1

“So, what do you need to do to break a mate bond?”

My voice echoed in the big, empty room. My nails were digging into my palms, leaving little red crescent moons, but I couldn’t feel a thing.

"Three years apart, plus the Elders' blood ritual," Elder Marcus’s voice crackled over the phone. "You've already done the first part, Sophia."

“Then let’s set up the ritual.”

I hung up and looked around the house I’d slowly put together. The life I’d dreamed of with my mate never happened. Alex hardly ever even smiled at me.

Every single day felt like I was drowning in the deep end, waiting for my Alpha mate to throw me a lifeline he was never going to offer.

I heard a car pull up downstairs. Alex was back. My heart started hammering – stupid mate bond instincts. Even though my head had told me a long time ago, he wasn’t mine.

The door opened.

His Alpha scent hit me like a blast of cold air.

And tangled up in it was that sickly sweet Omega smell, like vines choking his scent, staking its claim.

He slipped off his suit jacket and handed it to me, casual, like I was just a coat rack.

"The pack's annual meeting is next week. You need to be there with me." He was loosening his tie, his voice all command.

My fingers tensed up as I took the jacket. I shook my head. "I can't go."

Alex’s icy gaze landed on me. "Is this about Lily again? How long are you going to keep this jealousy thing up?"

Jealousy? I almost wanted to laugh, but all I felt inside was this deep, cold sadness.

"It’s not because of her." I calmly hung up his jacket. "I just don’t want to go."

"Sophia," Alex looked at me, his voice like ice, "when we agreed to this mate thing, I told you who I really loved. And you promised you wouldn't get in the way. You're my…" he paused, and when he said the next words, they were dripping with scorn, "destined mate. And in front of everyone else, you will play that part."

Destined mate? Hearing him say it, it was such a joke.

Three years ago, the Moon Goddess gave him to me. I thought it was my ten-year crush finally coming true.

I’d even, all shy like a teenager, told him I could feel the mate bond pulling us together.

But he just stared at me, cold, like I was a total stranger. "I'm already in love with someone. Lily. She's an Omega. I will never mark you, so don't even think about it."

And then, that temporary mate bond agreement. It felt like a sentence, nailing me up on a cross of shame.

"Lily's bloodline isn't pure enough. My family won't accept her right now," he’d said, his voice flat, but every word was like a knife to the heart. "In three years, when I'm solid as the pack Alpha, we'll break the mate bond. Then I'll mate with the woman I really love."

I signed it, tears in my eyes. I was so pathetic, I even thought, as long as I can be near him, I’ll take it.

But not long after, Lily had a fight with him, stormed off, and just… disappeared.

Alex went crazy, practically turned the whole pack territory upside down looking for her.

He’d stay out all night, and when he came back, he’d reek of booze, the red in his eyes showing he was right on the edge of his wolf losing it.

That one late night, he was completely drunk. His Alpha instincts totally took over, and he pinned me to the bed.

His fangs sank into the gland on the back of my neck. He marked me.

The pain and the rush of his Alpha scent made me shake all over. But he held me so tight, and all he did was hoarsely, lovingly, call out another woman’s name.

"Lily... don’t go... come back..."

My first time, his mark – they were both just offerings to another woman.

The next day, he saw the mess on the sheets and the fresh bite mark on my neck. Something complicated flickered in his eyes, but then he just went back to being cold. Didn’t say a word.

I acted like nothing happened either.

From then on, I put on an even better mask and started three long years of lying to myself. I kept telling myself the mark meant we were tied together forever, that time would change things.

I learned to cook his favorite foods, memorized every little habit, even pushed down my own pride and who I was, just to try and please him.

Sometimes, if I was sick, he’d clumsily make me some bone broth.

Or once, after a late work thing, he brought home a bunch of moonflowers – a flower I’d mentioned offhand that I liked.

Like on cold winter nights, he’d pull my freezing hands and feet into his warm body, his heat soaking through my thin PJs right into my skin.

And I’d be stupid enough to think, maybe, just maybe, his heart was actually warming up to me.

Until three months ago. Lily came back.

The second Alex scented her, he pretty much dropped me and ran to her. I just stood by the window, watching his car head to Lily's apartment again and again, without a second thought. That’s when I finally got it – he never, ever cared about me.

"Why aren’t you saying anything?" Alex’s impatient voice snapped me back to the present.

I looked up, just staring quietly at this man who’d marked me but never really seen me.

"I told you, I can't go."

Alex's face got really dark. "What is it you want, then?"

I was about to say something, but his phone buzzed. The second he saw "Lily" pop up on the screen, all that coldness around him just melted away. His eyes got so soft, you could practically see the tenderness dripping out.

"What's wrong, baby?" he answered, his voice all gentle.

I couldn’t make out what Lily was saying through her choked sobs on the other end, but I saw Alex’s face totally change, a flash of panic in his eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm on my way."

He hung up, grabbed his car keys, and bolted for the door. He was in such a rush, he slammed his shoulder right into me.

I wasn't ready for it and stumbled back, hitting the cold wall hard. A sharp pain shot through my shoulder blade.

But Alex didn’t even look back. He was already gone.

I leaned against the wall, slowly pulling myself up, a sad, bitter smile on my face.

See? That's my mate, my "destined partner."

An hour later, Alex called. His voice was all business, no room for argument.

"Get to the werewolf medical center downtown."

"What happened?"

"Lily's mom's life force is almost gone. She needs a life force transfer, now," Alex said, fast, an edge of panic in his voice.

My heart dropped. "You're going to give her your life force?" I knew what that meant for an Alpha.

"That'll drain your core strength, you…"

"I didn't call you to question what I’m doing," Alex cut me off, his voice hard. "The ritual needs the destined mate's signature."

How messed up is that? According to werewolf law, me, his mate he didn't even acknowledge, now had to do my "destined mate" duty.

"Okay," I heard my own voice, all numb. "I'll be right there."

After I signed, Alex didn’t even give me a second look. He just bolted into the ritual room.

The dull ache in my shoulder and the sharp pain in my chest mixed together, making it hard to breathe.

Three years. I finally, totally got it. For Lily, he’d do anything, give up anything, without a second thought – even his own Alpha life force.

And me? I was nothing.