Chapter 1

                                                                         Shattered Bonds

Lora’s POV 

I ought never to have done this.

Thick with finality, the words hung in the air as Jordan's hand dropped from my back, leaving a chilly, empty hole where his warmth had been minutes before. My heart thumping, uncertainty enveloping me like a cloud, I lie there.

"What would you mean?" With my voice scarcely a whisper, the words choked in my throat, I asked.

Eyes fixed on the dark shadows beyond the window, he moved his head away from me. Though it softly illuminated his face, the moonlight came through the drapes and failed to reConnect the coldness in his look. His jaw clenched and his chest surged with a long, hefty breath.

"I never ought to have let it get this far."

The words tore across me like a gaping wound. One thousand questions burst in my head, each more agonizing than the next. He spoke about us? Was he regretting the close proximity we had just experienced? Alternatively was it something more profound, something I was ready to hear?

With my fingertips brushing his arm, I grabbed for him, attempting to drag him back to me, to the moment we had just had, to the love we once had. But he stayed still. He hardly looked at me either.

"I... Jordan, I find it difficult." What are you referring to? My hands shook and my voice faltered as I looked at his face for any indication this was only a passing idea, something to be discounted. But his face stayed blank, his eyes dark and far-off as though he were already somewhere else—someplace far from me.

"You'll understand soon enough," he said, the words so soft I nearly missed them. Still, this is better this way.

I backed off, my heart sinking. Better yet Was he claiming, therefore, that this was better? Was he separating me from everything? Though I felt the familiar sting of tears pressing on my eyes and my throat clenched, I resisted allowing them to fall. Not now. Not when everything felt so out of line, so inappropriate.

What do you mean by that? Sitting up immediately, I insisted, unable to suppress the terror rising in my chest. "What's happening, Jordan?."

He delayed his response right away. Rather, he turned his back on me and moved toward the window, his wide shoulders tight and his motions deliberate and rigid.

You will be good. We will both, he whispered at last, his voice so low it hardly reached me. He stopped with his hand on the windowsills. On this, you have to trust me.

But how could I believe him when he was behaving like this? How could I believe a man who had been everything to me only a few seconds earlier yet now seemed like a stranger?

I heard the door creaking open before I could talk, before I could demand responses. My breath seized my throat. For a Fleeting second, I considered it may be him returning to provide me the solace I so much needed, explaining himself. But it wasn't quiet.

She was Eva.

Eva? < The sister.

Her eyes wide, mouth opened in astonishment when she entered the room and found me seated there. But that was not the type of surprise I was anticipating. Her eyes Loraicked fast to Jordan, then she turned away, crimson in her cheeks. She seemed almost ashamed. Still, why? Why would she project such a look?

She mumbled, not meant to interrupt, but her voice lacked the customary warmth. She seemed different tonight—something I couldn't quite put in place.

Jordan's head turned around at her words, and for a split second I could see something in his eyes that eluded me. His jaw locked and he moved back toward the window right away.

"I need some air," he said, and left the room.

I watched him go, the door clicking gently behind him, and my chest grew to be frigid nothingness. What recently occurred? Why did everything feel so... improper?

My sister spoke once more, her voice softer now, before I could understand any of it. I... I have to talk to you.

" About what?" My tone Loraat, not trusting myself to sound any more emotional than I already felt, I asked.

Eva moved nearer, her eyes not meeting mine. It's about Jordan.

I was tense. "What about him"?

She hesitated, appearing troubled as though she was holding something back. She suddenly looked at me, though, and her comments seemed like a strike to the belly.

"He is my destined mate.."

My blood froze.

The room whirled, and for a time I  breathed. The words kept coming back to me, again and over. "My destined friend."

Planned. Your fated partner is Jordan?

My thoughts whirled with uncertainty, incredulity, and a great hurting sense of betrayal. Sister, please. My sister's name is mine. How could that be even conceivable?

The earth appeared to move beneath me, so I staggered backwards unable to get my balance. My surroundings were hazy and I sensed the walls closing in on me.

"I... I don't understand," I said, my voice breaking. "You—you can't be serious."

Eva first answered not at all. She stood there, her face pallid and remorse shining in her eyes. As the awareness sank in, I felt my heart splintering a thousand bits. Jordan had picked her. His destined partner has always been my sister.

Like a wave, the terror enveloped me, drowning me in a sea of unprocessed feeling. I was not breathing. My eyesight darkened and my chest contracted. Every inch around me seemed far-off, surreal. My body moved, and before I could even respond the blackness claimed me.

I woke to an unusual, soothing voice. My brain felt weighty, my ideas muddled. When I attempted to move, everything seemed off. My body did not comply as I tried to sit up. I could taste the salt of tears I hadn't realized I had shed; my throat felt dry.

The voice spoke softly, a hand resting on my shoulder: "Take it easy." It was strict yet also kind. You have gone through a lot.

Blinking, I tried to concentrate on the figure right in front of me. man. His features were keen, his dark hair and dark eyes devoid of any indication of identification softened yet firm. He had on a basic physician's coat.

"What is happening??" With a rough voice, I asked.

"You're in a safe place," he said, while his eyes seemed far-off. "You have a lot to sort through, but right now you are safe."

Good. Though something in my stomach told me I wasn't, I wanted to trust him. From whence am I? When I attempted to inquire, the words failed to Lora.

Then something else became evident as the mist of uncertainty just slightly lifted. Deep inside me a gnawing sensation.

I am expecting.

My hand shot to my stomach, but the truth of it just made things worse. How had this come to pass? No, worse; Jordan had turned away from me.

"What's going to happen to me"? I murmured while my head whirled.

The doctor's face wavered just momentarily. He looked aside then, reaching for something on the table next to him.

He responded, "You're going to be fine," but his tone's tranquility didn't comfort me.

Then, as I stared at him, I saw something that stopped my pulse. His following utterances were less than icy.

"Domic... the Alpha... he wants to call off this. He gave me directions on ending the pregnancy.

I stopped. Every muscle in my body seized. When I started to talk, nothing came out. This was it. This represented the end.

I said, my voice almost audible, "Please, don't do it." Please do not.

The doctor ignored me, but I sensed his gaze. I was running out of time and my child's destiny loomed in front of us.

Desperate for some indication of compassion, I contacted him, and then the door cracked open and a shadow emerged. The voice I next heard chilled my spine.

"I doubt she gets to make that decision anymore."

Jordank was it.