CHAPTER 4

I barely remembered how I got home. My body felt weak, and that strange voice I had heard outside the pack house kept returning to my thoughts. Maybe someone was playing tricks on me or maybe the pain had finally become too much for my mind to handle.

But nothing could explain what had happened in Aiden's office.

I closed my bedroom door and leaned against it, trying to hold myself together. The memory came back in pieces: Seraphina's hand on his back, the way she smiled at me, and Aiden's cold eyes as he told me I was nothing but a disappointment.

Then I remembered the slap that happened so while ago .

My fingers moved to my cheek before I even realised what I was doing. I could still remember the shock of it, how I had stood there unable to believe that the man I loved could raise his hand against me. I had tried to tell myself there must have been a reason, that perhaps he was angry and didn't mean it.

I had made excuses for him for so long that even my pain had started to feel like something I needed to hide.

A sob escaped me. I pressed a hand to my chest, but the ache inside me didn't ease, I cried until my eyes hurt, thinking of everything I had lost and everything I had kept forgiving. I wanted my father, I just needed someone to tell me that I wasn't the problem, that I didn't deserve to be treated this way.

That night, I barely slept, because every time I closed my eyes, I saw Aiden and Seraphina together, and I heard his voice telling me that our bond would end the next day. I was afraid of what the separation would do to my wolf, but a small part of me was also tired of living in fear of a man who had never truly wanted me.

By morning, I had no tears left, the whole day I locked myself in before finally making the final decision. “I’m ending the whole pain today, at least finally I will get to meet my father.”

I lost hold of time by just staring at the wall, still trying to reach for my wolf one last time but I couldn’t even feel her anymore.

By midnight I finally heard the bell I had heard it some years back when something like this was about to happen, I stood up and steeped out of my room heading for the pack ground.

The pack ground was already crowded when I arrived. Members stood in a wide circle, whispering as I passed. Some looked curious, others pitiful, and a few didn't bother hiding their smiles. I kept my eyes forward, though each step felt heavier than the last.

Aiden stood in the centre, dressed in black. Seraphina was beside him, close enough that their arms almost touched. When she noticed me, she gave me a small, satisfied smile.

The pack elder stepped forward, before starting "Amelia Bennett and Aiden Lucian, you are gathered here to formally end the mate bond between you. Is this the decision you both accept?"

Aiden answered before I could speak. "I accept."

The elder turned to me "Amelia?"

My throat felt tight. I thought of the girl I had been when I first learned Aiden was my mate, the girl who had believed the Moon Goddess had finally given her someone who would stand beside her. I thought of all the times I had waited for him, defended him, and blamed myself for his cruelty.

"I accept," I whispered.

The elder began the ritual. The air shifted, and every wolf began to shift as they began howling, my wolf stirred weakly inside me. I could feel the bond pulling, as if some last part of me was still trying to hold on.

Aiden stepped forward, his face as cold as ever.

"I, Aiden Lucian, revoke the mate bond that is between us."

Pain rushed through me, and the ground seemed to tilt beneath my feet. I tried to stay standing, but my vision blurred. I reached out for something to hold, but my knees gave way, then everything went dark.

For a moment, there was only silence, I found myself standing in a place filled with pale silver light. The air was warm, and the pain that had followed me for so long had magically disappeared. A woman stood before me, her presence so powerful that I instinctively lowered my head in submission.

"Amelia," she said gently. "You have suffered enough."

I stared at her, unable to speak. I knew that voice. It was the one I had heard the night before.

My eyes filled with tears. "Please. If you're here to take me away, then let it happen. I don't know how to live with this pain anymore."

"I did not bring you here to end your life, child. I brought you here because your story is not over."

I shook my head. "What story? My mate rejected me, my wolf is weak, and I have nowhere to go, no one wants me."

"You are not alone."

The words made my lips tremble for the first time in a long while, someone was looking at me without disgust or pity.

She closer and placed a gentle hand over mine. "There is another soul with you, Amelia. One who has done nothing to deserve the pain you have been carrying."

I frowned, not understanding. "What do you mean?"

Her gaze lowered briefly to my stomach.

"You're pregnant."

The world seemed to stop.

I looked down at myself, one hand slowly moving to my stomach. "No…"

"You are carrying a child," she said softly. "A life that is connected to you, but whose future is not yet written."

Tears slipped down my cheeks. I thought of the days I had felt strange, the moments I had wondered why my wolf was responding differently, and all the words I had kept to myself because I was afraid Aiden would turn them against me.

A child.

I was carrying Aiden's child, and he had ended our bond without knowing.

I pressed both hands over my stomach, overwhelmed by a love and fear I had never felt before. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"That is your choice," the Moon Goddess replied. "You can return to the life you knew and allow your pain to decide your future, or you can accept a second chance. But you must understand that choosing this path will not be easy."

I shook my head, tears falling faster. "I don't know if I'm strong enough."

"You do not have to be strong every moment. But you must decide what you are willing to fight for."

I looked down at my stomach again. A moment ago, I had wanted the pain to end because I couldn't imagine living through another day like this. Now I knew I wasn't thinking about myself alone.

I couldn't let my child grow up believing that being unwanted was all we deserved.

When I lifted my head, my voice was still trembling, but there was something new inside it.

"I want the second chance."

The Moon Goddess studied me for a long moment.

"Then you must be prepared to leave behind the life that broke you. I can give you another beginning, Amelia, but I cannot promise that the road ahead will be gentle."

"I don't care how difficult it is," I whispered. "I just want my child to have a chance at a life filled with love."

For the first time, the Moon Goddess smiled.

"Then hold on to that promise."

The silver light around us began to fade. I felt a strange warmth spread through my body, and just before everything disappeared, the Moon Goddess spoke one final time.

"Remember this, Amelia: the man who rejected you is not the only one whose future is about to change."

I tried to ask what she meant, but the light swallowed her words.

"Amelia!!"