smile flashed before my eyes, and a tearing pain ripped through my chest. 'No. Impossible.' A violent impulse seized me. I forced the last shred of awareness I had toward the fated mate bond buried deep in my soul. "Kyle!" I screamed through the mind link. "Is it true? Is the challenge over? Why did you not tell me? I feel like I am dying. I need to end this blessing. I can't hold on anymore." The bond that had always been open between us now felt like a rusted wire. Only coldness and distance came through. "I am sorry, Ariana. Something happened here, so I had to shut down the bond between us. Listen to me. You have to hold on for me right now." His voice turned sharp. "Lena is past the worst of it, but only just. She took a blade for me in the great hall and almost died. I can't leave her now." My ears rang. Through the agony tearing through my soul, I forced out another sentence. "What about me, Kyle? Don't you know how bad my condition is? Can't you feel my pain?" "Ariana!" he snapped, cutting me off. His voice was full of suspicion and impatience. "You can't choose a time like this to throw a tantrum. Lena was hurt because of me. How can you just leave her to suffer?" Tears mixed with blood and slid down my face. "Kyle, I really am in so much pain." "Listen, Ariana. I know this is hard, but I need you to hold on for at least three more days." His voice softened a little, but it carried that familiar, sickening condescension. "Only three days. Once Lena is out of danger, I will come back for you. I promise I will give you a proper place at my side." So that was all he thought I wanted, a proper place at his side. The words sounded like the cruelest mockery. My wolf soul was about to turn to ash in the fire. My body was growing colder by the second. Yet he thought I was suffering for a title. A sharp burning pain suddenly shot through the bond. He was pressing down on my mind by force and shutting off the two-way bond again. He knew exactly how much pain I was in. He simply chose not to feel it. As long as he didn't sense it, he could pretend none of it was happening. I spat out a mouthful of black blood. It splashed across the hem of Eleanor's white robe. I curled up on the ground like a dog with a broken spine, too weak even to whimper. Eleanor crouched down and wiped the blood from my face with her rough palm. "The Moon Goddess has let you see this man clearly, Ariana. What will you do now?" I lay on the cold ground and looked up at the indifferent moon above the altar. Kyle wanted three days. But my wolf soul couldn't even last six hours. I slowly lifted my left hand, the only hand I could still move, and watched silver specks of light fade from my fingertips. That was my life, scattering in the wind. After a long moment, I forced out a bleak smile. My voice was hoarse, and every word tasted of blood. "Eleanor, help me make arrangements. I want to give this honor back to the Moon Goddess." I wouldn't torment myself anymore for a man who wasn't worth it. I wouldn't keep draining my dying wolf soul for him. I wanted to return to my pack and reunite with my family. I wanted to sever this fated bond I had clung to for so many years. Before I lost consciousness, I saw Eleanor gathering straw and frozen soil to make an effigy my size. I knew she would help me. Three days later, on the night of the full moon, everything between Kyle and me would end for good.