“I heard you can break the bond without an Alpha’s consent?” I asked, looking dead into the eyes of the old witch standing in the corner of the gala that was supposed to be my Moon Ceremony.

“I want to break my bond with Alpha Albus. Please do it for me.”

“Are you sure you want to do it, Luna?” she asked in disbelief.

I don't blame her. Who would believe I was going to demand the severeness of the very bond I was so excited to legalize a few minutes ago?

Everything was so perfect, so exciting until Celeste, Albus’s sister-in-law, fainted.

Albus left me in the middle of the altar and rushed towards her. He picked her up and was halfway through the main door when I called him from behind.

“Albus, it's our Moon ceremony!”

“Celeste has fainted, Diana. The Moon Ceremony can wait. Don’t be so heartless. She’s grieving my brother all over again tonight.”

Those were the words he tossed over before leaving with her. He didn’t even look back at me, standing there in a hand-stitched silk gown that was supposed to mark my ascension as Luna of the Silver Moon Pack.

“The Severing? Luna, that pain… it is like tearing your soul in half. Most wolves don’t survive the rejection without their mate’s consent.” The witch’s words pulled me back from my thoughts.

I began to unlace the silk sleeves of my gown, exposing the faint, unformed mark on my shoulder—the mark he refused to finish.

“I’ve lived with a half-torn soul for three years,” I replied, my eyes hardening. “Tonight, I’d rather feel the pain of the blade than the weight of his neglect. Cut the bond. I’m done.”

***

It was the eighth time he had walked away from our commitment for Celeste.

The first time he said, “Celeste is still grieving my brother’s death and you want me to hold a ceremony for us? Don't be so selfish, Diana.”

The third time, her car had broken down three towns over. He left our Moon gala to fetch her, leaving me to explain to three hundred guests why the Alpha was missing from his own celebration.

“She’s family, Emma. She’s alone in this world. You have a whole pack behind you; she only has me,” he had snapped when he returned at dawn, smelling of her perfume and cheap diner coffee.

The sixth time, it was her "night terrors."

The seventh time, he didn't even make up excuses. He simply didn't show up. I’d find him later in the kitchen of the widow’s small cottage, fixing a leak while I sat alone at pack galas or council meetings, the "Mate" everyone pitied but no one respected.

But tonight he crossed the lifelines I had given him in my heart. One more time he leaves me for Celeste would be the last day of our sacred bond. I had promised myself last time.

And tonight was the night our bond was meant to be sealed in blood and moonlight. The entire pack was gathered, the Elders were waiting with the ritual daggers, and the air was thick with the scent of sacred incense.

And then Celeste fell off the floor before our eyes.

He didn't hesitate. He didn't even apologize. He just told me not to be ‘heartless’.

As his wolf climbed down the altar and picked her in his arms, a strange, cold silence settled over my heart.

I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I simply made the decision I should have made the first time he left me for her.

For three years, I had been the she-wolf who waited. Tonight, I was the woman who walked away.

I closed my eyes, visualizing the golden thread of our bond—the thread Albus had frayed and trampled until it was nothing but a noose.

"Do it," I whispered, a ghost of a smile touching my lips as I felt the first sharp sting of the severing. "Let him come home to a silence he finally earned.”

The pain was not a sharp cut. It was a slow, agonizing dissolution, like molten silver being poured into my veins.

I gripped the edge of my bed, my knuckles turning white, as the old witch, Morana, began the incantation. Her voice was a low, rhythmic hum that vibrated in the very marrow of my bones.

The golden thread in my mind’s eye—the one I had nurtured with hope for three years—began to blacken.

I felt Albus’s presence in the back of my mind, a distant, fading spark. Usually, I could feel his heartbeat, his frantic worry for Celeste, his irritation with me. Now, it was being muffled by a thick, cold fog.

Suddenly, a jolt of pure electricity slammed through my chest. I gasped, my shoulder hitting the bed’s wood with a bone-jarring thud.

