Chapter 5

The adoption ceremony was held at the ritual grounds.

Today, Walter would officially announce Scott's identity in front of the entire pack.

By the time he arrived with Lupita and Scott, almost everyone had gathered there.

He looked around but couldn't find me.

Holding Scott's hand, Lupita stood right behind him.

She glanced around and searched the crowd before gently tugging at Walter's sleeve.

"Layla isn't here." Lupita sounded uneasy. "Do you think she's angry and doesn't want to come? Or has she already left?"

Walter glanced back at her and shook his head.

"No." He remained confident. "Don't worry. Layla won't leave. Let's wait a little longer."

Despite his reassuring words, a strange sense of sadness swept through him.

He hadn't been able to forget the way I had turned my back to him the previous night.

The next second, Walter felt as if an invisible hand had seized his heart and was violently ripping it out of his chest.

Even as the strongest warrior in the pack, he couldn't withstand the sudden, agonizing pain. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground.

His knees struck the stone steps with a dull thud.

One hand braced against the ground while the other clutched his chest. Sweat streamed down his forehead.

"Walter, what's wrong?" Lupita's panicked cry immediately drew the attention of the surrounding pack members.

Everyone ran toward him.

Walter tried to speak, but the pain was so unbearable that he couldn't make a sound.

He quickly realized the pain was coming through our mate bond. He immediately tried to reach me.

'Layla? Stop!'

There was no response from me, but the pain in his chest grew increasingly intense.

His wolf spirit let out a piercing howl of agony.

It was a sign that the mate bond was breaking.

'Layla, have you lost your mind? Whatever you're angry about, take it out on me! Don't hurt yourself like this! Stop!'

The bond was breaking faster and faster. His wolf spirit thrashed and howled wildly inside him.

Only then did Walter truly begin to panic.

Once the mate bond was severed, it could never be restored.

'Layla, please don't do this. I'm begging you. You know what breaking the bond means! You'll–'

A tremendous force suddenly tore something from his chest.

The bond snapped.

'No! Don't!'

Walter desperately tried to establish a mind-link connection with me, but it was as if an impenetrable wall stood between him and me.

He couldn't feel anything.

Everything connected to me had vanished.

"Walter! Are you all right?" Lupita screamed as she tried to help him up.

Walter wanted to answer, but as soon as he opened his mouth, a metallic sweetness flooded his throat. Before he could swallow, a mouthful of blood spilled out and splattered onto the ground. Dark red blood trickled down the corner of his mouth and stained the front of his shirt.

Scott screamed in terror and burst into tears. The crowd erupted into chaos. Someone frantically called out Walter's name.

His vision blurred. The voices around him sounded like they were coming from a great distance.

He tried to stand, but his legs were weak, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.

He could feel his powerful Alpha wolf spirit slowly being torn apart and growing weaker. That terrified him even more than the pain.

Dad pushed through the crowd and ran over.

One look at Walter's condition was enough for him to understand what had happened.

"Where's Layla?" Dad stood up and shouted at the crowd. "Did anyone see her here today?"

Everyone exchanged glances, but no one answered him.

"I'm asking you! Is Layla here or not?" Dad asked again.

"No," someone finally replied. "We haven't seen the Luna today."

Dad's face turned pale.

He knew that only the severing of a mate bond could cause Walter such excruciating pain.

"Lucas, what's happening to him?" Lupita asked through tears.

Dad sighed. "This is the reaction to a severed mate bond. I'm afraid Layla has severed their mate bond."

There were gasps in the crowd.

"Impossible!" one of the elders immediately exclaimed. "We haven't received any application for a mate bond severance. If the Luna had submitted one through the werewolf council, we would've been notified."

Something occurred to Dad, and his expression suddenly darkened. "Oh my goodness. No. Layla–"

He shook his head repeatedly while muttering in a hoarse voice. "Layla, you wouldn't have really done that–"

Apart from submitting an application to the werewolf council, there was another way to sever a mate bond.

It was a method so dangerous that few would ever dare attempt it.

Without any protection, a mate could reach into their own chest, pull out the bond with their bare hands, and tear it apart.

Walter clearly realized this too.

'No! That's impossible!' he screamed desperately in his mind.

Pushing Lupita away, he let out a deep growl and shifted into his wolf form. He then sprinted home like a madman.

"Dad!" Scott chased after him while sobbing. "Dad, where are you going? Dad!"

Walter didn't turn around.

Only one thought remained in his mind. 'I have to find Layla.'