The night the bond snapped was the night I stopped believing in fate.
I remember standing in the middle of the pack grounds, every pair of eyes watching me like I was some kind of tragic show they couldn't look away from.
The moon was full — bright enough to make everything feel cruelly clear.
And him… he didn't even look sorry.
"I, Alpha Kael, reject you as my mate."
Fourteen words.
That's all it took to shatter a life.
The pain wasn't just emotional. It felt like something inside my chest was being ripped apart slowly, like invisible claws digging deep and refusing to let go.
Gasps spread through the crowd, but no one stepped forward. No one ever does when an Alpha makes a decision.
I remember trying to stay standing, trying not to give them the satisfaction of seeing me break.
But when the bond finally snapped, my knees hit the ground before I could stop myself.
That was five years ago.
Five years since I walked away from the pack with nothing but a broken bond and a promise to myself that I would never be that weak again.
Now my life is quiet.
Peaceful, even.
The small house at the edge of Grey Hollow creaks when the wind blows, and the forest behind it smells like pine and damp earth after rain. It's not much, but it's mine.
No pack politics. No whispers. No pity.
Just freedom.
Or at least that's what I thought.
A sharp knock on the door pulls me from my thoughts.
Three knocks. Slow. Heavy.
My wolf stirs instantly, alert and uneasy.
No one visits me out here.
I walk toward the door carefully, every instinct telling me something isn't right. The air feels thicker, charged with a familiar energy I haven't felt in years.
I open the door.
And my world tilts.
He stands there, leaning heavily against the frame like the only thing keeping him upright is pure stubbornness.
Kael.
His dark hair is longer now, falling messily over his forehead. There's dried blood at the corner of his mouth, and his usually sharp amber eyes look dull with exhaustion.
But I would recognize that presence anywhere.
The same Alpha who rejected me.
The same man who broke me.
For a moment, neither of us speaks.
The forest is silent, like it's holding its breath.
"Lena…" His voice is rough, barely above a whisper.
Hearing my name on his lips after all this time sends an unwanted shiver down my spine.
I tighten my grip on the door.
"You're at the wrong house," I say, my voice colder than I expect.
His eyes flicker with something that looks dangerously close to regret.
"I need your help."
The words hit harder than they should.
I let out a small, humorless laugh. "That's funny. I don't remember you needing me five years ago."
He sways slightly, and only then do I notice the deep tear across his shirt, the dark stain spreading from his side.
He's hurt. Badly.
My wolf paces restlessly, torn between old instincts and old pain.
"You should go back to your pack," I say, even though my voice isn't as steady as I want it to be.
"I can't," he says quietly. "They're gone."
The world seems to go still.
"What do you mean gone?"
Before he can answer, his knees buckle.
Instinct moves faster than pride.
I catch him before he hits the ground.
And the moment my hands touch him, the bond I thought died five years ago flickers weakly back to life — like a dying ember refusing to go out.
My heart skips.
This isn't supposed to happen.
I look down at the man who once destroyed my world, now barely conscious in my arms.
And I realize something terrifying.
My life is about to change again.