The bond broke like someone had cracked a whip right across my back.
I was in the council chamber, mid-sentence, snapping at Garron over some pointless border line that didn't matter anymore. And then everything just… stopped. Words died in my throat. A sharp, hollow pain ripped through my chest — like part of me got torn out and left bleeding on the floor.
I lurched. Grabbed the table edge. Knuckles white. My wolf let out this ugly, ragged howl inside — furious, lost, confused.
The elders froze. Garron's eyes went wide. "Alpha?"
It rippled through the pack link — murmurs, confusion spreading fast. They all felt it. The
a sudden empty spot. The thread was cut clean.
Alex.
She renounced us.
Rage boiled up — hot, fast. How dare she? After everything? The title. Protection. The life I gave her.
But underneath… colder. Emptier. Like a door slammed on a room I didn't know I still needed.
I bolted from the chamber. No words. The pack parted — wide eyes, whispers. They knew. Everyone knew.When Luna renounces her pack everyone feels it.
Her chambers. She had to be there. This was a tantrum. A mistake. She wouldn't really leave.
I slammed the door open. Empty.
Bed unmade. Wardrobe half-open. Clothes gone. Small pack missing from the hook. Her scent still there — faint, fading.
Gone.
I turned and ran — straight for the northern ridge. Enforcers ahead. Their howls echoing back, urgent.
Thorne's mind hit mine first.
Alpha. Ridge. Come now.
I pushed harder. Trees blurred. Grief and fury twisted together, driving me.
The ridge appeared — old stones in moss, mist low in dawn light.
Thorne and two others waited.They looked grim.The smell of Blood thick in the air — coppery, fresh. Our enforcers' blood.
Three bodies scattered. One had his Throats torn.Another Chests ripped. Claw marks too big, too clean. Black fur snagged on branches. There could be only one who could inflict this much damage and do so with such cruelty— Alpha Cassian.
My wolf roared — challenge, grief, disbelief.
"Where is she?" I demanded, shifting back. Voice raw.
Thorne shook his head. "We couldn't find her body. Her scent ends here. There's Blood — hers. Tracks show she was chased. Our own after her. Then… whatever happened.Alpha Cassian's scent everywhere."
Chased.
Stomach twisted. "She crossed. Renounced right here. And they followed."
Thorne nodded. "We felt the snap. Everyone did. "
I dropped to my knees beside Kai — night patrol. His throat gone. Eyes open, frozen terror.
"Why?" I whispered. To the dirt. To the bodies. To the empty border. "Why here? Why run? Why not just… stay?"
No answer. Just wind in the pines. A faint trace of her scent — pineapple-sweet, mixed with blood and fear.
My wolf curled in, grief crashing over rage. She was gone. Erased. Cassian didn't leave survivors.
Dead.
I still couldn't believe it
I stood. Legs unsteady. "Search every inch of this border... Find any trace. Any sign she crossed."
They moved.
I stayed. Staring at the bloodied ground. Imagining her here — cornered, bleeding, alone. The last thing she saw was my enforcers. The last thing she felt was betrayal.Because of me.
I shouldn't have been so hard. Shouldn't have said those things. "From nothing." "Loaned title."I threw her away like she was nothing. But she wasn't.She was steady,loyal.and the only one constant in my life for ages.
A howl built — low, mournful. I let it out. Pack echoed from afar — long, grieving chorus rolling across the territory.
She was gone.
I turned back with my heavy steps and a numb mind
Mara, her handmaid, was in the main corridor — cleaning, eyes down. She looked up when she heard my boots.
"Alpha," she said softly. No fear. Just sadness.
I stopped. Voice low. "You must have been with her before she left. What did she say?"
Mara met my gaze. "She was scared. After the announcement.Said she couldn't stay she had to go. For her own sake."
"That's all?"
Mara nodded. "That's all she said."
I searched her face but there was no lie on it . Just grief.
"Thank you," I said. Rough. "For telling me."
She bowed her head and went back to work.
I made it to the chambers. Collapsed against the desk. My Head in hands while my wolf whined — lost, aching.
The door opened softly.Rose.
She crossed the room. Her scent wrapping me — fated, pulling. But tonight it felt heavy and wrong.
"Demitri," she murmured. Arms around me from behind. Cheek to my shoulder. "I felt it too. Through you. I'm so sorry for your loss."
I didn't move.
"She's gone," I said. Voice breaking. "Dead. Because she ran. Because I let her think she had no place here."
Rose stroked my hair. "Shh. It's not your fault. She chose to leave. Chose to renounce. She was unfated. Didn't belong like we do."
The word stung. Alex wasn't weak. She was steady. Loyal. The one who stayed.
I shouldn't have humiliated her in the courtyard. Shouldn't have dismissed her pleas. Should've given her those two minutes.
Rose turned me gently. Pressed closer. Lips on my jaw. "Let me help you forget. Let me be what you need."
Her hands slid down. Unbuttoning. Touching. Pulling me to the bed.
I let her. Let the bond drown the grief. Let her moans fill the silence where Alex's quiet used to be.
Afterwards, she curled up against me. Head on my chest.
"Make me Luna," she whispered. "Officially. Tomorrow. The pack needs stability. Need us united especially now."
I stared at the ceiling. Ache deeper.
"Yes," I said. Hollow. "Tomorrow."
But as she slept, my wolf whined again.
Blaming me.For everything lost.
And for the first time since finding my fated mate, the bond felt like chains instead of light.