The Severing

The words echoed in the sudden silence like stones dropped into still water.

"I, Kael Blackthorne, Alpha of the Black Fang Pack, reject you, Aria Lane, as my mate."

Time seemed to fracture around me. The great hall, filled with hundreds of wolves, felt like a tomb. Every eye was fixed on us, on the impossible scene unfolding before them. Their Alpha, bound to an omega. Their Alpha, about to sever that bond in the most brutal way possible.

My legs gave out.

I dropped to my knees on the cold stone floor, my hands clutching at my chest as the first wave of pain hit me. It felt like someone had reached inside my ribcage and started tearing out my heart piece by piece.

"No," I whispered, the word barely audible. "Please, no."

But Kael's face was carved from stone. His storm-gray eyes held no warmth, no mercy. Only cold determination and something that looked dangerously close to disgust.

"The ritual must be completed," Elder Mara said, her voice heavy with regret. "If the Alpha truly wishes to reject his mate, it must be done properly, before the Moon Goddess and the pack."

Luna Celeste stepped forward, her golden hair catching the candlelight. She was beautiful in the way that flowers were beautiful before they were plucked and crushed. Her smile was sharp as a blade.

"My Alpha," she said, her voice honey-sweet, "surely you don't need to put yourself through this. We all know what she is. What she's always been."

The words hit me like physical blows. Around the circle, wolves nodded and murmured their agreement. Of course they did. I was nothing to them. I had always been nothing.

Kael's jaw tightened. "The rejection must be formal. Complete."

He stepped toward me, and I could smell his scent even stronger now. Cedar and storm clouds, wild and masculine and everything I would never have. The mate bond pulled at me desperately, trying to draw me to him even as he prepared to destroy it.

"Stand," he commanded.

I couldn't. The pain was too intense, radiating from my chest through every limb. Nyra was howling inside my mind, a sound so broken and desperate it made my soul ache.

"I said stand."

His voice cracked like a whip. Somehow, I found the strength to push myself upright. My legs shook, and I swayed on my feet, but I stood.

The pack formed a circle around us now, pressing close to witness the spectacle. Their faces were a mix of excitement, disgust, and cruel anticipation. Some looked hungry for the drama. Others seemed almost disappointed that their Alpha had been saddled with such an unworthy mate.

"The rejection ritual requires the rejected mate to accept the severing," Elder Mara explained, her voice carrying to every corner of the hall. "Only then can the bond be fully broken."

I stared at Kael, searching his face for any sign of the man who had saved me from Tessa's cruelty just days ago. But that man was gone, replaced by this cold stranger who looked at me like I was something disgusting he'd found on the bottom of his boot.

"You will accept my rejection," he said. It wasn't a question.

"I..." My voice cracked. I swallowed hard and tried again. "I don't understand. The Moon Goddess chose us. She doesn't make mistakes."

Something flickered in his eyes. Pain? Regret? But it was gone so quickly I might have imagined it.

"The Moon Goddess has many enemies," he said. "Dark magic can corrupt even her sacred rituals. This bond is not real. It cannot be real."

The words cut deeper than any physical wound. He wasn't just rejecting me. He was denying the very existence of what we shared.

"But I can feel it," I whispered. "Can't you feel it too?"

His hands clenched into fists. "I feel nothing."

Liar. The bond might have been weakening, but it was still there. I could sense his emotions bleeding through, confusion and anger and something that felt like terror.

"The ritual," Elder Mara prompted gently. "It must be completed before the blood moon sets."

I looked up at the crimson orb hanging above us. It seemed to pulse with its own heartbeat, and I could swear I heard something like weeping in its light.

"Why?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. "Why are you doing this?"

Kael's expression hardened. "Because you are an omega. Because you are weak. Because I need a Luna who can stand beside me, not behind me. I need someone who can bear strong pups and help me lead this pack. You..." He looked me up and down with obvious distaste. "You are none of those things."

Each word was a dagger to my heart. Around us, the pack murmured their agreement. Of course they did. Everything he said was true, wasn't it? I was weak. I was nothing.

But Nyra snarled inside my mind, sudden and fierce. She showed me flashes of memory. The way Kael had looked at me in the hall. The way his scent had wrapped around me like a caress. The way his eyes had widened when the bond snapped into place, not with disgust but with wonder.

He was lying. To the pack, to me, maybe even to himself.

"I won't accept it," I said suddenly.

The words surprised me as much as everyone else. Kael's eyes widened, and several pack members gasped.

"You will," he said, his voice deadly quiet.

"No." I lifted my chin, finding strength I didn't know I possessed. "The Moon Goddess chose us. If you want to break that bond, you'll have to do it yourself. I won't help you."

Fury blazed in his eyes. "You dare defy your Alpha?"

"I dare defy someone who would spit in the face of the Moon Goddess herself."

The words hung in the air like a challenge. Around us, the pack grew restless. Some looked shocked at my defiance. Others seemed almost impressed.

Kael stepped closer, so close I could feel the heat radiating from his body. When he spoke, his voice was so low only I could hear it.

"You have no idea what you're doing. What you're risking."

"Then tell me," I whispered back. "Tell me why you're so afraid of this bond."

Something cracked in his expression. For just a moment, I saw through the mask he wore. I saw pain and longing and a fear so deep it made my heart ache.

Then the mask slammed back into place.

"Beta Roland," he called without taking his eyes off me. "Remove her from the circle."

"Alpha," Elder Mara's voice held a warning. "The ritual is not complete. The bond still exists."

"Then I'll break it another way."

He grabbed my shoulders, his fingers digging into my flesh. The mate bond flared to life at his touch, sending sparks of heat through my entire body. I saw his pupils dilate, watched him fight against the pull between us.

"I reject you," he said again, his voice rough with emotion. "I reject this bond. I reject everything the Moon Goddess thinks she knows about us."

The words hit me like acid. The bond began to fray, the beautiful silver thread connecting us starting to snap strand by strand.

"I claim Luna Celeste of the Northern Claws as my chosen mate," he continued, his voice growing stronger. "She will be my Luna. She will bear my pups. She will stand beside me as this pack's true leader."

Celeste's laughter rang out like silver bells. "I accept, my Alpha. I accept your proposal and your pack."

The crowd erupted in cheers. The political alliance they'd all been expecting was finally happening. The natural order was being restored.

And I was dying.

The severing of the mate bond felt like being torn apart from the inside. Fire raced through my veins, burning away everything the Moon Goddess had given me. Nyra's howls grew fainter and fainter until they were nothing more than whispers.

Blood trickled from my nose, hot and metallic. My vision blurred, and I collapsed to my knees again.

"It is done," Kael announced to the pack. "The false bond is broken. Tomorrow, we will celebrate my engagement to Luna Celeste."

Through the haze of pain, I heard him walk away. Heard Celeste's delighted laughter. Heard the pack dispersing, their voices filled with excitement about the upcoming celebration.

But I couldn't move. I knelt there on the cold stone floor, broken and bleeding, as the blood moon began to set and the worst night of my life finally came to an end.

Nyra was gone. The bond was severed. And I was utterly, completely alone.