"It is done," Morana whispered, her eyes filled with a mixture of pity and awe. "The thread is severed. You are unbound, Diana of no pack."

I looked down at my shoulder. The faint, unformed mark—the jagged lines of a wolf’s tooth he had never bothered to sink deep enough—was gone. In its place was a smooth, pale scar.

I stood up, my legs feeling like they belonged to a stranger. I expected to feel broken. I expected to feel the "half-soul" agony Morana had warned me about. Instead, there was a terrifying, hollow lightness.

"You must leave before the next full moon," Morana said, her voice trembling as she packed her ritual herbs into a worn leather satchel. "When an Alpha’s bond is forcibly cut, the phantom pain is... significant. He will be in immense pain. He will look for you once he finds out the bond is already broken."

“He will go mad!”

"Let him look," I said, though my voice sounded raspy. "He’s spent three years looking everywhere but at me. It’s only fair that he finally feels what’s missing."

I didn't pack much. I didn't want the silk dresses he’d bought to appease me after his disappearances, or the jewelry that felt more like gilded shackles.

I grabbed a sturdy leather bag and stuffed it with my journals, a few changes of practical clothes, and the small dagger my father had given me before he passed.

I was halfway to the door when the air in the room shifted.

The heavy oak door of my chambers didn't just open, it groaned on its hinges as if under immense pressure. I didn't need a bond to know who it was. The scent of pine and rain—his scent—flooded the room.

Albus stood in the doorway. His tuxedo jacket was gone, his white shirt sleeves rolled up, and his hair was a mess. But it was his face that stopped my breath. He was pale, his eyes wide and bloodshot, roaming the room frantically until they landed on me.

He winced, clutching his chest, his fingers digging into his shirt right over his heart.

"Diana," he wheezed, his voice a jagged edge. "What... what did you do? Something is wrong. I felt... I felt like I was dying. I felt a tear."

He took a step toward me, reaching out a hand. Usually, my body would ache to meet his touch. Tonight, I felt a cold, instinctive urge to recoil.

"I didn't do anything, Albus," I said, my voice steady, almost conversational.

He rushed to my side. Holding my hands gently, he added, “I felt you were in pain… my heart ached. What's wrong, Diana?”

“Pain?” I smirked, “What am I supposed to be in after my mate leaves me in the ceremony all by myself? What is my wolf supposed to be feeling?”

His face twisted. A flicker of something like guilt passed through his eyes and soon a sense of relief was visible in his face as he sighed, “Ah, I thought something was wrong.”

Like it wasn't.

“Diana…” he began, “Celeste fainted. As her only family and the Alpha of the pack, how could I stay still and complete our ceremony. That will make me look so heartless. I have explained you everything and-”

“What's this?” His eyes frowned looking at the leather bag next to me.

I didn't want him to find out I was leaving, not before the next full moon when he will be at his weakest point. So, I lied. “I was just clearing trash from my wardrobe.”

Seeing how small the bag was, he didn't think much and quickly relaxed. Then he turned to the maid and said, “Marry, prepare dinner for one more person. From now on Celeste will live with us.”

His words sent chills down my spine. He did not even bother asking me and declared she was going to live with us.

It was supposed to be our home and he was bringing another woman inside and didn't even feel the need of asking me?

Even if I had broken the bond between us and had nothing to do with him, his little to no acknowledgement towards our bond ached my heart.

Then as if noticed the shift in my expression, he turned to me and said, “Celeste often feels weak and alone after brother's death. I think living with us will cheer her up.”

Though he had made his decision, his eyes were scanning for my answer. But, I said nothing.

I simply turned to marry and said, “No need to prepare extra dinner. I’m moving out tonight.”

Before I could walk past Albus, he grabbed my hands.

“Where are you going?” he asked, his eyes reflecting momentarily panic.

“To the outhouse. You can ask Celeste to shift to our bedroom. She will be more comfortable there.” I replied, my voice indifferent.

