Tristan Breaks

Tristan's POV

"Rewind it again. Slower this time."

The security room was ice-cold, but sweat clung to my skin. My jaw locked; fists clenched at my sides as I stared at the screen replaying the same ten seconds. Again. And again.

Reya.

The footage had been recovered from a rogue outpost—now a graveyard. Cameras cracked and bloodstained, but still functional enough to capture what I should never have seen.

Her.

A crimson blur ripped through the screen like divine fury. Eyes glowing molten gold. Her wolf form—towering, silver, and untethered—tore through men like paper. Her scream shattered the surveillance audio, but it wasn’t just rage.

It was grief.

She was there for a child. Our child.

"Sir," Beta Isaac said quietly. "That was a one-woman raid. No backup. She stormed a fortified rogue den alone."

I turned slowly to him. My voice rasped. "She got Luis back?"

Isaac nodded. "Every rogue inside was slaughtered. No survivors. They're calling her 'Blood Moon' now. Even the Lycan High Guard is shaken."

I staggered back and hit the edge of the control table. Reya.

Powerful.

A caring mother.

And I had tried to kill her.

My hands trembled. I gripped the edge of the console until my knuckles cracked.

"Why didn't you tell me the surveillance came in days ago?"

Isaac folded his arms. "Because I knew what it would do to you. And because it was you who put a bounty on her head. I wasn't sure if you'd order another hit or break."

I laughed bitterly. Then I sank into the nearest chair.

"She’s not supposed to exist. Not like this. I broke her."

Isaac sat opposite me, eyes guarded. "She survived. And now she’s something else entirely."

I closed my eyes.

"I rejected her. Twice. I hunted her. I let Chloe into this pack… into our lives. And while I looked away, Reya gave birth to my children."

Isaac leaned in. "You still love her. Don’t you?"

I didn’t answer.

The silence was answer enough.

Beta Isaac sighed. "Then say it. Say what you've never said out loud. Not to the council. Not to me. Say it."

My throat burned. I tasted iron.

"I love Reya in a kind of way. I never thought I will love her like I do now. Even when I told myself I hated her. Even when I hunted her like prey."

The words tasted like betrayal.

But they were the truth.

Isaac tilted his head. "Then why did you do it?"

"Because I was afraid of her. Of what she made me feel. She didn’t bend. She didn’t submit. I was taught a Luna is quiet, obedient. Reya defied all of that. And when she left—when she took part of me with her—I let the rage win."

My voice cracked. "And now, she's stronger than any Luna I've ever seen. She’s leading the Lycan Xander Guard. They bow to her."

Isaac hesitated. "And you... still want her? Even now?"

I gritted my teeth.

"I don’t want her."

Pause.

"I need her."

Isaac stared at me like I was already lost.

"She won’t come back to you. You know that, right? Not after what you did. Not after Chloe kidnapped her son."

I clenched my fists again. Chloe. The poison that festered while I pretended she was loyal.

"Where is Chloe now?"

"Gone," Isaac said flatly. "Fled after the failed handoff to Alpha Wyvern."

"And Luis?"

"Safe. Reya got to him in time. But rumors say she unleashed something... ancient. Her power cracked the ground. Some say she glowed like a goddess."

I turned back to the monitor. Froze the frame.

Reya stood drenched in blood, holding Luis in her arms. Her face was wild. Beautiful. Terrifying.

A queen.

"She was mine," I whispered. "And I broke her."

Isaac rose. "Then you better pray the bond isn’t severed yet. Because if it is... there may not be anything left to return to."

Later That Night

The scent of smoke lingered in my chambers. I hadn't slept. I couldn’t.

I paced, dragging my fingers through my hair. Every second that passed felt like a rope tightening around my throat.

Then a pulse.

Deep.

Sharp.

It hit me like a wave.

My knees buckled.

I collapsed.

Pain seared through my chest—not physical pain, but something deeper. Like something tearing through my soul.

"Reya...!"

The mate-bond.

Something was happening.

My body convulsed. My wolf howled inside me, clawing, screaming.

Isaac rushed in. "Alpha! What the hell—"

"She’s... she’s doing something," I gasped. "The bond. She’s breaking it."

His face paled. "You said she wouldn’t. That she couldn’t."

I slammed my hand into the wall, leaving cracks.

"I was wrong."

My wolf let out a guttural roar as the connection frayed like a dying thread.

"No. No. Reya… don’t do this. Please."

I dropped to the floor, blood dripping from my nose.

Flashes hit me.

Her smile.

Our first kiss.

The night I marked her.

The night I broke her.

Everything.

Gone.

And then, like the snap of a neck—

The bond broke.

Across the Pack Lands

A howl echoed from my lungs.

Raw.

Broken.

Final.

Isaac fell to his knees beside me. "She did it..."

I clawed at my chest, choking. "No..."

But it was done.

The mate-bond was dead.

My soul felt hollow. My wolf whimpered inside me, shredded and bleeding.

Isaac placed a trembling hand on my shoulder. "What now?"

I looked up at the moon through the shattered window.

And whispered, "Now... I take her back."