Chapter 2 Dissolving The Mating Bond

Seraphina's POV:

The room felt frozen, the air heavy and still.

What the old doctor told me hurt worse than any physical blow.

My eyes stayed on the spotless white ceiling, but I couldn't form a single thought.

I'd never be able to have pups. For a she-wolf, that felt worse than dying, especially when I'd taken such pride in protecting my pack as its Luna. Part of me felt gone forever.

Brayden stood beside the door when they wheeled me out of the operation room. His gaze settled on me without a trace of sympathy. All I saw was disgust.

Nothing about his expression suggested he understood what I'd been through, and I had no strength left to spell it out for him.

"You can stop pretending now, Seraphina," he said. The silence broke with his cold, deliberate words, and there wasn't any comfort in them. "Was getting that necklace back really worth staging all this?"

Turning toward him, I searched his face, unable to believe what I'd heard.

"How can you say that to me?" I whispered, barely able to steady my voice.

"Nothing's ever enough for you, is it? You always want more money, more power," he replied.

At the window, he turned his back on me as though the conversation barely concerned him. "You're my Luna. I've already given you everything you asked for. But the minute I pay Layla some attention, you pull this stunt to get me running back to you. You never use your head, and you don't understand anything. The pack elders have been complaining about you for ages. I've had to listen to all of it because of you. Can't you make things a little easier for me?"

The sight of his broad back left me cold all over.

Saving him on the battlefield had nearly cost me my life. It had cost me our unborn pup and any chance of becoming a mother.

Somehow, he had turned everything I'd suffered for him into another example of my scheming.

"You fucking bastard, Brayden!" My eyes squeezed shut, but hot tears still escaped and ran into my hairline.

"Still, I'll make it up to you since you saved me," he responded. Turning to face me again, he spoke without a hint of feeling. "You'll still be Luna, and you can keep living in the packhouse. Layla won't take that from you. But if you're going to pretend you're this badly hurt, she can take over the pack's administration and military command. All you have to do is keep your title and get some rest. What could be better than that?"

As he finished, he reached down to smooth my hair. The gentle touch felt like charity, and it made me sick.

A buzz came from his pocket before he could say anything else.

He took out his phone and answered the call. Even without the speaker on, my hearing picked up every word of Layla's sugary, teasing voice.

"Are you coming back soon, Brayden? I'm in your office with that urgent document you need to sign. And now the strap on my silk nightgown has broken. Come help me with it, will you?"

Hearing her openly lure him away stung as much as a slap.

His gaze darkened, and suddenly he was in a hurry. After checking his watch, he barely glanced at me. "Something urgent has come up with the pack, and Layla needs my help. I'd better get back. Do what the doctors tell you, alright? I'll visit again later."

Without another moment's hesitation, he headed for the door.

"Wait, Brayden," I called out. Even I was surprised at how calm and empty my voice sounded.

Halfway out, he stopped and looked back impatiently. "Can't this wait, Seraphina? I don't have time for another tantrum."

"Go through that door to see her, and I'm dissolving our mating bond," I insisted, holding his gaze and speaking each word clearly.

He stared at me as though he could hardly believe I'd said something so ridiculous. Then his mouth pulled into a mocking smirk.

"You want to break our mating bond? Do you even hear yourself, Seraphina?" He moved into the doorway, and his voice turned vicious. "Once you're out of the Moonclaw Pack, you won't have an Alpha protecting you. You'll just be another she-wolf nobody wants. Only the strong survive out there, and you wouldn't make it through a day."

A harsh scoff escaped him as he looked me over with contempt. "Who else would put up with someone as boring as you? I'm running out of patience, so stop making threats like a child."

Behind him, the door shut with a bang.

His footsteps grew quieter as I lay on the cold hospital bed. By the time I could no longer hear them, the last of my affection for him was gone.

The man I'd married knew nothing about who I'd been before becoming his mate.

My hands shook as I felt along the inside of the bed frame for the hidden compartment.

Inside was the one part of my old life I'd never let him see: a pitch-black encrypted communicator with no markings.

The sensor recognized my thumb, and a faint blue light spread across the screen.

Through that communicator, I could reach the Howling Guild, the secret organization feared throughout Vrodale's werewolf world.

No pack had authority over them. Behind the scenes, they set the rules and had the final say.

Their best hunter had once been me. Their president was my biological father.

Loving Brayden had led me to hide all of that. I willingly settled into life as his obedient Luna. Somehow, he'd mistaken that choice for proof that I couldn't live without him.

A shaky breath escaped me as I pushed through the pain in my abdomen and typed a message. "Seraphina Harper here. I'm no longer part of the Moonclaw Pack."

A quiet chime told me it had been delivered.

After closing my eyes for a moment, I typed the last message. "I'm ready to come back. Send someone to take me home."