A sharp pain lanced through my chest, stealing the air from my lungs.
It didn’t come immediately.
For one terrifying second, everything went still.
It felt like someone reached into my chest and ripped something out with bare hands.
My wolf screamed inside me a sound so raw and broken that it made my vision blur.
Gasps filled the pack hall.
Some pitied me.
Most were satisfied.
“Please…” I whispered, my knees giving way beneath me. “Ryan… don’t do this.”
His jaw tightened, but there was no hesitation in his eyes.
“I refuse to be mated to a weak omega,” he said coldly. “You would embarrass me as Luna.”
Me?
The words were sharper than claws.
The mate bond flickered, unstable now.
My wolf curled into herself, trembling.
“You’re making a mistake,” one of the elders murmured carefully.
Ryan didn’t even look at them.
“I have made my decision.”
And with that, he turned his back on me.
Just like that.
Like I was nothing.
The rejection sealed.
Our bond shattered.
And something inside me changed.
Because in the ashes of heartbreak…
Something ancient stirred.
Something different but felt powerful.
Something strange and wrong
Yet fulfilling