My fated mate, Alpha Ethan, chose another woman over me. Not once. Not twice. But ninety-nine times.

He always claimed it was for the pack. He always swore he loved me.

He always promised that next time, I would be his priority.

Then she showed up at his Alpha ceremony. The outsider, Oliva. In my Luna gown.

My Beta saw red and told Oliva to get her ass out of our pack.

Ethan abandoned me on the stage—on the night we were to be crowned together—and stormed down to shield Oliva in his arms.

For the hundredth time, he ordered me to apologize for the sake of an alliance. As if she was the victim.

And just like that... I was done.

I drew my silver dagger and sliced it across my palm.

"I, Ivana, before the Moon Goddess and the Elders, reject my mate bond with Alpha Ethan."

He thought I was throwing a tantrum.

He was wrong. I didn't just shatter our bond. I erased him.

And that’s when he lost his mind, tossing Oliva aside and begging me to come back.

At my mate’s Alpha ceremony, another woman was in his arms, wearing my dress. In that moment, the Luna title I’d coveted for five years turned to ash.

I wasn’t just giving it up; I was going to burn it all down, starting with my mate bond.

"Leave her alone!"

Ethan's roar ripped through the great hall.

I watched him charge off the stage, and my heart plummeted.

Tonight was his Alpha ceremony.

Every Elder from the Northern packs was here to witness him officially take power.

I was supposed to be at his side, his Luna, receiving their blessings.

But here he was, burning with rage for another woman.

"You idiots!" Ethan shoved one of his own warriors aside. "She is an honored guest! Who gave you the right to lay a hand on her?"

Oliva cowered behind him, fresh tears glistening on her cheeks. "Ethan, please... don't fight with your own people over me..."

"No." Ethan turned, his hand gently stroking her cheek. "No one gets to bully you. I promise."

The entire hall went dead silent.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes were fixed on the scene.

My nails dug into my palms, drawing blood.

Oliva was the daughter of the Red Fang Alpha. I knew she'd always had a thing for Ethan.

I was the pack's Beta. I was supposed to be its Luna.

But today, Oliva had paraded into our ceremony wearing a gown identical to my own. My Beta, Rosa, lost it. She called Oliva a worthless copycat trying to steal my place.

She'd barely gotten a few words out before Ethan jumped in to defend her.

Seeing me standing there, silent and still, Ethan's voice suddenly exploded in my mind:

“Ivana! For once in your life, can you think about the bigger picture? This is not the time for your petty drama. I know Rosa is your dog, but you will apologize to Oliva. Now.”

It wasn't a request through our mind link.

It was an Alpha command. Sharp. Cold.

As if I were nothing more than another soldier to order around.

I froze.

This was the ninety-ninth time.

Ninety-nine times he had dropped me for her at a crucial moment.

Ninety-nine times he had used the "pack alliance" as an excuse.

The ninety-ninth time he'd told me to "see the bigger picture."

And this time, he did it at our Alpha ceremony.

"Enough."

My voice cut through the whispers in the hall.

All heads turned to me.

I walked forward slowly, each step firm and deliberate.

"Ethan." I looked him straight in the eye. "I will never be your Luna."

His face went white. "Ivana! Are you insane?"

I didn't answer.

I pulled the ceremonial silver dagger from my belt, its blade glinting in the light.

The Elders gasped.

"No!" Ethan reached for me. "Ivana! Don't do something you'll regret!"

"Regret?" I laughed, a broken, empty sound. "I’ve spent three years being your fool, Ethan. Three years of you choosing her, humiliating me, turning me into the pack's laughingstock. And tonight… you let her stand there in my gown, playing the part of your Luna."

"I never meant to humiliate you! I love you!"

"Love?" I scoffed. "You don't love me. You love the power I give you."

The silver blade pierced my palm.

Blood dripped onto the moonstone floor with a soft, steady patter.

"I, Ivana, before the Moon Goddess and all assembled Elders, do hereby reject my mate, Alpha Ethan."

A wave of magic erupted.

The bond connecting our souls began to shred.

Ethan collapsed to his knees, clutching his head in agony. "No! You can't do this!"

"I already did." I looked at the Head Elder. "Elder, please witness and oversee the formal severing."

The old man nodded, stunned. "The Council... will consider your request."

I turned and walked off the stage.

Every step felt light, like I could fly.

I went back to the penthouse we once called home, locked myself in the bedroom, and started planning my next move.

My phone screen lit up again and again.

