Chapter 79

Mira’s POV

There’s still something electric in the air, like the memory of us won’t quit. Stupid body still aches for him, even after everything. Pathetic, right?

I finally broke. “So, you wanted to see me.” My voice comes out small, way more vulnerable than I planned. “Is this your victory lap? Or are you here to say sorry for throwing me in the dungeon?”

He doesn’t blink. “Not here for apologies, Mira. This is about endings.”

That lands in my chest like a steel-toed boot. “Endings?”

“You’re being released,” he says. “Your father’s called for you. I’m sending you back to Dark Storm. I’m honoring his request.”

My jaw drops in shock. “You’re kicking me out?”

“Yeah.” He won’t even soften. Eyes locked on mine, flat as winter. “It’s the only way to stop a war. But before you go, we’re breaking the bond properly.”

Everything just… stalls.

I lurch a step closer, heart pounding. “You wouldn’t dare.”

He’s quiet, but steel. “I would. I have to.”

Now I’m laughing, but it’s ugly...it tastes like blood. “You think you can just snip that away? Like it’s nothing? Do you even get what that’ll do to us? The pain...”

He nods. “I know. I’ll take it.”

He’s so calm, I could slap him. How can he sit there, all calm, when he nearly died because of Elora?

“This is her fault, isn’t it?” My voice shakes, and it’s not anger, it’s rage. “Elora got in your head. You’re so easy, Dominic. You never saw her for what she is.”

His eyes flash. “Don’t say her name.”

“Oh, what, you embarrassed? Or is it because deep down, you believe her? You used to trust me, you know. Remember when you trusted me?”

He cuts me off, voice low and deadly. “I trusted you, until you tried to burn my pack to the ground.”

That one actually hurts. I freeze. Feels like the end, for real this time.

He calls out, doesn’t even look at me. “Elders. Now.”

So, next thing, we’re headed into the ritual chamber. Candles everywhere. Elders mutter as they paint these ancient runes on the floor.

Dominic and I get shoved to the middle, staring at each other. He’s barefoot, head down. I whisper, “You don’t have to do this. You’ll regret it.”

He doesn’t even twitch. “Maybe. But I can’t keep carrying this mess, mine and yours.”

The head Elder’s all grave and dramatic. “Once we start, there’s no going back. The pain is shared until the bond’s gone. You ready?”

Dominic nods. Me? I’m silent, but nobody waits for my answer.

Chanting starts, low and guttural, like something ancient waking up. My heart is beating fast as I feel I ease. There’s this silver thread, our bond stretching between us, pulsing like it’s alive. It looks beautiful. Too bad it’s about to get ripped apart.

The Elder’s voice drops, all official: “By the moon’s mercy and the blood’s truth, let what was forged in love be undone in sacrifice.”

And then pain.

Not just pain... soul-deep agony. Like somebody’s clawing at my insides. I scream, hit the floor, clutching at my chest. I can feel him, his pain, his heartbreak, his fury, bleeding right into me. Dominic is on his knees, sweating, gasping for air.

And just like that, the mate bond starts to break..

“Stop!” I shout, reaching for him, but it’s useless. “Gods, please, stop...”

The ritual just digs in harder. The thread between us blazes that feels like it’s chewing through my insides.

Dominic finally looks up at me. His face is filled with tears. He mouths something, too quiet for anybody but me.

“I’m sorry.”

And then...snap.

Everything goes dead quiet.

I hit the floor hard, gasping. My limbs won’t work. Every breath is a stranger. My chest’s just this empty pit. That invisible thread, the one that always told me where he was, what he felt, if he was safe, just gone. Yanked out by the root.

I can’t even cry. Not really. It’s like there’s nothing in me left to make tears with.

The chanting stops, candles put out. The Elders step back, faces all drawn and grave, like they’re at a funeral. Maybe they are.

Dominic’s on his knees, shaking hard. He meets my eyes for a second. Maybe he’s sorry, maybe he’s just empty, too. Doesn’t matter. He looks away.

That’s it.

The guards grab me. My body’s somewhere else. It was numb. I stumble, barely catching the wall as they drag me toward the door.

At the threshold, I stop. Something in me refuses to go quietly. I turn slowly and see Dominic standing, gripping the bedpost like he’ll fall without it. He looks wrecked, like he can’t decide if he wants to collapse or run.

I bare my teeth in a smile, something ugly and shaky.

“You’ll regret freeing me,” I say. My voice sounds wrong. Low, hollow, twisted up with venom. “Because you took the last thing I had to lose.”

He doesn’t say a word. But his hand twitches, just a bit. He still wants to reach for me, but he doesn’t.

The doors slam behind me.

Outside is colder than I remember.

The courtyard’s packed, warriors, servants, and Elders all staring. Some pity, some disgust. I spot Elora near the steps, guilt all over her face. Oh, now she shows up? Real convenient.

I stop, make sure she sees me. No need to say anything. She knows what she did.

The guards swing the main gates open. Beyond, the world yawns wide and grey, dawn just barely breaking. Waiting on the edge of those woods, a carriage with my father’s mark, the Dark Storm sigil.

I climb in, wheels crunch over gravel, pulling me away from everything I was.

Finally, I let myself breathe. The tears come, but it’s anger, not grief. I dig my nails into my palms.

Dominic thinks it’s over. He thinks snapping the bond means he’s free.

What a joke.

No bond means nothing left to hold me back. No leash. No weak spot.

I close my eyes, lean back as the carriage rattles toward Dark Storm. My father will want answers, he’ll press, he’ll threaten. Whatever. Doesn’t matter.

I already know what comes next.

Dominic’s about to find out what real regret tastes like.