1. The betrayal of mate

Kaliah POV

The minutes ticked by. I ignored the sound of the click, the ticking driving me mad. When I heard the sound of footsteps from afar, I turned my head around so fast that my long, tangled ebony locks smacked me in the face.

It was after the door opened that I realized the footsteps belonged to Axel, a man I had thought I had once loved. Once upon a time, Axel had been my mate. We met three years ago at fifteen, the two of us young and falling quickly for one another.

My father saw something in Axel, who was a rogue at the time. He wanted to give him a chance, a chance Axel never had with his trying to survive on the streets of Seattle.

Things were great… until they weren’t.

He instigated a rebellion, betraying my family and me. I was taken by him right away, not knowing the fate of my parents or older brother Kiran.

Axel wasted no time in explaining that what he did was for the best of the wolves in Seattle. My father, the Alpha King, was old and stuck in his ways. I called him a fool, asking how he could even think I would ever go along with him.

Over the past few months, I noticed Axel becoming more and more possessive. I began to pull away, feeling smothered and hating the way he changed. This might’ve triggered his rebellion, but I couldn’t be sure.

But my mate—former mate wasn’t willing to accept that for an answer. He lashed out at me, going so far as to inject me with wolf venom.

Made from a plant deadly to wolves, there were different variations. I immediately felt this burning sensation wash over me, my lips parting as a scream of pain escaped me.

The result?

I was blind.

It had been three days since he injected me, and I was still struggling to come to terms with it.

But I was a warrior, able to adapt to the worst situations.

I was trying to hone my senses, listening to everything around me. The footsteps belonged to Axel, who was coming towards me with a spring in his step.

“Kaliah—”

“Fuck you,” I snapped, not in the mood to play his little games.

Axel’s dark brown eyes were probably filled with anger, his stubble-covered jaw probably tensing.

“Kaliah, you need to stop resisting. Your parents and brother are dead. The city is now mine. You have no choice but to accept your place as my wife… my mate beside me.”

He was no longer my mate, not since I rejected him days ago.

Axel walked toward me, anger flashing in my eyes.

He had taken over my father’s city—my city—naming himself leader with the group of rebels he'd been conspiring with all along.

The betrayal cut deep, a wound I couldn’t see but felt with every breath I took.

I felt sick to my stomach thinking I had ever loved him.

No.

How could I love someone who’d torn apart everything my family had built?

The feelings I once had evaporated the moment he declared himself ruler, spitting on everything my father had worked so hard to protect—everything he and Axel had once dreamed together.

“Kaliah, I did this for us,” Axel said softly, stepping closer. “Now we can rule Seattle and make it a better place.”

He reached for my hand, but I yanked it away like his touch burned me.

“No,” I snapped. “You did it for you.”

His eyes darkened, but he kept his voice low.

“You’ll see what I did was for the good… for both of us.”

The air between us was sharp, tense.

And then I slapped him.

The crack of it echoed through the cold, quiet room.

Axel stumbled back, more stunned than hurt, his hand slowly rising to his cheek.

“Axel,” I said, voice shaking with fury and heartbreak, “the mate I knew and loved is gone. Dead.”

I met his eyes, my voice dropping to a final, merciless whisper.

“As far as I’m concerned, you are no longer my mate.”

And with that, the bond—the sacred connection I once thought unbreakable—shattered.

I felt it tear apart, thread by thread, until all that remained was cold emptiness…

And hatred.

I resisted the urge to cry, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.

It was the first time I was hearing of the death of my parents and brother.

He wanted a reaction, and Axel wasn’t going to get one.

“As I said, fuck you.”

The sounds of the cell opened. I stiffened, hearing his footsteps approach. Then he lifted me by the arm, pressing his lips against mine. Instantly, I felt the bile rise to my throat. It made me sick to my stomach.

He chuckled against my lips, not noticing or not giving a fuck that I hated his entire being.

“Our wedding will he held next week. Once we are married you’ll understand what I’m doing is for the best.”

Axel’s hands started to travel down my body, slipping underneath my grey hoodie and tight black tank top. While he was preoccupied, I reached into my hoodie pocket and slowly pulled out a hairpin that I had stuffed in there for safekeeping.

It was originally in my hair. During our previous tussel it fell out, clattering somewhere in the basement cell. But I found it, knowing that this was going to be the thing that got me te fuck out of here.

When I felt it was the right time, I pulled it out and thrust it into his chest. Stumbling out of the cell, I ran towards the stairs, doing my best to make my way there. But I couldn’t see and kept crashing into everything, unable to make sense of my surroundings.

Then I heard a familiar voice; my father’s trusted beta. He was shouting at me, telling me to follow the sound of his voice.

But I heard more guards approaching.

Knowing I had little time left, I shifted into my wolf form. I was pure white in my wolf form. It was impossible to say, given my blindness, but it didn’t stop me from trying to escape the basement.

Eventually, I made my way upstairs, taking out guards one by one. My father’s beta had cried out at one point, making me sob silently. He was dead.

My limbs ached, but I kept moving. Every collision was a reminder of what I’d lost—my sight, my freedom, my family. But I wasn’t going to let Axel take my soul, too.

The scent of blood filled the air, thick and coppery. I could distinguish friend from foe now only by scent, by sound, by instinct. My wolf form was faster, stronger, and sharper—but not omniscient. Every step was a gamble. I could barely hear over the sound of my ragged breaths and the pounding of my heart.

Axel’s pack was closing in. I could hear them, the rapid thuds of boots on wooden floors, the click of weapons being drawn. It was a cacophony of death looming closer.

I darted around a corner, claws skidding across the polished floor. Pain flared through my side as a blade grazed me. I growled, whipping around to snap at the attacker. My teeth met flesh. A scream followed.

Blood sprayed my face, but I didn’t stop. Couldn’t.

I leapt through a shattered window, glass slicing into my skin. The cold air hit me like a slap, and the scent of pine and damp earth flooded my senses. I was in the woods. Freedom was near.

But I was still bleeding. Still blind. Still hunted.

I crashed into someone, hard. My wolf instincts surged to attack, but then—

“Kaliah… it’s me. It’s Kiran.”

Kiran? He was alive? I couldn’t believe it. He was alive. I thought he had been killed, but my brother was alive, thank god.

I broke down in his arms, the tears soaking into his shoulder as I whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“I know,” he murmured. “So am I.”

The darkness began to pull at the edges of my mind. I was too tired to fight it. I let go, my brother’s arms the last thing I felt before the world slipped away.

It was difficult for me to say it, but I relished the chance for me to be able to give in to unconsciousness.