All calls from Ethan.

I ignored them.

Around two in the morning, his weary voice finally trickled through our weakening link:

“Ivana… I know tonight was a mess. But these politics are complicated… Oliva’s pack is crucial for the alliance…”

Same old excuses. Same old blame.

“You'll regret this impulsive decision tomorrow. I'll plan a proper Luna ceremony for you, one that will make you happy. We'll talk in the morning, okay?”

A Luna ceremony?

He still thought I would come crawling back?

I closed my eyes, found the last fraying thread of our bond, and shattered it with a wall of ice.

Silence.

Instantly, the world went quiet.

But a tearing pain ripped through my chest.

This was the price of rejecting a fated mate—your soul being torn in two.

I collapsed to the floor, curling into a ball of agony.

Tears blurred my vision, but my mind had never been clearer.

The pain would pass.

Freedom was forever.

When the morning light streamed through the curtains, I slowly got to my feet.

My chest still ached, but my eyes were clear.

The mate bond had once been the chains that defined my life.

Now, by choosing to break it, I could finally find myself.

"Open the door! Ivana!"

The frantic pounding on my door started at three in the morning.

I shot up in bed.

He actually came back.

But then the air hit me. A sickening mix of his scent and hers. Their wolf scents were tangled together, thick and intimate.

"I know you're in there!" His voice was laced with fury. "We need to fix this!"

I pulled on a robe and walked slowly to the door.

"Go away, Ethan. You have no right to be here anymore."

"I have every right! This is our home! You are my mate!"

"Soon-to-be ex-mate," my voice was pure ice. "Or did you forget the rejection?"

Silence from the other side.

Then, a click from the lock.

He was using his Alpha command to force it open.

The door swung inward.

Ethan stood there, a dangerous red glint in his eyes. The smell of Oliva on him was so strong it made me sick.

"We need to talk," he said, stepping inside and shutting the door. "About this little drama tonight."

"Drama?" I took a step back. "You think severing our bond is drama?"

"You're just pouting," he said, advancing on me. "Ivana, you've always been like this. You run away whenever things get hard."

My anger flared. "Run away? I put up with you and her for three years. You call that running away?"

"I never betrayed you!" he roared. "I was maintaining a political alliance!"

"Does a political alliance require you to caress her face?"

"I was comforting her!" He hit me with his Alpha command. "Now, you will withdraw that stupid rejection! And you will apologize to me!"

My knees felt weak. My body wanted to submit.

His command was forcing me to my knees.

But this time, I fought back.

My hand shot out, grabbing the silver letter opener from the coffee table. I pressed the cold metal to my own throat.

"Let's test just how much power your command has over me, shall we?"

The tip broke my skin, the silver hissing as it burned my flesh.

Ethan's eyes widened in horror. "Ivana! Put the knife down!"

"Why? Don't you want an obedient mate?" I whispered. "Then watch me die, and you can be with her, free and clear."

"I don't want you to die..." His command vanished.

Just then, his expression went distant.

A mind link. Not with me.

Ethan walked to the balcony, his back to me. His face softened.

"What's wrong, baby? Did you have a nightmare?... Don't be scared, I'll be right there... I won't let anyone hurt you again..."

I shouldn't have been able to hear his mind link with her. But the bond, in its final throes, broadcasted his betrayal loud and clear.

I just stood there, watching him soothe another woman with a tenderness he had never once shown me.

The silver knife slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor.

Not from pain.

From absolute numbness.

Three minutes later, he ended the call and spun around.

"I have to go," he said, not even looking at me. "Oliva needs me."

"Of course," my voice was terrifyingly calm. "She always does."

"It's not what you think. We'll talk tomorrow." He was already at the door. "The Luna ceremony will happen as planned. You'll change your mind by then."

The door slammed shut.

I heard his footsteps fade down the hall.

Then, a suffocating silence.

I walked slowly into the bedroom and started packing.

This apartment was filled with our memories.

When we first moved in, he was just the Alpha's heir. We lay in that bed and dreamed about the life we'd have when he took over.

"We'll be the strongest Alpha couple, Ivana. We'll rule this pack together. Our pups will have the strongest bloodline. And I will always be by your side."

The look in his eyes had been so sincere then.

We were mated for five years. The bond wasn't a lie.

For the first two years, he took care of everything for me. Any pack resource I wanted, he gave me first. Anything I desired would appear the next day.

But everything changed when Oliva appeared.

