The moon hovered above the trees, round and full — watching, waiting, ancient.
The entire pack stood in the Heartpine Clearing, silent beneath its silver glow. Barefoot, cloaked in white, breath held.
Waiting for fate.
I could feel Kael's presence beside me, steady and warm. The only anchor I needed.
The Mate Giving Ceremony had already begun — soft murmurs of magic drifting through the trees, a silvery mist wrapping around our ankles. Mates had been called. Bonds had flared. Tears had fallen.
But none of it felt real until my name split the night.
"Dwyn, daughter of Alpha Duskthorn."
Everything inside me stopped.
The mist surged around me, wrapping up my legs like a second skin, pulling me forward gently — as if the moon had reached down and touched my soul.
My fingers trembled.
And then—
"Kael, son of Beta Thorne."
The bond struck.
It was lightning. Fire. Home. The magic of it crashed through my body like a tidal wave, filling every part of me at once — heart, bones, lungs, blood. I gasped, staggered, overwhelmed. My wolf howled in my chest, claws scratching at the inside of my ribs, yes yes yes yes yes.
Kael.
It was him.
He was mine.
I turned toward him, tears already spilling, a breathless smile breaking free.
But he wasn't moving.
Kael's face was blank. Cold. His fists clenched at his sides.
And then, before I could speak—before I could take a step—
"I reject the bond."
The words slammed into me.
The magic twisted, confused.
"I reject Dwyn as my mate."
The bond snapped.
The pain that followed didn't come gently.
It tore through me like fire, like a blade dipped in silver and shoved into my chest. My knees gave out. I hit the earth hard, gasping, clawing at the dirt, my vision exploding in stars.
It burned. It seared my veins. My wolf screamed inside me, a sound of pure grief and rage. My whole body convulsed with the force of it.
I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think.
All I could feel was the bond dying.
And Kael was walking away.
The mist fled from me, recoiling like I was cursed. The warmth that had rushed into me moments ago turned to ice.
And then, to my horror—
He turned toward her.
Mera.
She stood a few paces away, her eyes wide, lips parted — playing surprise so well I almost believed it.
Kael held out his hand.
And Mera took it.
I lay on the ground, still twitching, still burning, while the mate bond re-formed right in front of me. This time between them.
A soft white glow bloomed around their bodies. A bond formed.
The pack gasped.
Some cried.
Some just watched.
No one moved toward me.
Not even my father.
I could barely hear anything over the ringing in my ears, the throb in my skull, the howl of my soul as it shattered into pieces.
Rejected.
Broken.
Alone.
And worst of all, he had been mine.
For a moment.
A single, cruel moment.
---------------------------
I woke to pain.
Not soreness. Not a bruise or a pulled muscle.
This was deeper. Ancient. Wrong.
It felt like my ribcage had been hollowed out with burning claws, like my insides had been turned to ash and glass. My throat was raw from screaming — though I didn't remember making a sound.
For a moment, I didn't know where I was.
Then I recognized the faint lavender scent of my pillows. The soft scratch of the wool blanket Lunara had woven last winter. My room.
The pain in my chest pulsed again, sharp and twisting.
And then it grew worse.
Much worse.
Like something inside me had been ripped loose and dragged away screaming.
A white-hot burn lit up beneath my sternum — low and deep, like someone had shoved their claws through the frayed edges of the broken bond and yanked.
I clutched my chest, gasping. My legs curled beneath me. My vision blurred.
I knew this pain. I'd read about it in old scrolls. Heard it whispered about by omegas who'd lost mates.
It was the pain of your fated mate mating someone else.
Even after rejection, the bond didn't die all at once. Pieces of it lingered — fragile, invisible threads. And when Kael took Mera as his mate fully, those threads burned.
I screamed. The sound was raw and ugly and filled with something beyond grief — something ancient. Something animal.
My wolf howled in my mind — a piercing, wounded sound.
And then... silence.
Her presence vanished like smoke in the wind.
Gone.
I couldn't feel her anymore.
I couldn't feel anything.
I didn't know how long I lay there, curled in a fetal ball, trembling, soaked in sweat and tears. Every breath felt like it scraped my lungs. My skin felt too tight. My bones ached.
The door slammed open.
Footsteps.
"Dwyn!"
My father.
His voice cracked.
He was beside me in seconds, pulling me into his arms despite the shaking, despite the fact that I could barely keep my eyes open. His warmth was an anchor. A shield.
Lunara followed, one hand covering her mouth, the other pressed to her chest as she saw me — curled and shaking and destroyed.
"She felt it," she whispered.
He nodded grimly. "He's completed the bond. With Mera."
And just like that, it was real.
Kael had made her his.
He had claimed my spot. My fate. My soul.
And the moon had let him.
I choked on another sob. My father tightened his grip.
"I've got you," he murmured, voice raw. "You're not alone. I've got you, my girl."
But I was.
Alone in a way no one else could understand.
Because there are some losses even love can't shield you from.