No.2

Aline POV

The silence stretched, taut and suffocating, like a rubber band ready to snap back and draw blood. Kaden's fingers were still digging into my shoulders, his Alpha aura a heavy, physical weight that made the air thin.

I didn't... I choked out, my voice barely a whisper against the crushing pressure of his command. "I didn't kill him, Kaden. I tried to tell you. I tried to reach you."

His lip curled, a snarl revealing lethal canines. "Lies."

I screamed for you! I cried, the desperation clawing its way out of my throat. Tears finally spilled, hot and stinging. "When the pain started, when I felt his heartbeat slowing... I screamed through the link until my mind bled. I begged you to come home."

Kaden released me abruptly, as if my skin had burned him. I stumbled back, hitting the cold stone wall. He took a step closer, invading my personal space, his scent of rain and ozone now tainted with the bitter tang of disgust. He leaned down, his voice a low, dangerous rumble near my ear.

My mind is silent, Aline. There was no call. No scream. Just the quiet of a mate who didn't care enough to reach out. He pulled back, his eyes cold shards of ice. "You are a liar. And a murderer."

Check my phone! I fumbled with the pocket of my hospital gown, my hands shaking so violently I nearly dropped the device. "I called your cell. I messaged Beta Lucas. I—"

He swatted the phone from my hand. It skittered across the floor, the screen cracking against the stone.

Technology fails, he scoffed, crushing the device under his boot. "The Mind-Link does not. Unless you never used it."

I stared at the broken phone, feeling the last flicker of hope die in my chest. He wouldn't believe me. He couldn't conceive that his precious bond, or perhaps his precious Cori, had blocked me.

As if summoned by my thought, a soft, pained gasp echoed in the hallway.

Kaden... Cori swayed, her hand fluttering to her forehead. "I feel so dizzy. The stress of all this... thinking about the poor pup..."

The transformation in Kaden was instantaneous. The monster looming over me vanished, replaced by a worried protector. He spun around, catching Cori before she could fall.

I've got you, he murmured, his voice dripping with a tenderness that sliced through me deeper than any blade. He scooped her up into his arms, holding her against his chest as if she were made of fragile glass.

He didn't look back at me. Not once. He strode down the hallway, carrying the woman who was mocking me with her hidden smirk, leaving me alone in the dim corridor. The gathered pack members stared—some with pity, most with the scorn reserved for a failed mate.

I was the Alpha's mistake. She was his treasure.

An hour later, I was back in my room in the servants' quarters. It was a closet, really—damp, drafty, and smelling of mildew. I curled up on the thin mattress, clutching my stomach. The physical pain of the procedure was fading, but a new agony was taking its place.

It started in my chest, a tearing sensation, as if invisible hooks were ripping my soul apart. My inner wolf, already weak from years of neglect, let out a final, gurgling howl before falling silent.

I convulsed, rolling off the bed onto the icy flagstones. A violent cough racked my body, and I tasted copper. Hot liquid spewed from my lips, splattering onto the grey floor. Blood. Bright, oxygenated blood.

The necrosis. It was spreading faster than Martha had predicted. The bond wasn't just broken; it was rotting inside me.

The door banged open.

I tried to wipe my mouth, to hide the weakness, but my limbs refused to obey. Kaden stood in the doorway, filling the small space with his imposing frame. He looked at the blood on the floor, then at me.

I waited for a flicker of concern. A moment of hesitation. Anything.

Instead, a cruel, humorless smile touched his lips.

Pathetic, he spat. He walked into the room, his boots stopping inches from my face. "You chose to destroy our pup because you were jealous. And now? Now you play the victim to soothe your guilt?"

I looked up at him through a haze of pain. He truly believed it. He thought this—my dying body, my shattered soul—was a performance.

Get up, he commanded, his voice devoid of humanity. "Stop the theatrics. I'm here to tell you the new rules of your existence, not to watch you wallow in your own mess."

I lay there, the metallic taste of blood heavy on my tongue, realizing with terrifying clarity that the man standing above me wasn't just a bad mate. He was my executioner.

No.3

Aline POV

The metallic tang of blood coated my throat, thick and choking. I lay on the freezing flagstones, my body trembling not from cold, but from the sheer effort of keeping my heart beating. Kaden loomed over me, his shadow stretching across the damp floor like a grim reaper waiting to collect his due.

Stop it, he sneered, his voice dripping with disdain. "This performance is becoming tedious, Aline. Do you really think vomiting a little blood will make me forget what you did? You killed my heir."

I tried to speak, to deny it again, but a fresh wave of agony rolled through my chest. The necrosis. It felt as if black vines were spreading through my veins, withering everything they touched.

