River:
My heart dropped.
The moment her words left her lips - soft, hesitant, but firm enough to carry their meaning - I knew exactly what she meant.
"Release you from the bond."
She wasn't talking about setting me free in some poetic way. She meant rejecting me. As her mate.
And the worst part? I had just found out that she was mine. My fated mate.
The sheer happiness that had swelled in me - Stars, it had been just seconds ago - was still sitting in my chest, raw and alive, when her words tore it open. I had been ready to revel in the truth, to thank the Moon Goddess and every force in existence for bringing her to me. But instead… she was already pulling away.
There wasn't even a word to describe exactly what I felt in that moment. Pain, yes. Panic, absolutely. Hurt - sharp enough to cut bone. My wolf whimpered in my head, the sound low and broken.
