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I sat in the Alpha suite, convincing myself I had done the right thing.
I had just rejected Alex, my fated mate. She was a weak Omega, and my pack needed a strong Luna like Iliana.
But then, I overheard my twin children whispering in the backseat of the car.
"My tummy hurts, Kenny," my daughter whimpered. "It's the special juice Auntie Iliana gave us. It tastes like fire."
My blood ran cold. I demanded a toxicology report immediately.
The results nearly brought me to my knees: Wolfsbane.
The woman I had placed on a pedestal, the woman I broke my bond for, had been slowly poisoning my heirs to clear her path to power.
I executed Iliana’s punishment and immediately turned the convoy around, racing toward the Silver Moon territory where Alex had taken refuge.
I clutched the old silver engagement ring in my sweating palm. I was the Alpha. We were fated. I could fix this. She would forgive me once she knew the truth.
But when I arrived, I didn't find a broken woman waiting for her savior.
I found a Goddess.
Alex stood on the dais, her skin glowing with the legendary bioluminescence of the White Wolf bloodline. Standing protectively beside her was Daniel Sosa, the most ruthless Alpha in the region.
I rushed forward, falling to my knees and holding up the ring.
"Alex, please! I made a mistake! Come home!"
The crowd went silent. I waited for her to cry, to run into my arms.
Instead, she looked at me with eyes devoid of love.
"You didn't just break my heart, Gavyn," she said coldly. "You broke the sacred law."
Then, she turned to Daniel.
"Watch, Gavyn," she whispered, her voice carrying on the wind. "This is what real love looks like."
She pulled Daniel down and kissed him, and the world exploded in silver light, sealing a new bond right before my eyes.
Chapter 1
Gavyn POV
The silence in my head was louder than any scream I had ever heard.
I sat on the edge of the bed in the Alpha suite, pressing the heels of my hands against my throbbing temples. It had been hours since Alex had walked out of the Pack House-hours since she had turned her back on me with that infuriatingly calm, detached expression.
I reached out for the bond, desperate for contact.
Alex.
I pushed the thought through the Mind-Link, expecting the usual warm, golden hum of her presence. I expected her to answer, perhaps with a sharp barb of annoyance or a wave of hurt, but present nonetheless.
Nothing.
It was like shouting into a void. The Mind-Link, the sacred telepathic connection that binds every wolf in the pack-and especially Mates-was dead silent. It wasn't just blocked; it felt severed. Hollow. Like a limb had been amputated without anesthesia.
"She's just throwing a tantrum," I muttered to the empty room, trying to convince myself as much as the walls.
The air smelled stale. It used to smell like her-vanilla and fresh rain. Now, Iliana's cloying rose perfume was seeping into the fibers of the carpet and the sheets, masking the fading scent of my true Mate.
I stood up, pacing the room like a caged animal. Why wasn't she answering? An Omega, even a Luna, cannot simply shut out her Alpha. It goes against our biology. Unless she was too far away. Or unless...
No. I refused to finish that thought.
The door creaked open. Iliana slipped inside, her face a mask of carefully constructed worry. She was wearing one of Alex's silk robes. It hung loosely on her frame, the fabric looking foreign and wrong against her skin.
"Gavyn?" Her voice was soft, trembling with a practiced fragility. "Is she back yet?"
I stopped pacing and looked at her, my eyes narrowing. "No."
Iliana sighed, walking over to wrap her arms around my waist. She rested her head against my chest, seeking comfort, but my wolf didn't purr. My wolf was pacing inside my chest, agitated, scratching at my ribs, rejecting her proximity.
"I'm so worried about her," Iliana said, sniffing delicately. "But... maybe it's for the best, Gavyn. She said she wanted freedom. Maybe the responsibilities of being a Luna were too much for her. She is just an Omega, after all."
Her words were poison wrapped in honey, designed to soothe while they rotted me from the inside.
"She is the mother of my children," I snapped, recoiling and pulling away from her.
Iliana stumbled back slightly, a flash of hurt crossing her eyes. Or was it annoyance? It was gone too fast to tell.
"I know, baby," she cooed, reaching for me again, undeterred. "I just hate seeing you in pain. She left you. She abandoned the pack. If she truly loved you, would she have walked away just because of... us?"
I gritted my teeth, the muscles in my jaw jumping. "We didn't do anything wrong, Iliana. We are fated. The Moon Goddess made a mistake matching me with her first."
"Exactly," Iliana smiled, tracing a finger down my chest. "She's just an obstacle to our happiness. Let her go. You have me. And I will love Kennith and Kaelynn like my own."
I looked at her-really looked at her. For a second, the image of Alex standing firm in the face of my rejection flashed in my mind. Her eyes hadn't been wet with tears; they had been cold. Dead. A mirror reflecting my own cruelty back at me.
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