I... am dying, Kaden, I rasped, my voice barely audible.

He laughed. It was a harsh, barking sound devoid of any warmth. He crouched down, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look into his stormy grey eyes.

Dying? No. You are surviving, just like a parasite does. His grip tightened, bruising my jaw. "Let me make something clear to you, since you seem to rely on this 'fated bond' as your shield. I never wanted a mate. Especially not a weak, manipulative Omega like you."

His words were precise strikes, aimed to maim.

My heart, my wolf, my soul—they were claimed three years ago, he hissed, his face inches from mine. "By the woman who dragged my broken body out of the Rogue territory when I was left for dead. Cori saved me. You? You are just a cosmic joke. A trap set by the Moon Goddess to test my loyalty to her."

The air left my lungs. Cori? He thought Cori saved him?

Memories of that night three years ago flashed through my mind—the smell of burning flesh, the weight of a wounded wolf on my small shoulders, the hours I spent dragging a stranger to safety while hiding my scent. I had never told anyone. I thought he knew. I thought his wolf would recognize mine.

But Cori had claimed the credit. And he believed her.

The injustice of it snapped something inside me. Not anger—I was too drained for that—but a cold, hard realization. He would never see me. As long as this bond existed, I was just a prisoner in his narrative of hate. And the bond... it was literally rotting my organs.

If I stayed, I would be dead by the next full moon.

Get up, he commanded, releasing my chin with a shove. "Clean this mess. I won't have the servants seeing their Luna wallowing in filth."

Luna. The title sounded like a slur coming from his lips.

I didn't reach for the rag. Instead, I planted my hands on the bloody stones. My muscles screamed in protest, my bones felt like brittle glass, but I pushed. I forced my trembling legs to straighten. I stood, swaying, clutching the edge of the rickety wardrobe for support.

I looked him in the eye. For the first time in months, I didn't look at the floor.

I will leave the Black Moon Pack, I said. My voice was hollow, stripped of emotion.

Kaden blinked, taken aback by my sudden defiance, before a smirk curled his lip. "Is that a threat? Are you going to run to the Elders? Tell them I'm mistreating you?"

No, I whispered. I took a breath, gathering the last shreds of my spirit. "I am setting us both free."

I straightened my spine, ignoring the searing pain in my chest.

I, Aline Romero, I began, the ancient words tasting like ash on my tongue, "reject you, Kaden Warren, as my Mate."

The silence that followed was absolute. The air in the small room grew heavy, charged with the static of broken magic.

Kaden's smirk froze. His eyes widened, not with pain, but with sheer, unadulterated shock. An Omega rejecting an Alpha? It was unheard of. It was an insult to his rank, a slap in the face of his authority.

You dare? he growled, stepping forward, his Alpha aura flaring hot and suffocating. "You think you can reject me? This is just another game! You want attention? You want me to beg?"

He raised his hand, and for a second, I thought he would strike me. I didn't flinch. I was already broken; he couldn't break dust.

Suddenly, his eyes glazed over. His hand froze in mid-air.

The connection. Someone was mind-linking him.

I watched the rage drain from his face, replaced instantly by a look of frantic concern. The transformation was nauseating.

Cori? he said aloud, forgetting I was there. "Calm down. Breathe. I'm coming."

He looked at me then. But he didn't see the woman who had just severed her soul for him. He didn't see the blood on my gown or the death in my eyes. He looked at me like I was an obstacle in his path to something that actually mattered.

We are not done, he spat, pointing a finger at my face. "Do not think this little stunt gets you off the hook. You stay here until I decide your punishment."

He turned on his heel, his heavy boots thudding against the stone floor as he rushed out the door, chasing the phantom pains of a liar, leaving his true mate to die in the dark.

The door slammed shut.

I stood there for a long moment, listening to his fading footsteps. The bond in my chest gave a final, agonizing throb, then went silent. It wasn't fully broken—he hadn't accepted the rejection—but the damage was done.

I looked at the small, barred window. The moon was hidden behind clouds, but I knew it was there.

He's wrong, I whispered to the empty room. "We are done."

No.4

Aline POV

For seven days, the bond between us was a dead wire. No anger, no pain, just a suffocating silence that mirrored the decay spreading through my veins.

I sat on the edge of my narrow bed, my fingers tracing the black, spiderweb-like veins that now crept up my forearms. The necrosis was faster now, feeding on the rejection I had spoken but he had refused to accept.

Here, Kaia whispered, slipping through the crack in the door like a shadow. She placed a small, heavy sack on the floor—dried meat, a canteen of water, and a thick wad of stashed cash she'd managed to scrape together from the training grounds.

