Chapter 3

The altar for the severing ritual was set in the Moon Goddess Temple.

Tonight was a full moon. Perfect for witnessing the forging of bonds. And perfect for shattering them.

Before I could walk to the altar, Isaac blocked my path one last time.

He'd sent Chloe away. His eyes were wild with a last, desperate gamble.

"Kira, one last time, I'm begging you." He gripped my arm, his fingers digging in hard enough to bruise bone. "I'll send her away. Right now. We can start over. We can pretend this never happened!"

His voice was so broken, it almost found a crack in my armor.

Almost.

Then my gaze fell to the open collar of his shirt.

A pendant used to hang there. A "Wolf's Heart" stone, formed from a drop of his own heart's blood.

It was his first gift to me, the year we mated.

A wolf gives his heart's blood only once, he had told me. To his one true love.

Now, the space was empty.

"Where is the Wolf's Heart?" I asked, my voice a whisper.

Isaac froze, his eyes darting away. "I... I put it away. Chloe... she was curious a few days ago, she lost it while she was playing with it. I haven't had a chance to look for it yet..."

Playing with it?

Lost it?

Those words pierced the softest part of my soul, leaving it bleeding.

The token I had treasured like my own life. The proof of his "one true love."

He gave it to another woman to play with. Like a child's toy.

I didn't speak again. I just slowly lifted my hand, touching the skin over his heart.

Through the thin fabric of his shirt, I felt no familiar thrum of magic.

"And the soul-rune?" My voice was terrifyingly calm now. "The one you said would only vanish if you died. The rune that matched mine."

Isaac's body went rigid. His face was as white as a sheet.

He didn't answer.

But his silence was the cruelest answer of all.

He erased the rune. Erased me.

All so his body wouldn't reject his lie.

All so he could touch her freely.

I slowly pulled my hand away.

Every last bit of love, of regret, of hope... turned to ash in that moment.

"The Moon Goddess is my witness."

I looked at him, my voice dead.

"I have never been more grateful our mark was a lie. Because I wouldn't want to be tied to something so... filthy."

I turned my back on him and walked, step by steady step, to the altar.

The ritual began with the Head Elder's somber chant.

An invisible force, like a red-hot, dull blade, began to slice at my soul.

Even knowing the bond was a lie... ten years of emotion had made it real in my heart.

"Ah—" A pained gasp escaped my lips.

My body curled in on itself, cold sweat soaking my back.

It was the agony of having a piece of your soul ripped out. It was so intense I nearly blacked out.

Across from me, Isaac was suffering, too.

His deception had created a twisted resonance with my real feelings.

As the fake bond broke, the psychic backlash hit him hard.

He dropped to one knee, clutching his head, letting out a guttural scream of pain.

"Kira..." he sobbed, looking at me through a blur of tears and regret. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Sorry?

I forced a brutal smile through my own agony.

Too late.

The last speck of the fake mark dissolved into the air.

I felt hollowed out.

And finally, free.

The ritual was over.

Chloe immediately rushed to Isaac's side, helping him to his feet and leading him from the temple.

Before leaving, the way he looked at me was filled with hatred, as if I were the one who had done something wrong.

Leaning on her, he didn't even look back.

I walked alone back to the empty house we once called home.

On the table sat the tea set he always used.

I boiled the water. I steeped the herbs. Just like he did for me for ten years.

I lifted the cup. The "calming tea."

I drank it down in one go.

A bitter funeral for a foolish love.

A final goodbye to the girl who believed in him.