Chapter 60: I Reject You

(Aria’s POV)

I knew what they wanted.

The Echoes.

The First Heir.

Maybe even fate itself.

End the bond.

Save him.

Kael crashed hard against a stone pillar as the Hunger struck him again with a wave of darkness.

The entire chamber shook violently.

My scream tore through the air.

“KAEL!”

He tried to stand immediately.

Of course he did.

Blood ran from the corner of his mouth now.

And still—

his eyes searched for me first.

Always me.

The bond pulsed violently.

Pain exploded through my chest.

And beneath it—

I felt him weakening.

Not imagined.

Not feared.

Real.

The Hunger smiled.

“There it is.”

I hated that thing.

God, I hated it.

(Kael’s POV)

She knows.

Damn it.

I could feel it through the fracture.

Her decision forming.

No.

Absolutely not.

I forced myself upright despite the pain ripping through my body.

“Aria…”

Her eyes lifted toward mine slowly.

Tears filled them.

Fear.

Love.

Despair.

And something worse.

Goodbye.

Cold terror slammed through me.

(Adrian’s POV)

No.

Don’t do this.

I saw it too.

The look in her eyes.

I remembered it.

From before.

The last time she tried to sacrifice herself for someone she loved.

And last time—

everything burned.

(Aria’s POV)

The chamber blurred around me.

The Hunger fighting Kael.

The First Heir bleeding.

Adrian shouting something.

None of it mattered anymore.

Only one thing mattered.

Kael was dying.

Because of me.

The Echoes whispered softly now.

Break it before it roots deeper.

Save him.

My hands trembled violently.

The mate bond pulsed again.

I felt Kael’s pain.

God.

I couldn’t survive feeling him die.

Flash

Different heirs.

Different lives.

Always the same.

An Alpha dying slowly beside them.

Love turning into grief.

The Hunger feeding.

Present

“No…”

Kael started moving toward me again.

Even now.

Even dying.

Idiot.

“I told you…” my voice broke violently. “Stop coming closer.”

Pain flashed across his face again.

But he kept walking.

“I would rather die beside you than live without you.”

The bond exploded violently.

I screamed.

The Hunger laughed.

“Yes.”

No.

No no no—

That thing wanted this.

Wanted us desperate.

Wanted us broken.

Wanted love turned into suffering.

And suddenly—

I understood something.

The cycle survives because heirs keep choosing love over themselves.

The Hunger feeds because no one lets go.

Tears streamed down my face.

I looked at Kael one last time.

And saw everything.

The Alpha who protected me as a child.

The man who fought for me.

The person who loved me before fate forced him to.

My heart shattered completely.

(Kael’s POV)

No.

I felt it.

The decision.

Panic ripped through me instantly.

“Aria, don’t—”

Her voice trembled violently.

“I’m sorry.”

Fear unlike anything I had ever known flooded my body.

I lunged toward her.

Too late.

(Aria’s POV)

The bond burned beneath my skin.

Alive.

Rooted.

And still—

not fully complete.

Maybe the First Heir was right.

Maybe there was still time.

My entire body shook violently as I forced the words upward.

The words no mate should ever say.

The words that destroy worlds.

Kael froze.

The chamber itself seemed to hold its breath.

Tears blurred my vision as I looked directly into his eyes.

“I, Aria of the Crescent Pack…”

The bond screamed.

Pain exploded through my chest instantly.

Kael’s face went pale.

No.

Don’t look at me like that.

Please.

“…reject you, Kael Ashthorne…”

The Hunger roared violently.

The chamber cracked.

Silver light exploded everywhere.

Kael staggered like he’d been stabbed through the heart.

And then—

I said the final words.

“…as my mate.”

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Then the world broke.