2

The moment my magic is upon me, I feel as if my entire body is engulfed in light, my hair lifting and twirling with the rush that comes from my inner mana breaking open inside me. It’s flowing through my limbs, to the tips of my bare toes, my fingers, even seeping into every lock of my hair.

I am fae, and with my magic unlocked, I know he can feel it. He can feel the bond, but it’s too late. I won’t have him.

His eyes went wide, his mouth went to the ground as he sank to his knees.

As I get my bearings once again, I quickly scan the room, and see others in a pose much similar to Lachlan’s, scared of the light and the magical aura that emanated from me. Even Nilo leaned against the wall in surprise, shock evident on his face.

“You, Elelira, you...you are….” Lachlan stumbled over his words, coming to terms with what had just occurred. I can see the understanding and recognition in his eyes. He feels it, the mate bond, but it’s too late.

“I was your mate, the mate you claimed to be looking for all along, but were too arrogant to notice. I tried telling you countless times, but you dismissed me, abused me, forced me to endure as you brought countless women to your bed.” I take a step back, bracing myself physically for my next words. “I, Elelira Meline Lambert, reject you, Lachlan Stiles, as my mate, and as my alpha.”

“No,” he gasps right before he buckles over from the pain of me severing my end of the bond.

All he needs to do is sever his connection with me, and we can both be free. Free from each other, and free from the burden of the ugly fate we were forced to share. He was the worst of my past, but I can be free to be happy in my future.

“Alpha!” Nilo drops to the ground beside him, helping to support his body as he bears the pain of the rejection. We did not bare each other's marks, but he was finally feeling the two years of the suppressed bond. All the weight of the neglect and pain of his betrayals is resting on his shoulders, and that is a heavy burden to bear.

I know. I endured it for years.

My lycan inside me whimpers, but the pain isn’t nearly as bad as his. My Lycan and I have faced rejection for years. This is his first time. He will live, but I hope the pain lasts just a bit longer so he can feel just a fraction of the pain I have had to endure.

“I do not wish to watch him suffer, Ela. Let’s just go. I am done with him, and ready to face our future.” 'All alone', Valerina leaves unsaid. We will be alone after this as we search for our true father; a true family where we can finally belong. He will not get a second chance, and we won't either.

Good.

I do not let the flickers of lingering pain show, keeping my head high as I glare down on my suffering ex-husband and ex-mate. “Good-bye, Lachlan.”

I turned, and walked towards the doors that led to the walkway to the ocean shore. That will be our escape, the reason I can leave and take nothing with me.

Pack members move aside as I stride past, and I do not bear a glance at any of them. I am but the pitiful woman their Alpha was forced to wed. I never received a kind word or help from any of them in the last 2 years. I am as done with this pack as I am their alpha.

As I reached the door, I turned to face the room, staring blankly at Lachlan who was straining to get up off the floor. Nilo tried to help, but Lachlan pushed him away. He was staring after me with an unidentifiable emotion; one I had never seen from him before. I think it was regret.

“I, Elelira Meline Lambert, reject Hidden Cove Pack, as a member,” I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I murmured the last words, tearing myself completely from my mate and his pack forever, “and as it’s Luna.”

Lachlan, who had just stumbled to his feet, collapsed again to the ground, screaming out in excruciating pain, along with every adult member of the pack.

He deserves this, but they don’t. They don’t deserve to pay for his misdeeds, but that is his burden to bear. He made his bed, and with countless other women. I need to be strong and stick to my resolution, no matter how much it hurts. Their pain will lessen in seconds, while mine lasted years.

With my eyes closed, I take the straps of the gown on my shoulders, pushing them to the side and down my arms until the whole gown falls, pooling around my feet.

I’m naked, and free, finally ready to leave.

As my eyes opened, Lachlan was staring across the room at me, trying to force himself to his feet again as tears ran down his face, a longing in his eyes that was never there before.

It’s too late, Lachlan. You are now nothing to me, and that is how it will forever be. You will stay as a bad memory that I will try my hardest to forget.

With no emotion, just the coldness I felt for him resting on my face, I turned my back one last time, walking towards the open waters and freedom that lie beyond the pack’s shores.

When my feet hit the water, the magic beneath my skin’s surface surges forth again, making my skin take on a translucent glow. The deeper I get into the water, the more the magic pushes forth, until my limbs quiver and the siren inside of me breaks free, transforming my body, granting me a glorious, metallic and rainbow-scaled tail and fins. Gills emerge on my upper neck, in the soft spot below my ears.

My first breath of the salty ocean water sends tingles down my spine, like a jolt of adrenaline as I dive down, feeling truly free for the first time in my life.

My necklace feels as though it is pulsing against my throat, a steady drumming, but comforting in a way. The feeling of the jade and emerald stones gives me a sense of home. The ocean feels like my home with it. It is like this was my true fate all along.

The water rushing past me as I dive deep, twist my ductile new body and push back up to the surface is exhilarating.

As I break past the surface of the water, I look back to shore in the distance, at the beautiful castle I once thought was my future. Now, it is nothing but part of the nightmare of my past.

Good riddance.

Before I dive back down, movement on the shore catches my eyes.

Lachlan. He is wading into the shallows, calling me that damn nickname he had taken to calling me the last several months. Lira.

What right does he think he has to call me a nickname? A name at all. He should just be thankful he is free, because heaven knows I am. I am free of him, and no matter what name he calls me, I will never come back.