Chapter 1
“I want to sever the bond.”
My voice was steady, like pronouncing a verdict.
Across from me, an alpha sat in a dark leather chair, arms resting on the armrests, shoulders slightly leaning forward. His eyes were a deep, burning amber.
“Does your mate know?” His voice was low and direct.
“He neither knows nor cares,” I replied.
His fingers tapped the armrest twice, as if weighing the matter. “Severing a bond is the ultimate measure, especially in a territory under the jurisdiction of the Elder Council.”
I nodded.
I hadn’t come to him because I didn’t know the rules, but because there was no one here more skilled at ending a bond than he was.
“Then tell me—why?”
I glanced at the clock on the wall. Just past midnight, the minute hand paused for an instant at the “3” mark. Today was my thirtieth birthday—and the day I had chosen to end it.
That day, the sunlight felt like it had been sliced by sharp ice—blindingly bright.
The Blackthorn pack was holding a celebration for my sister Miranda and me. Twins’ birthdays were a rare event in a wolf pack, but today’s celebration felt as if it was meant for her alone.
I stood on Alpha Vincent’s left.
He was the leader of the Blackthorn pack, the Alpha insignia of authority pinned to his chest.
He stood straight, spoke politely, yet never once looked at me.
The heavy wooden doors swung open.
The scent and the pressure in the air shifted instantly, making even the wolves around us growl low in their throats.
Miranda walked in.
She wore a crimson gown, a black obsidian amulet hanging at her waist—the mark of training in the outer lands.
The sister soul link between us was awakened the moment she stepped through the door. What surged into my mind was victory, possession, and a joy edged with a blade.
Alpha Vincent’s breathing changed—lower, sharper, like an alpha locking onto prey before the hunt.
I had felt this shockwave once before, at my eighteenth birthday ceremony when I first met him. Now, it belonged to someone else.
She came straight to me, her smile flawless, arms reaching for a hug. Her hair brushed my neck, carrying an unfamiliar scent. Then, she turned to him.
Their gaze held longer than any pack meeting ever had—long enough for everyone present to understand its meaning.
I stood still, the murmurs of the crowd dimming in my ears.
The elders exchanged glances, young omegas covered their mouths to hide their laughter, a few betas whispered to each other. I knew this scene would soon spread across the entire Northern Territory.
Midway through the celebration, I went to the back corridor that led to the stargazing platform.
Moonlight poured through the high stone windows, casting long silver bands across the floor.
I was about to leave when voices drifted from inside.
“She’s starting to suspect,” Lily’s voice was edged with impatience. Lily was Alpha Vincent’s cousin.
“Suspicion is useless,” Miranda’s tone was calm, steeped in alpha confidence. “She has no power to challenge me.”
Alpha Vincent added, “I never intended to truly love her. She needs to be the one to ask to sever the bond—only then will the Elder Council have no reason to question my decision.”
He paused, then said, “Find an outsider alpha, stir up rumors, make her unable to lift her head in the pack.”
Lily laughed softly. “Then she’ll leave on her own.”
I stood outside, my shoulder pressed to the cold stone wall, and felt the bond in my chest shatter completely.
When I returned to the hall, the crystal chandeliers burned my eyes. My luna gown was still flawless, the crystals on the hem catching the light—but I knew it was only a facade.
They thought I would continue to endure, but my wolf was awake now. And that awakening was sharp—it would not yield again.
I went straight to find that alpha—the one no one dared to speak of aloud, yet everyone secretly feared.
He didn’t press for details I wasn’t ready to share.
He saw the resolve in my eyes and asked only, “What do you want?”
I told him.
Not the whole truth—not yet.
But it was enough.
Enough to set everything in motion.
“I want to sever the bond.”
