6- Then When?

The village disappeared behind us. I never looked back, I didn’t dare to. Because I knew if I saw Mother crying one more time...

I'd run.

Even if it meant death.

“I won’t kill you.” 

The Alpha's voice drifted toward me as though he had plucked the thought straight from my mind.

A dark smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he glanced over his shoulder, meeting my hollow stare.

“I will kill them.” 

The comment made my heart twist, struck like ice through my chest.

How could he threaten his own mate so casually?

How could a man who had finally found the woman he had spent years searching for speak of slaughter without the slightest hesitation?

“What else can you do apart from killing?” I asked quietly, my voice already too broken to carry any strength.

He didn't answer.

Or perhaps...

He simply didn't care enough to.

He turned forward, and the march continued as though nothing had happened.

The morning sun climbed higher, warming the dirt road beneath our feet, yet I felt nothing except the cold weight hanging around my neck.

My mark throbbed.

I was weak due to the marking. 

But none of it affected him. 

Every heartbeat reminded me that my life no longer belonged to me.

Around us, nearly a hundred Sapphire Blood warriors marched in perfect silence.

No laughter.

No conversations.

Only synchronized footsteps.

“...How lifeless.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

“That's discipline.”

I turned.

A young woman around my age walked beside me, her long white curls swaying with every step. Soft features. Calm eyes.

She smiled politely.

“And you are…?”

She turned to me, giving me a nod of acknowledgement while pointing at the tall blond man beside Alpha Zarius.

“Mateo’s mate. Wind.” Her smile widened.

“When managing such a massive pack. Discipline is strictly required.” She looked straight ahead.

“Else, we are nothing but stray beasts.”

“Are you not?” I spoke bitterly, glancing at my hands that were still trembling to think about what happened at my home.

“Your anger is understandable.” She glanced at me briefly, not offended by my statement though.

“But anger alone won't help you survive here…”

Her smile softened.

“...Luna.”

Luna? 

The title felt foreign.

Wrong.

At least not his…

The march continued until midday.

At the sound of a whistle, the warriors immediately stopped.

Without needing instructions, everyone scattered into practiced roles.

Some gathered water. Others inspected the surrounding woods. Several remained on guard.

No one relaxed.

No one wandered.

And me?

My glare refused to shift from the golden-eyed man who seemed disturbingly calm. 

He could sense my wrath yet decided to ignore it.

Or perhaps it didn’t matter.

Just as he said.

When glaring didn’t work, I decided to use words to earn a reaction from a man that was supposed to be my mate.

“I hate you.” 

“Hate me.” He replied coldly, eyes focused on the map. 

“I would never forgive you.”

“Don’t.”

“I would never be yours.” 

“Never asked you.” 

The nothingness in his voice made my chest tightened painfully. The mate bond screamed inside me but none of it reached him.

“What is wrong with you?” my voice raised, tilting my head to get a closer look of his face. 

My eyes narrowed, losing my breaths but he gave me no reaction.

He was solely focused on the map. 

“Aren’t my words affecting you?” 

How could he stand there so indifferently while his mate stood before him completely shattered? 

Why it wasn’t twitching a reaction in him?

“If anything.” 

He exhaled a long breath, meeting my eyes with a dead calm that made me flinch. 

“You are slowing me down, little one.” 

I stared at him in disbelief. He cleanly folded the maps, eyes drifting to the path ahead.

“You…” I gulped in order to hold my posture. “...truly are the worst mate one could possibly have.” 

“Consider yourself unlucky.” 

Pulling back roughly, I sat on a nearby rock. 

Cursing him, my destiny, Moon Goddess herself for binding me to a mate like him.

I poured every ounce of hatred I possessed into my glare.

I wanted him to see it.

To feel it, to regret something, to understand my pain.

Even if Robbie didn’t, as my mate, he would… right?

Anything...

Nothing changed.

Years beneath that curse had hollowed him, he no longer understood pain... not even his mate's.

“Don’t.” Another cold voice joined me, causing me to blink. 

I turned my head and saw the tall blond man, Mateo, there.

“What?” 

“If you spend all your time trying to get a reaction out of him…”

He held out a canteen.

“...you'll be the one who goes insane.”

My trembling hands accepted it. Only after taking several desperate gulps did I realize how thirsty I truly was.

“What should I do then?”

“What we all do.” He leaned closer, a dark smirk coming to his lips. 

“Leave him be.” 

“You cannot feel his darkness.” I lowered the canteen, my voice becoming quieter. “I can.”

Every heartbeat carried something and it was not love or comfort. Only an endless void that seemed to swallow everything.

“And if I am forced to hold this unbearable darkness.” 

I turned to the Alpha, the glare of resentment coming back once again. 

“He must carry my hatred too.” 

“You’re making a mistake.” Mateo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“If there is anything that is a mistake. It is this mate-bond.” I retorted, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Fucking cursed.” 

He heard.

Of course he did. 

But he never acknowledged it. 

Mateo shook his head in disappointment and joined his Alpha. 

As he approached, Zarius spoke without turning around. 

“Do not poke the wounded animal unless you want it to bite, Mateo.”

“Just tried to keep Luna's spirits up.” He shrugged.

“Don’t.” His voice remained as emotionless as ever.

“She doesn't need it."

My eyes widened. Huh? Doesn’t… need it? 

Had he truly forgotten what emotions were? I had been betrayed by my lover. Taken from my home. Marked shamefully.

If I didn't need comfort now...

Then when?