The Breaking

The council room was cold, its stone walls pressing in on me. The air was thick, heavy with the weight of too many eyes. Judging eyes. Everyone was waiting for something to happen. Waiting for Kael’s decision.

I stood at the center of the room, my body trembling.

Kael was already there. He stood tall and proud at the head of the room, a figure of power and authority. His looked toward me once but quickly looked away, as if he could barely look at me without feeling disgust. He didn’t even speak to me.

I felt small. Weak. I didn’t belong in this room. I never had.

Toran, the Beta, stepped forward. His sharp gaze swept over the council members seated around the table, and then he addressed Kael. His voice was calm, calculating. "Alpha Kael, you’ve been summoned to decide the fate of the rogue Maya, your... marked mate."

The room was quiet as everyone waited for Kael’s response. I held my breath, unsure if I wanted to hear it. I should’ve known better.

Kael turned his attention to the council. His expression was unreadable. He took a deep breath before speaking. His voice was cold, so cold it sent a shiver down my spine. “The bond was a mistake. It was formed in weakness. The mate bond was never meant to be.”

I froze when I heard those words.

He continued, each word hitting harder than the last. “She is not my mate. I alpha kael reject the bond in front of this council and release her from any tie to me.”

I could feel the blood drain from my face. My knees buckled beneath me, and I collapsed to the ground, unable to support my own weight. The room seemed to spin around me as I gasped for air, trying to comprehend what I was hearing. My heart shattered into a thousand pieces.

The pain in my neck flared, sharp and agonizing. The mark... the mark that had once bound us together, the mark that had made me feel like I finally fit in somewhere—it burned. It was as if the bond itself was being ripped out of me. I held my throat, gasping for air, but the pain wouldn’t stop. I screamed, unable to hold it in.

And then—everything went cold. The pain went away and for a short moment, there was nothing but silence. The mark on my neck had faded. It was gone, like it had never been there at all.

---

When I woke, I was outside. I sat up slowly, trying to steady myself, my breath coming in shaky gasps.

I looked around and realized with growing horror that I wasn’t in the council room anymore. I was outside the pack’s territory. The gates of Silverclaw were nowhere in sight, just the vast expanse of the forest stretching out before me. It was dark. Too dark. I had no idea how long I’d been unconscious, or how long they’d thrown me out.

I could feel the weight of the rejection pressing on me. I was alone. No pack. No Kael. The bond was gone, severed as if it had never existed.

I pushed myself to my feet, my legs shaking beneath me. My body ached, bruised from the fall, but I didn’t care. I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t know where to turn. I had nothing.

I stumbled forward, each step sending waves of pain through my body. My feet bled. My heart bled. Everything bled.

The wind was cold , and I felt the loneliness pressing in on me from all sides. I had been thrown away. Rejected. But there was a deeper ache now—a space in my chest where Kael used to be. Even though the bond was gone, I still felt his absence. It felt like I had lost a part of myself.

I pushed on, ignoring my weak body . But eventually, I could no longer ignore the pain. I collapsed beside a stream, gasping for breath. My hands shook as I cupped the cold water to my lips, drinking deeply.

I looked at my reflection in the water. The woman staring back at me was a stranger. Pale. Hollow. Empty. The mark was gone, and so was the spark that had once made me feel alive. It felt like I had lost everything.

Then I heard it.

Footsteps. Fast, heavy, and closing in.

I turned around, my heart leaping into my throat. Two men stepped out of the trees, their eyes shining with hunger. They were rogues, no doubt. Their clothes were torn, stained with blood. They looked like predators. And I was their prey.

One of them grinned. "Look what we found," he said, his voice low and dangerous.

The other one came closer, eyeing me. "Fresh meat," he said, his grin widening. "And she smells like an Alpha’s whore." The insult stung, but there was no time to react.

I backed away, my heart beating in my chest. “Stay away,” I warned, but my voice shook with fear.

They didn’t listen.

The first rogue lunged at me. I scrambled to my feet, but I was too slow. Too weak. He grabbed my arm, twisting it behind my back. I cried out in pain as he threw me to the ground, the rough earth scraping my skin.

“No one’s gonna save you now,” he sneered, his hand gripping my throat.

But as he raised his hand to strike, a growl ripped through the air. It was deep. Powerful.

The rogue froze. His eyes widened in fear.

A massive black wolf came from the shadows, its eyes glowing. It moved with speed crashing into the rogue. Blood spilled the ground as the wolf tore into him, ripping through flesh like it was nothing.

The second rogue tried to run, but it was too late. The wolf was faster. It chased him down, its jaws snapping shut around his neck in one powerful strike. He fell to the ground, lifeless.

The wolf stood over the body, breathing heavily. It turned toward me, its golden eyes locked onto mine.

Then, as if sensing my weakness, the wolf shifted. Bones cracked, fur receded, and a man stood in front of me. A tall, muscular man with long dark hair, a scar running down his chest, and tattoos winding around his arms.

He was unlike anyone I had ever seen.

He didn’t smile. His eyes were cold, hard.

“You’re hurt,” he said, his voice rough.

I tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. My body felt too heavy. My vision blurred.

Before I could fall, his strong arms wrapped around me, lifting me effortlessly. I collapsed against his chest, I could feel his warm body against mine. He carried me, moving swiftly through the trees, as if nothing could touch him.

“Who are you?” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

“A friend,” he replied, his tone calm, yet there was an edge to it. “One who knows what it feels like to be broken.”

I wanted to rest. My eyelids were heavy, and I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness. But as the world began to fade, I heard him say one last thing.

“True mates never stay strangers for long.”

And then everything went dark.

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