Albus’s eyes darkened. His grip over my wrist tightened to the point of hurting me as he asked, “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what you heard!” I spat, my voice gaining volume though I tried my best to be calm.

“For Goddess’s sake, Diana. Can't you be a little kind to Celeste? She has no one to rely on.”

Have I?

I wanted to scream my lungs out but I chose to be silent. There was no need of confronting an Alpha I had already discarded.

“This is why I’m leaving. She needs you, Albus. I don't.” I said, trying not to be sarcastic.

There was a brief moment of silence between us before he said, “You don't need to move out. Celeste will just stay in the guest room.”

“No need.” I refused, “I don't want to run into you and her intimacy and get punished instead. I too have self-esteem to maintain.”

Last time Celeste stayed at our home, Albus sneaked out of our bedroom in the middle of the night. When he didn't come for too long, I followed his scent only to find him sleeping with Celeste instead, both naked.

And his audacity! When I confronted him, I was punished for breaching Alpha’s privacy. My punishment, washing Celeste’s undergarments, even those she had worn while sleeping next to my mate.

“We weren't intimate-” Albus spat, his expression turned distressful.

“My bad! We can’t call it just ‘intimacy’. It was more like you two were resting after f*cking each other hard.”

“You-” he pressed his lips before adding, “Celeste was missing my brother. I and David were twins. My scent is similar to him. So, that's why she felt comfortable around me. I was just helping-”

“Helping her vent out her desire?” I raised my eyebrows, “So, that's what you two do whenever you go ‘comforting’ her?”

“I-”

“Save it, Albus!” He wanted to explain, perhaps one more pathetic excuse. But, I cut him off, “I’m not living under the same room as Celeste. It's no use of asking you to stop Celeste from coming here. So, I’m moving out instead.”

With that, I turned back and left.

I had barely taken three steps toward the stairs when a soft, broken sob echoed from the main door.

"Diana... please, don't leave because of me."

Celeste stood there, leaning heavily against the doorframe. She looked fragile, her eyes rimmed with red and she trembled as if a light breeze might knock her over.

"I heard everything," she whimpered, clutching her chest. "I didn't mean to come between you and Albus. He was just being kind... he knew how much I was hurting. If my presence causes this much trouble, I’ll be the one to leave. I'll go sleep on the streets, I don't care about my health."

Albus’s expression softened instantly. The cold Alpha who had just been gripping my wrist with bruising force was gone, replaced by a man filled with protective instinct.

"Celeste, don't be ridiculous," Albus said, his voice dropping an octave. "You're in no condition to go anywhere."

"No, Albus, Diana is right!" Celeste cried out, moving toward me with her hands outstretched, her movements frantic and clumsy. "Diana, please. Look at me. I’ll do anything. I’ll be your servant, I’ll stay out of your sight—just don't hate Albus for his big heart."

She reached for my arm, her fingers digging into my sleeve. I felt a surge of revulsion and instinctively stepped back, pulling my arm away to avoid her touch.

"Don't touch me, Celeste," I said coldly.

The moment I moved, Celeste’s eyes flickered with something sharp—a flash of calculation that vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Instead of simply letting go, she let out a sharp, Piercing shriek. She threw her body backward with theatrical force, slamming her shoulder against the sharp edge of a marble pedestal before collapsing onto the hardwood floor.

Thud.

"Ah! My shoulder!" she gasped, curling into a ball. She began to hyperventilate, her face contorting in simulated agony.

"Celeste!" Albus roared.

He lunged past me, nearly knocking me over in his haste to get to her. He gathered her into his arms, his face pale with fury and worry. Celeste sobbed into his neck, pointing a trembling, accusing finger at me.

"I just... I just wanted to hold her hand and apologize," Celeste choked out, fresh tears streaming down her face. "Why did she push me so hard? I know she is angry, but the baby... what if I had fallen on my stomach?”