Did anyone see you? I asked, my voice raspy.

No. They're all too busy preparing for the Ascension Gala tonight. Kaia crouched beside me, her eyes filled with a fierce, protective sorrow. "Kaden hasn't asked about you once, Aline. His mother... Rosalind told him you're on a hunger strike. She told him you're weeping in here, waiting for him to come apologize."

A dry, humorless laugh escaped my lips. "Let him believe that. His arrogance is my only shield."

While Kaden reveled in his delusion that I was a manipulative Omega playing games for attention, I had been meticulously planning my disappearance. I looked down at the small wicker basket at my feet. Fluffy, the stray kitten I'd rescued months ago, was curled up inside, sleeping soundly. She was the only living thing in this pack that didn't look at me with disdain.

I'm leaving tonight, Kaia, I said, the decision settling in my chest like a stone. "During the Gala. When everyone is distracted."

Kaia nodded, then reached into her tunic and pulled out a bundle of fabric. "Then you should leave with your head held high. Don't let them remember you as the broken girl in the grey rags."

She shook out the fabric. It was a dress. Not the dull, servant-like garb I was forced to wear, but a gown of deep, blood-red silk. It was the color of life, of fire—everything I was supposed to lack.

Two hours later, I stood before the cracked mirror. The woman staring back was a stranger. I had pinched my cheeks and used a heavy layer of rouge Kaia had smuggled in to hide the deathly pallor of my skin. The crimson silk hugged my emaciated frame, masking the bruises and the blackening veins, giving me an illusion of vitality. I had used the last of my strength to pin my hair up, exposing the bare, unmarked skin of my neck—a silent testament to the claim Kaden had never made.

I wasn't going to the Gala to celebrate him. I was going to say goodbye to the life that had almost killed me.

I picked up Fluffy's basket and hid it under the loose floorboard near the window, ready for my escape later. Then, I opened the door.

The Grand Hall was a sensory overload. The scent of roasted meats, expensive perfume, and the musk of hundreds of wolves hit me the moment I stepped onto the periphery of the ballroom.

The chatter died instantly.

It started near the entrance and spread like a wave until the entire hall fell into a stunned silence. Hundreds of eyes turned to me. I saw Jared Cross, Kaden's Beta, drop his wine glass. It shattered, the sound echoing like a gunshot. They expected a ghost; instead, they got a burning ember.

I kept my chin high, ignoring the trembling in my legs. I walked through the parting crowd, feeling their gazes like physical touches.

Luna Aline?

A deep, velvety voice broke the tension. I turned to see a man stepping out of the crowd. He was tall, with sandy blonde hair and eyes the color of warm amber. He didn't look at me with the usual Black Moon sneer. He looked... intrigued.

Alpha Sullivan. I recognized him from the guest list I had been forced to memorize years ago. Deric Sullivan of the Moonstone Creek Pack.

I was told you were indisposed, Deric said, bowing his head slightly—a gesture of respect that nearly made my knees buckle. "But it seems the rumors of your frailty were greatly exaggerated."

Rumors often are, I replied, my voice steady despite the pain clawing at my chest.

The orchestra began a slow waltz. Deric extended a hand. "May I? It would be a crime to let such a dress go to waste."

I hesitated. Dancing was for mates, for lovers. But I was leaving. Tonight, I was a free woman.

You may, I whispered.

I placed my hand in his. His skin was warm, his grip firm but gentle. As he swept me onto the dance floor, for the first time in three years, I didn't feel like a prisoner. I felt seen.

We spun near the center of the room, the red silk of my dress flaring out like a blooming rose. I even managed a small, genuine smile as Deric made a witty comment about the stuffy atmosphere.

Then, the air in the room changed.

It wasn't a sound. It was a pressure drop, sudden and violent, as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the hall. The hair on my arms stood up. My wolf, weak and dying, suddenly whimpered in terror.

MINE!

The word didn't come from my ears. It slammed into my mind with the force of a physical blow, vibrating through the tattered remnants of the mate bond. It was a roar of pure, unadulterated possessiveness, dark and suffocating.

I froze, my heart hammering against my ribs. Slowly, terrified, I lifted my gaze to the second-floor balcony.

Kaden was there.

He wasn't looking at the crowd. He was looking at Deric's hand on my waist. His grey eyes were no longer stormy; they were an abyss of black rage. His hands gripped the iron railing so hard the metal groaned and twisted under his fingers.

The silence in the hall was absolute now, heavy with the promise of violence. He didn't need to speak again. The command rolling off him in waves was clear enough to bring every wolf in the room to their knees.

He was coming down.