Shattered Bonds

Elena

The first light of dawn was soft, almost hesitant, slipping through my bedroom window and casting pale shadows across the floor. But inside me, a storm raged. I lay tangled in the sheets, heart hammering against my ribs so fiercely it felt like it might break free.

The night before—the full moon ceremony—was supposed to be the moment everything changed. The moment my fate would be sealed. Instead, it shattered. Darian’s rejection echoed in my mind, sharp and cold, slicing through me like ice.

I couldn’t forget the way he looked at me. Not surprise. Not confusion. Not even regret. But something colder—like I was a mark to be avoided, a mistake to be erased. The word no had fallen from his lips with the weight of a death sentence.

I swallowed hard, the lump in my throat thick and stifling. “Why?” I whispered into the empty room, my voice barely audible. Why me?

Nyx stirred beneath my skin, restless and uneasy. My wolf howled silently, her sorrow matching mine. She had felt the bond too—the heat, the promise, the instant connection. And now it was gone, broken, like a fragile thread torn in two.

Mara’s soft knock on my door pulled me back from the edge. When she came in, her eyes were kind but full of worry. “Elena,” she said gently, “you don’t have to face this alone.”

I gave a bitter laugh, wiping tears I hadn’t realized had fallen. “How can I not? I’m supposed to be ready for this. Everyone’s been waiting for this moment my whole life. And he just… threw me away.”

Mara sat beside me, her presence steady and grounding. “Sometimes the bond isn’t what we expect. Sometimes it’s complicated.”

“Complicated?” The word tasted like ash. “He said no. He rejected me.”

Her fingers curled around mine. “Maybe he’s scared. Maybe there’s something you don’t know.”

But the cold truth gnawed at me. His eyes hadn’t shown fear. They’d held something like hatred. I didn’t understand it — but I knew one thing for sure.

This rejection was bigger than just him.

It felt ancient.

Like a shadow lurking beneath the roots of the Ashfang Pack.

That afternoon, I slipped away into the forest. The trees towered above me, their needles whispering secrets on the breeze. I needed to think. To breathe. To feel something besides the crushing ache in my chest.

Nyx prowled beside me, a silent guardian. The forest was a sanctuary, but it held its own dangers. The curse that haunted our bloodline wasn’t just a story. It was real. And it was waking.

I walked deeper, letting my fingers brush the rough bark of the pines. Then I smelled it — a scent wild and strange, unlike anything I’d known. Warm, earthy, faintly sweet.

My wolf growled low, alert. It tugged at my senses, drawing me forward.

I didn’t know what—or who—I would find in the shadows. But the scent promised something new. Something dangerous. Something alive.

The moon was gone, but the night was far from over.

As I stood there, breath visible in the crisp air, I realized the rejection hadn’t severed the bond completely.

It had only begun a new chapter.

A second chance.

And maybe, just maybe, it was the start of something that could save me.