Shattered bonds.

Lila’s POV

As I pushed the door, it made a creaky sound that always got on my nerves. The noise filled the small house. My shoulders hurt from a long day at work, and my work clothes were wet with sweat. But the idea of being home—with Ethan—kept me going.

“Ethan?” I said in a low voice, and my bag fell to the ground with a soft sound.

The smell of garlic, onions, and herbs hit me. It was the cozy smell of someone cooking. For a moment, I smiled. Ethan had made dinner, a sweet surprise after many days of coming home too tired to make food myself.

But as I stepped into the living room, my world tilted.

A woman stood in my kitchen. Blond hair falling over her shoulders, slim waist cinched in a neat dress, her hands moving easily as she stirred a pot on my stove. My stove.

I froze mid-step. “Who… who are you?”

The woman looked up, lips curving in a smile that wasn’t friendly. “Marissa,” she said, like her name alone should explain everything.

My throat tightened. “What are you doing in my house?”

“Cooking,” she replied lightly, turning back to the pot as if that were enough.

Something inside me cracked. I moved closer, my voice shaking. “Where’s Ethan? Why are you here?”

“He’s upstairs,” she said, not even glancing at me, her tone casual in a way that stung more than any slap.

My chest heaved, words fighting to come out, but footsteps cut me off.

Ethan appeared at the top of the stairs, shirt half-buttoned, hair damp from a shower. He didn’t even look surprised to see me standing there. His green eyes just went cold, like I was an inconvenience.

“Ethan,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Why is she here? Why is she in my kitchen? Why is she cooking? Why are you two acting like this is some normal shit! Why is she here?”

He descended slowly, each step deliberate. “Because you’re not,” he said flatly. “Because while you’re out saving the world, someone has to be here. With me. For me.”

I shook my head, stepping closer, desperate. “No, Ethan, I do this for us. Every late shift, every double—so we can have a future. I’m the one keeping food on the table, the bills paid—”

He barked out a laugh, sharp and cruel. “Can you hear yourself? Even if you do all that,a good mate, no matter how exhausted should still come back home, cook, clean after me and attend to my needs as a man. Your job should not be an excuse for failing in your responsibilities as a mate.”

Tears burned my eyes. “I thought you’d be proud… I thought you’d see how much I love you.”

“Love?” His mouth twisted, and he gestured toward Marissa in the kitchen. “You call this love? Neglecting me? Leaving me to feel like I don’t exist?” His voice rose.

I flinched at every word. My body trembled as I reached for him, pleading. “Then I’ll change. I’ll work less. I’ll come home early, I’ll—Ethan, please, I’ll do better. Just… don’t do this.”

For a heartbeat, his expression wavered. Then it hardened into stone.

“Quit your job?” he said coldly. “Who will feed me? Who will feed us? You’re an omega, Lila. Weak.Without your job you’re useless to me.” His eyes raked over me, disgust curling his lip.

The word omega sliced deeper than any blade.

I staggered back, my hand clutching the couch for balance. “We were chosen,” I whispered. “The bond—”

“The bond means nothing.” His voice was final, sharp. “I won’t chain myself to a burden. I need someone strong, someone who matches me. Not you.”

Marissa turned, smugness in her eyes as she set down the spoon and left without another word.

My world blurred through tears. “After everything I’ve done for you… not enough?”

Ethan didn’t flinch. “I’m with her now,” he said simply. “Marissa is everything you’re not. Tomorrow, when the ceremony comes, I’m certain she’ll be revealed as my true mate. The moon goddess must have made a mistake.”

The floor seemed to drop beneath me. “Ethan… no. No, you can’t.”

“I can,” he snapped. “And I will.”

The words tore through me. My knees gave way and I dropped before him, clutching at his hand like it was the last rope holding me up.

“Please, Ethan. Don’t throw us away. Don’t end this. I’ll change. I’ll give you everything you want. Just don’t sever it. Please.”

For a fleeting second, his eyes softened, almost regretful. But then he yanked his hand from mine as though my touch disgusted him.

“You’ll never be enough for me, Lila,” he said, his voice ice. “You’re weak. You’re nothing. I need more.”

And then, with a coldness that shattered me completely, he pressed his palm to his chest and spoke the words that ripped my soul apart.

“I, Ethan Cross, sever the bond between myself and Lila Hayes. From this moment forth, I reject her as my mate.”

“No! Please, no!” I screamed, my chest tearing open with the weight of his rejection.

But Ethan only stared down at me with disdain. “It’s done,” he said. “Tomorrow I’ll be free. Free to claim someone worthier than you.”

My tears blurred him from sight as he turned and walked to the kitchen.

Alone, I collapsed to the floor, my body shook, every sob wracking through me until breathing itself felt impossible.

The silence that followed was unbearable. The house—my house—was no longer mine. The man who had been my mate, my future, had cut me loose like I was nothing.

Curled on the floor, I pressed my forehead to my knees and whispered into the emptiness:

“What did I do to deserve this?”