Her father had publicly declared his daughter's crush on Ethan, demanding he "take good care of her" to secure their alliance.

From that day on, I lost my mate.

An hour later, I was dragging my suitcase to the door.

Just as I stepped over the threshold, our dying bond pulsed one last time. It wasn't pain. It was a wave of gentle comfort, soft reassurance, and deep affection... all directed at her.

I closed the door and didn't look back.

"Gods, you look like you wrestled a demon and lost."

Maya's blunt assessment as she pulled me inside earned a bitter smile from me.

She was the Beta of the Silvermoon Pack and my only true friend, my best friend since we were pups.

Wild red hair, and always brutally honest.

"Thanks for the honesty," I said, dragging my suitcase into her apartment. "Can I crash here for a few days?"

"Of course." Maya shut the door and studied my face. "But you need more than just a place to stay."

She walked to the window and threw open the heavy curtains.

Moonlight flooded the room.

"Full moon tonight," she said, turning to me. "When was the last time you ran?"

I froze. "I... I can't remember."

"Ivana." Maya's voice was dead serious. "You've been caging your wolf. For him. To be his perfect, docile Luna. Look at you. This isn't who you are."

She was right.

To fit Ethan's image, I had tried so hard to be docile, elegant, and harmless.

Like the perfect little decoration he wanted.

"Tonight, we run," Maya said, grabbing her car keys. "It's time to wake your wolf up."

Her family's private territory was vast and empty. Thousands of acres of forest.

We ran under the moonlight, on all fours, wild power surging through our veins.

I'd forgotten what freedom felt like.

Forgotten that I was a predator, not a porcelain doll to be protected.

My wolf form was faster, stronger, and sharper than my human one.

This was the real me.

We didn't return until the next night, exhausted but exhilarated. As we approached Maya's apartment building, I caught a familiar scent.

"Shit," Maya muttered. "How did he find you here?"

Ethan was leaning against a pillar at the entrance.

His eyes were bloodshot, his jaw was dark with stubble, and his clothes were so wrinkled he looked like he’d been sleeping in his car.

He straightened up the moment he saw us.

"Ivana." His voice was hoarse. "We need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," I said, walking straight for the entrance.

"Please." He followed me. "Just give me a chance to explain."

"Explain what?" I stopped and turned to face him. "Explain why you were cooing sweet nothings to another woman right in front of me?"

Ethan's face went pale. "You heard that?"

"Not just heard," I sneered. "I felt it. Your satisfaction when you touched her. Your racing heart. Your—"

"Enough!" He covered his face, pained. "That wasn't... I didn't..."

"Didn't what?" Maya cut in. "Didn't cheat? Didn't betray her? Or just don't have a brain?"

Ethan glared at her. "This doesn't concern you, Beta."

"She's my friend. That makes it my business," Maya said, her claws sliding out. "Besides, Blackwood Alpha, you're on Silvermoon territory. If you want a fight, I'm happy to give you one."

"Maya, don't." I stopped her. "He's not worth it."

I looked at Ethan and saw something in his eyes I'd never seen before—desperation.

"Ivana, I know I hurt you." He took a step toward me. "But we can start over. I'll cut off all contact with Oliva—"

"Too late."

"No, it's not." He reached out to touch my face. "Our bond—"

"Our bond is about to be severed, as soon as the Elders set the date." I stepped back, avoiding his hand. "I made myself clear last night."

Ethan froze. "We're fated mates... rejecting the bond will cause a backlash. Ivana, I told you, you're my only one..."

"The only one? Not since Oliva showed up," I said. "Don't worry, I won't bother you two ever again."

Real panic flashed across his face. "No... that means I'll lose... my power will..."

"Fade?" I raised an eyebrow. "That's what you're really afraid of, isn't it? Not losing me. Losing the power boost I give you as your fated mate."

"No!" he denied it too quickly. "I love you, Ivana! I've always loved you!"

"If you love me, then let me go."

I turned and walked into the building, Maya right behind me.

"Ivana!" Ethan yelled after me. "I'm not giving up! I'll prove it to you!"

The elevator doors opened, and we stepped inside.

Through the closing gap, I saw Ethan lunge for the doors, only to slam into the silver-laced security gate.

A sharp sizzle echoed in the lobby as he recoiled, burned.

The elevator doors slid shut, sealing him out.

Maya watched the numbers climb. "How does it feel?" she asked quietly.

I leaned against the wall and, for the first time, let a real smile spread across my face.

"It feels like... freedom is finally within reach."