Broken Bond
1861 Words
The applause had just begun to swell again after the last diploma was handed out, the Alpha stepping forward to give what was meant to be a triumphant closing speech—words about unity, strength, and the future of the pack.
Nick barely heard any of it.
At first, it was a strange pressure in his chest, sharp and sudden, like the air had been ripped from his lungs. He frowned, a hand lifting instinctively to his sternum.
Then it hit.
Pain exploded through him like a blade driven straight into his heart.
Nick let out a strangled, inhuman sound as his knees buckled beneath him. He crashed to the ground, clutching his chest, his body curling in on itself as a howl tore from his throat—raw, broken, and filled with agony.
The ceremony dissolved into chaos.
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Chairs scraped violently against the ground as people jumped to their feet, heads snapping in every direction, instincts screaming attack, threat, danger.
“What’s happening?!” someone shouted.
“Is it an ambush?!”
The Alpha was already moving.
He reached his son in seconds, dropping to his knees beside him. “Nick!” he barked, his commanding voice cracking for the first time in years. “What is happening? Are you hurt? Who did this to you?!”
But Nick couldn’t answer.
His body thrashed violently, muscles seizing as another wave of pain tore through him. His claws dug into the ground, his back arching as he let out another tortured howl, the sound sending chills down every spine present.
“Doctor!” the Alpha roared, panic finally bleeding through his authority. “I need a doctor—now!”
Lori’s parents were already pushing through the crowd.
Doctor Alex dropped beside Nick, his experienced hands glowing faintly as he tried to assess him, while Luna knelt on the other side, tears already streaming down her face.
“Nick, look at me,” Alex said urgently. “Tell me where it hurts.”
Nick screamed in response, his body convulsing uncontrollably.
“This isn’t physical trauma,” Alex muttered grimly. “We need to move him—now. To the clinic.”
“Clear the way!” the Alpha shouted.
The graduation ceremony was abandoned entirely, forgotten in seconds as warriors and elders scrambled, forming a protective corridor. Nick was lifted—still thrashing, still howling—and rushed toward the pack clinic, his cries echoing through the clearing like a death knell.
--
Inside the clinic, the atmosphere was suffocating.
The Alpha paced like a caged beast, fists clenched, jaw tight, his authority unraveling thread by thread as his son’s screams pierced through the closed door of the treatment room.
Luna sat rigid in a chair, her hands shaking as tears slid silently down her cheeks. She pressed them to her mouth, whispering prayers to the Moon Goddess under her breath.
“Make it stop,” she sobbed. “Please… make it stop.”
Minutes stretched into an eternity.
Then—slowly—the screams began to fade.
They didn’t stop abruptly. They dwindled, breaking into hoarse gasps, then weak whimpers, until finally there was only silence.
The door opened.
Doctor Alex stepped out, his face pale, conflicted, and grave in a way that made the Alpha’s blood run cold.
He was at Alex’s side instantly. “How is he?” the Alpha demanded. “What’s happening to my son?”
“I gave him a strong sedative,” Alex said quietly. “He’s unconscious now. It was the only way to stop the pain.”
“But what caused it?” the Alpha pressed, his voice rising. “Was it poison? A curse? An attack?”
Alex hesitated.
That hesitation was everything.
“What?” the Alpha growled. “Tell me.”
Alex swallowed hard. “What Nick experienced… was the severing of a mate bond.”
The room went deathly still.
“A what?” the Alpha asked, his voice sharp with disbelief. “That’s impossible. He doesn’t have a chosen mate.”
Alex nodded slowly. “I know, as I could not see any marking on this body.”
“Then explain,” Luna whispered, dread coiling in her chest.
Alex looked between them, his expression heavy. “There is only one remaining explanation.”
The Alpha’s eyes widened. “No,” he said immediately. “That can’t be—”
“He was rejected,” Alex said quietly. “By his fated mate.”
The words hit like thunder.
“What?!” the Alpha roared, the sound shaking the walls. “That’s impossible! It is impossible for us to recognise our fated mates by ourselves. If the Messenger,.. He would have felt the bond form—he would have known, and clearly a rejection would not happen! The fated mates are vital for the strength of our line, of our pack!”
Alex met his gaze, unflinching despite the Alpha’s fury. “Probably he did feel it. Even if he didn’t understand it. And when his fated mate accepted his rejection… the bond shattered.”
Silence fell again, thick and horrifying.
Luna’s hand flew to her chest as she gasped. “Rejected…?”
“Yes,” Alex said softly. “And judging by the intensity of the pain… it happened moments ago. Clean. Final.”
The Alpha staggered back a step, his world tilting violently.
Rejected.
