Chapter four: Shattered Bonds

Aria Blackwood....

The days after the rejection bled together into a haze of pain.

Every morning I woke up with the same hollow ache in my chest, as though my heart had been carved out and left to rot. My wolf, Selene, once vibrant and fierce, now whimpered weakly inside me.

Her voice was faint, her energy dimmed, sometimes I couldn’t even feel her presence, and that terrified me more than anything.

Because a wolf without her wolf… was nothing.

I dragged myself out of bed each day, moving through the motions of pack life, but every glance, every whisper, reminded me of what I had lost.

“She actually thought she was the Alpha’s mate?”

“Did you hear? He rejected her in front of everyone.”

“No wonder. Look at her, what did she expect?”

I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood, forcing myself not to react. If I broke down in front of them, it would only prove Damien right that I was weak, pathetic and unworthy.

Still, their words carved deeper than claws. The first time I saw him after that night, it was like being stabbed all over again.

I had gone to the training grounds, determined to keep up my routine even if my body screamed for rest. Maybe if I pushed hard enough, the physical pain would drown out the agony in my chest.

But then I caught his scent of cedar and storm air. Damien stepped onto the field, tall and commanding like a dark presence that made every wolf straighten instinctively.

His Beta, my dad walked beside him, murmuring something under his breath, I froze mid-swing, the wooden staff heavy in my hands it was like my lungs had forgotten how to work.

Selene whimpered faintly. “Mate…”

I clenched my jaw. “No, not anymore.”

His eyes swept over the training grounds, sharp and assessing, until they landed on me for a moment, the world stopped and then he looked away as if I were invisible.

The rejection twisted inside me all over again. My knees nearly buckled, but I forced myself to stay upright, gripping the staff so tightly my knuckles went white.

“Aria.” My sparring partner, Darren, frowned at me. “Are you—”

“I’m fine,” I snapped, harsher than intended.

And I felt bad , Darren was one of the least harsh male wolves.

But Damien had already moved on, his deep voice echoing as he addressed the warriors. “Training must intensify because rogue attacks have increased along the border, I want every patrol doubled.”

His words blurred in my ears, all I could hear was Selene’s faint whimpering, her pain echoing mine. Nights were worse.

Sleep brought no relief, only nightmares and dreams of his voice saying I reject you again and again, his cold eyes watching me shatter. I would wake with tears on my face, clutching my chest as if I could stitch the bond back together with sheer will.

One night, unable to bear it, I slipped outside, barefoot in the dew-damp grass. The moon hung heavy in the sky, luminous and distant.

“Why?” I whispered to the Goddess. “Why pair me with him, only for him to break me?”

No answer came only the rustle of leaves and the hollow silence of my wolf, too weak to respond.

I sank to my knees, my body shaking. “Please, Selene,” I begged, clutching at the emptiness where her warmth used to be. “Don’t leave me, I can’t… I can’t survive without you.”

A faint whimper echoed in my mind, it was weak but still there and alive, i sobbed into my hands, both relieved and broken.

The second run-in was in the pack house hallway. I had just come from the kitchens, carrying a tray of food for the younger pups who were too ill to train. It gave me purpose, even if small, to care for them.

Elias always mocked me for being too motherly, I loved helping out with the pack and it was my responsibility as the beta's daughter

But as I rounded the corner, Damien appeared, striding toward me with Dad at his side. My stomach dropped and my grip on the tray faltered.

“Aria,” Dad acknowledged, his tone curt.

I lowered my gaze instantly, bowing slightly. “Beta, Alpha.” My voice came out hoarse, trembling.

“Keep moving,” Damien said coldly, not even sparing me a glance. The tray wobbled in my hands, but I forced my feet forward and forced myself not to react.

But just as I passed, I caught the faintest flicker in his scent, there was tension, sharp and unsettled. My wolf whimpered weakly, trying to reach for him.

No, I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge, he didn’t want me, he made that clear already.

Still, the ache lingered long after he walked away.

By the third encounter, I was unraveling, it was during a patrol against Maya’s protests, I had volunteered, desperate to prove to myself to everyone and maybe to the Goddess too that I wasn’t broken beyond repair.

The night was quiet and the forest was alive with crickets and the distant hoot of an owl but my mind was a storm of emotions and then he appeared.

Damien, shifting effortlessly back into his human form as he approached the group. His presence silenced everyone, commanding as always.

His eyes found mine across the clearing for one split second, I thought I saw something there, a flicker of Pain? Regret?

But then it was gone, replaced with the same icy indifference.

“Aria,” he said flatly. “You’re dismissed, you’re too distracted to be useful on patrol, not like you were useful anyway".

Humiliation scorched my skin. The other wolves shifted uncomfortably, some smirking, others looking at me with pity, Serena and her cronies whispering.

My chest tightened, I wanted to argue, to demand he let me stay but my throat closed up, my voice stolen by the weight of his rejection.

So I bowed my head, forcing the words out. “Yes, Alpha.”

Then I turned and walked away, each step heavier than the last.

Behind me, his voice came out again, firm and commanding as he directed the others. But I could swear… I could swear I felt his gaze burning into my back long after I left.

Back in my room, I collapsed onto my bed, clutching the pillow to my chest as tears streamed down my face.

“I can’t keep doing this,” I whispered. My voice cracked. “Selene, I can’t…”

But Selene was silent and that was worse than anything Damien had ever said.

By the end of the week, I was a ghost of myself, I was pale and hollowed eyed. Moving through the pack house like a shadow no one wanted to notice.

My mum got tired of pleading with me to eat something and try and be happy, Elias did what he could for me in his own way but deep down, a small ember refused to die.

I remembered the vow I made the night of the rejection, he could break me, he could humiliate me and he could dismiss me as worthless but I would rise and one day ay, I would rise so high that even Alpha Damien Storm would regret ever rejecting me.

Until then, I would endure the agony and I would survive it because survival was the first step toward strength.

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