Elliot POV I didn’t look back. Not once. I knew that if I did, I would lose every bit of strength I had left. I would find myself running back to Damon, falling to my knees, and begging him to keep me, even if it was only as a slave, even if it meant living with his hatred. Every part of me screamed to turn around. Every part of me wanted to run into his arms and pretend none of this had ever happened. Pretend he hadn’t rejected me. Pretend my mother hadn’t betrayed the pack. Pretend we could still have the future I had dreamed about for so many years. But dreams were just dreams. They were never meant to come true. Reality was much crueler. The mate bond pulsed weakly inside my chest, broken and damaged, yet still stubbornly alive. My little wolf whimpered, soft and desperate. Go back… Please… go back to our mate. I squeezed my eyes shut for a brief second as fresh tears threatened to fall. “I can’t,” I whispered, my voice barely rising above the rustling leave
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