By his fated mate.
--
Nick woke with a sharp gasp, his body jerking upright before the haze in his mind slowly began to clear.
The pain—the unbearable, soul-ripping agony from earlier—was gone.
He sucked in a long, shaky breath, his chest rising and falling hard, as if he had just surfaced from deep water. For a moment, relief washed over him.
Then he felt it.
The emptiness.
It wasn’t pain, not exactly. It was worse. A hollow ache sat in the center of his chest, like something vital had been carved out and left behind nothing but cold air and echoes. His hand drifted there instinctively, fingers curling into the thin clinic sheet.
“What the hell…” he rasped.
“You’re awake,” Doctor Alex said from beside the bed, his voice calm but watchful. “How are you feeling?”
Nick let out a bitter, humorless laugh. “Like hell,” he said hoarsely. “Like something ripped me open and forgot to put me back together.”
Alex studied him for a long moment. “That sensation is… expected, given what happened.”
Nick turned sharply toward him. “What did happen?” His brow furrowed. “I’ve never felt anything like that in my life. It felt like I was dying.”
Before Alex could answer, the door opened.
Luna rushed in first.
“Nick,” she cried, her voice breaking as she crossed the room in three quick steps and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face into his shoulder. “Oh, my pup… Moon Goddess, thank you…”
Nick stiffened in surprise before slowly lifting an arm to hug her back, confusion tightening his chest even more.
Behind her, the Alpha entered.
He stopped just inside the doorway, his imposing frame rigid, his expression dark and unreadable. His eyes burned as they fixed on his son, and Nick felt the weight of that gaze like a physical force.
Doctor Alex cleared his throat softly. “I’ll give you some privacy,” he said, sensing the storm in the room. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
The door closed.
Silence fell heavy and oppressive.
Luna finally pulled back, cupping Nick’s face gently, her eyes red and swollen. “You scared us,” she whispered. “I thought I was going to lose you.”
Nick swallowed. “I don’t understand what happened,” he said. “One moment I was fine, the next—” He shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. What doctor Alex said? What was wrong with me?”
“That’s because you’re a fool,” the Alpha said coldly.
Nick looked up.
His father took a step forward. Then another. His voice was tight, controlled, but barely holding together.
“Do you have any idea,” the Alpha said slowly, “how important it is for the future of this pack that you find and secure your fated mate?”
Nick frowned, unease crawling up his spine. “Of course I do. I’m not an idiot.”
“Good,” the Alpha snapped. “Then tell me this—what the hell did you just do?”
Nick blinked. “What do you mean?”
The Alpha’s composure shattered.
“You rejected her,” he roared. “You rejected your fated mate!”
“What?!” Nick shouted back, his heart slamming against his ribs. “That’s impossible!”
Luna gasped. “Please, both of you—”
“I didn’t reject anyone!” Nick insisted, his voice rising, panic bleeding through. “I don’t even know who my fated mate is!”
The Alpha lunged forward and grabbed Nick by the front of his gown, yanking him upright despite the Luna’s cries.
“Then explain the broken bond!” he bellowed. “Explain the pain that nearly killed you!”
Nick’s hands flew to his father’s wrists. “Let go of me! I swear that I have no idea!”
“Enough!” Luna cried, pushing between them, shoving the Alpha back. “You’re hurting him!”
Breathing hard, the Alpha stepped away, his chest heaving, his eyes blazing with barely restrained rage. He dragged a hand through his hair and turned his back for a moment, forcing himself to inhale slowly.
When he faced Nick again, his voice was quieter.
But far more dangerous.
“I need you to think,” he said through clenched teeth. “Hard. I want you to tell me about every interaction you’ve had recently with any she-wolf.”
Nick stared at him, stunned. “What does that have to do with—”
“Everything,” the Alpha cut in sharply. “Every conversation. Every argument. Every moment of conflict. I don’t care how insignificant you think it is.”
Nick shook his head. “This is insane—”
“Do not test me,” the Alpha snarled, stepping forward again. His alpha aura flared, heavy and crushing. “Do not leave anything out.”
Nick’s breath hitched as the pressure bore down on him, his wolf instinctively shrinking under the command.
“Or,” the Alpha finished, his voice low and lethal, “I will use my alpha command on you.”
The room went deadly quiet.
Nick’s mind raced, memories colliding and overlapping—faces, voices, confrontations he had dismissed, mocked, forgotten.
And somewhere, deep in that chaos, a familiar pair of eyes flashed in his mind.
His stomach dropped.
“No… It is impossible…” he whispered.
But the emptiness in his chest pulsed once, cold and unforgiving.
And for the first time since he woke, Nick felt fear.
- Writer
