Chapter 9: Before the Break
357 Words
Two Years Ago
The snow had been falling for hours.
Elara stood at the edge of the woods, shivering, breath fogging in the frozen air. She wasn’t wearing a coat. She hadn’t planned to be outside long. But Jaxon had snapped again.
So she ran.
Again.
⸻
Their bond had felt like magic in the beginning.
He’d chosen her. Picked her from the crowd like she was special. He whispered promises of forever, pulled her into his arms, told her how powerful she’d be as his Luna.
And gods, she believed him.
She gave him everything.
Her body. Her loyalty. Her trust.
Until he started calling her weak.
Until his fingers bruised her arms during arguments.
Until he said things like “you’d be nothing without me.”
Until the night he shoved her into the wall hard enough to knock the breath out of her.
She didn’t fight back.
Not the first time.
Not the second.
But the third?
He struck her.
Open palm. Across the face. In front of his Beta.
And still—no one stopped him.
The Beta just looked away.
Like she deserved it.
⸻
That night, she packed a bag.
Nothing heavy. Just what she could carry.
The bond screamed inside her chest, tugging at her ribs like it wanted to rip them out.
She didn’t care.
She ran.
⸻
Hours later, she collapsed in the snow, the pain of the broken bond setting her veins on fire. Her wolf whimpered and curled up inside her — not dead, but fading.
She thought about giving up.
Right there in the cold.
Right there, alone.
But something in her refused.
Something bitter and wild.
No one was going to save her.
So she’d save herself.
⸻
Present day.
Elara sat on the cabin floor, back against the wall, legs pulled to her chest. She hadn’t meant to remember. Hadn’t meant to go there. But the dream… the heat… Kade…
She couldn’t give herself to another bond. Not unless it was real. Not unless she could survive it ending.
And with Kade?
That ending would destroy her.
But gods… she was already falling.
- Writer
