[Kaelen's POV]
The words left her lips like a silver blade, forged in ice and honed on betrayal.
"I—reject you."
Pain.
A searing, soul-shredding agony ripped through the mate bond connecting us. My body shuddered violently, and for a moment, the world tilted on its axis.
I glanced down at my left wrist. The Mate's Mark, once a proud symbol of our union, was fading, the vibrant lines turning to dull, dying embers. A searing heat followed, as if a branding iron were being pressed into my flesh.
How dare she?
A volcanic rage erupted within me, momentarily eclipsing the pain. I stared at Elara in disbelief, at those ice-blue eyes that now held not a single flicker of warmth or jest.
Only a cold, absolute finality.
"What is this foolishness?" My voice was a low, ragged growl, choked with fury. "Is this because my mother refused to let you bring that box of bones into our home?"
I said it as if it were a trivial matter, a child's tantrum.
A chilling, mocking smile touched her lips. The look in her eyes was alien to me, and it ignited a strange, unsettling irritation in my gut.
For three years, this woman had looked at me with adoration, with a quiet obedience. Now, all I saw was ice and ash.
"It isn't just that. It's Seraphina," she stated, her voice unnervingly calm. "End our bond. It will free you to finally claim her as your Luna."
"I've told you, Seraphina and I are allies. Nothing more. Stop this paranoia." I scowled, my patience wearing thin.
She let out a soft, humorless laugh. The entire continent saw the way I favored Seraphina, the intimacy we shared, yet I hid behind the flimsy shield of the word "allies."
"I'm tired, Kaelen. I no longer wish to maintain this bond."
Her words were a death knell.
She was done with me. My wolf snarled at the thought, at the sheer insolence.
My expression hardened. That feeling of losing my grip, of something vital slipping through my fingers, intensified.
It felt as if, in the next moment, she would truly walk away and never look back.
No. I would not allow it.
She was my mate. A gift from the Moon Goddess. Even if my affection had waned, she belonged in the place I had designated for her, quietly, obediently.
"If you're still feeling insecure, then let's have an heir," I said suddenly, my tone laced with what I surely believed was magnanimity.
"What?" Elara looked at me as if I'd just told the most absurd joke in the world.
In three years of being mated, I had never truly touched her.
At first, it was because my position as Alpha was unstable, besieged by rebellions. I needed to focus. I told her I wanted to preserve a certain purity in our relationship, to let it develop naturally.
She had accepted that without question.
Eventually, it became a habit.
Even when we shared a bed, I would only hold her, never completing the final marking.
I was the only one who knew the real reason: I was saving the purest essence of my Alpha scent for Seraphina. Once I fully marked Elara, my scent would be forever intertwined with hers—an obstacle to my future political alliance with the Stormcliff Pack.
"We've been mated for three years. It's time we had an heir," I said again, leaning in, intending to kiss her cheek and seal the offer.
A wave of tragic, bitter irony washed over Elara.
She had once yearned for a child with me.
But I had always put her off. "I'm not ready. Can we wait a little longer?"
So she waited.
She thought I simply wasn't ready for fatherhood.
She never imagined it was because my heart—and my ambition—belonged to another. I was saving myself for my real political prize.
She had thought her love, her devotion, the way she'd emptied her parents' secret vault for me, would one day win me over.
Now, she saw herself for what she was: a fool.
And in the very moment she chose to break free, I offered her a child as a chain.
Elara shoved me back with a sudden, violent strength, wiping the back of her hand across her cheek where my breath had touched her. "You disgust me, Kaelen!"
My face darkened. "Elara, when we mated, I swore I would not forsake you. I'll pretend I didn't hear what you just said. If you don't want a child now, we can wait."
"There's no need to wait. I will never bear your heir," she bit out, her voice laced with venom.
I was about to argue when a ripple of energy pulsed through my mind.
The mind-link.
I opened the channel instantly, and Seraphina's soft, urgent voice filled my thoughts.
"Kaelen, I just got word. The Elder Council is holding the Hundred-Clan Airshow next month. I wanted to discuss our two packs making a joint presentation."
"…Alright. I'm on my way," I replied, my tone softening into a gentle warmth I wasn't even aware I possessed.
That warmth was a poisoned needle, stabbing straight into Elara's heart as she watched my expression change.
After closing the link, I turned back to her. "I have business to attend to. You should stay here and cool your head."
With that, I turned and strode away, not daring to meet her eyes again.
I left quickly, leaving her alone in the vast, empty hall.
Through the grand windows, Elara watched my mount take to the sky.
He was going to Seraphina again.
He could deny it all he wanted, but every time he chose Seraphina over her, he had already forsaken her.
Long ago, she had accepted his mark because she loved him, because she believed his promise.
Now, the heart that had loved him was dead. There was no reason to continue this charade.