KADEN'S POV
The stranger's words hit me like a physical blow. *Marriage to me.*
"No." The word ripped from my throat before I could think. "Absolutely not."
Darius raised an eyebrow, amused. "I wasn't asking your permission, pup. I'm offering the Omega a choice your pack won't give her."
My wolf roared inside me, demanding I rip this stranger apart for even looking at Sera. The mate bond—broken and bleeding as it was—screamed that she was MINE.
But she wasn't. She'd rejected me. Publicly. Permanently.
And now this bastard wanted to take her away forever.
"The Bloodmoon Pack?" My father's voice was dangerously quiet. "You're three territories away. What business do you have here?"
"Word travels fast when a silver Omega appears." Darius's cold blue eyes never left Sera. "Especially one being held prisoner by her own pack. That violates neutral territory laws, Dominic. The council would be very interested to hear about it."
My father's face darkened, but he couldn't argue. Darius was right.
"I'm not being held prisoner," Sera said, but her voice shook. "I'm just—"
"Surrounded by rogues blocking your escape?" Darius smiled. "With an Alpha who just announced you can't leave? That's called imprisonment, sweetheart."
The nickname made my wolf snarl. I took a step forward without meaning to.
Darius noticed. "Ah, the rejected mate. Must hurt, doesn't it? Knowing she'd rather marry a stranger than accept you?"
The pain from the broken bond chose that moment to flare up. It felt like someone was pouring acid through my veins, burning from the inside out. I stumbled, catching myself before I fell.
"Kaden!" Lyanna rushed to my side, trying to support me.
Her touch felt completely wrong. My wolf recoiled from it, wanting only one person's hands on us.
The person who hated me most in the world.
"Get off," I managed to say, pushing Lyanna away gently. "I'm fine."
"You're not fine!" Lyanna's voice was shrill. "This is what happens when bonds are rejected! You could die, Kaden!"
"Good," Sera said quietly.
Everyone stared at her. She stood there in her ceremonial robe, chin raised, gray eyes blazing with hatred.
"Good?" I repeated, the word tasting like poison. "You want me dead?"
"I want you to feel what I felt for eighteen years." Her voice didn't shake anymore. "Worthless. Broken. Wishing you could disappear. So yes, if the bond kills you? Good. At least then you'll understand."
The words should have made me angry. Instead, they just made the pain worse. Because she was right. I deserved every bit of agony she wished on me.
"Sera—" I started.
"I'll accept your offer," she told Darius, cutting me off completely. "Marriage, sanctuary, whatever. Just get me out of here."
*No!* my wolf howled. *She can't leave us! Stop her!*
But what right did I have to stop her? I'd made her life hell. My father had trapped her. And now a stranger was offering her the one thing we couldn't—freedom.
"Excellent choice." Darius extended his hand to Sera. "We'll leave immediately."
"You will not." My father's Alpha command rolled over the clearing like thunder. "Sera Nightshade belongs to this pack. She goes nowhere."
"She's eighteen and unmated," Darius countered. "By law, she can choose to leave. Unless you want to admit you're holding her against her will?"
The two Alphas stared at each other, dominance radiating off them both. The pack warriors tensed, ready for a fight.
Riley grabbed Sera's arm. "This is insane! You can't marry some random Alpha! You don't know anything about him!"
"I know he's not keeping me prisoner," Sera shot back. "That's enough."
"What about the bond?" The question came from my mouth before I could stop it. "The rejection—it'll kill us both if you leave pack territory."
Sera looked at me then. Really looked at me. And what I saw in her eyes broke something inside my chest.
Nothing. She felt nothing for me except hatred.
"Then I guess we'll both die," she said simply. "At least I'll die free."
The broken bond flared again, worse this time. My knees buckled and I went down hard, gasping for air. It felt like my chest was caving in, my wolf screaming in agony.
Through the pain, I watched Darius move closer to Sera. Watched him place a hand on her shoulder—touching my mate like he had the right.
*Stop him!* my wolf roared. *FIGHT!*
But I couldn't move. The rejection was tearing me apart piece by piece.
"Kaden, please!" Lyanna knelt beside me, tears streaming down her face. "Let the healers help you! You're dying!"
Was I? Everything hurt so much I couldn't tell anymore.
"We're leaving," Darius announced. "Now. Any pack that tries to stop us will answer to Bloodmoon."
He started walking toward the forest, Sera right beside him.
"No," I whispered, but my voice was too weak. "Sera, please. Don't go."
She didn't even look back.
Riley hesitated, torn between following her best friend and staying with the pack. Finally, she ran after Sera, leaving me bleeding on the ground.
My father grabbed my arm, yanking me up roughly. "Get yourself together! You're embarrassing our pack!"
"She's leaving," I choked out. "My mate is leaving and I—"
"Then let her go!" My father shook me hard. "You don't need a weak Omega who rejects you. We'll find you a proper mate. Someone strong."
But my wolf didn't want someone strong. He wanted HER.
The clearing started spinning. Black spots danced across my vision. Somewhere far away, I heard a healer shouting about bond sickness, about how I needed immediate treatment.
The last thing I saw before everything went dark was Sera disappearing into the forest.
With another Alpha.
Going somewhere I couldn't follow.
And I realized with horrible, crushing certainty—I'd destroyed the one thing in my life that actually mattered.
Then the darkness swallowed me whole, and I heard one final sound that made my dying wolf howl in despair:
Sera's scream, cut off suddenly in the forest.
Then nothing but terrible silence.