I Severed Our Wolf Bond After All Three Mates Broke Me

The pain hit me right as Coach raised the trophy.

One second I was clapping in the back of the Riverside Den's banquet hall, surrounded by howling pack kids and the smell of grilled steak. The next, something sharp tore through my chest like a claw.

I grabbed the edge of a table. A cup of punch tipped over and soaked my sleeve.

"Vera?" my roommate Tess shouted over the music. "You okay? You look like you saw a ghost."

"I'm fine." My voice came out thin. "I just need air."

I wasn't fine.

I knew that pain. It came from the bond. The thin, glowing thread that tied me to my two mates had pulled tight, then started to fray.

Kieran Ross. Captain of the Silver Ridge Wolves. The boy who scored the winning goal tonight.

Rhett Calloway. His co-captain and best friend. My second mate.

The Moon Goddess had given me two of them. Most days, I still didn't know if that was a gift or a joke.

I followed the pull. Past the dance floor. Past the trophy table. Down the back hall toward the locker rooms.

Every step made the ache worse.

The locker room door was half open. Laughter spilled out. Then a girl's soft giggle.

"Kieran, someone's going to see us."

"Let them," he said. "We just won state. I can do whatever I want."

I pushed the door open.

Kieran had Sienna Marlowe pressed against the lockers. The most popular she-wolf at Silver Ridge. Homecoming queen. Her fingers were in his hair. His mouth was on hers.

The bond ripped again.

I slammed my palm against the wall to stay upright. A sound left my throat, half gasp, half whimper.

Kieran pulled back. He turned his head, and his eyes landed on me. They didn't go wide. They didn't fill with guilt.

They rolled.

"Seriously, Vera?" He wiped his mouth with his thumb. "You followed me here?"

"You…" I pressed a fist into my chest. "You're kissing her. Kieran, I can feel it. It hurts."

Sienna smirked and smoothed her dress. "Oh. She's the mate. The quiet one from chem."

"Stay out of this," I snapped at her.

"Don't talk to her like that." Kieran stepped in front of Sienna, like she was the one who needed protection. "You want to know what your problem is? You think the bond makes you special."

"It makes me yours."

He laughed. Actually laughed.

"Don't use the bond to force me to take responsibility for you," he said. "I never asked for a mate. Especially not one I have to share with Rhett."

The words landed harder than the pain.

Behind me, the showers shut off. Footsteps. Rhett came around the row of lockers with a towel around his neck, his hair still wet, his jersey pulled half on.

"What's with all the yelling?" He stopped. His gaze moved from Kieran, to Sienna, to me. "Vera. What are you doing in here?"

"Rhett." I reached for him. My hand shook. "Rhett, the bond. Something's wrong. Please."

For a second, I thought he saw it. His jaw went tight. His nose flared, like he could smell the pain on me.

Then he looked past me. Out in the hall, three guys from the team were watching. Phones up. Grinning.

Rhett's face closed like a door.

"Not here," he muttered.

He grabbed my arm. Not gently.

"Rhett, wait…"

"You're white as a sheet and you're making a scene in front of the whole team." He dragged me toward the exit. My sneakers squeaked on the wet tile. "Do you have any idea what this looks like?"

"It looks like Kieran is cheating on me!"

"Keep your voice down."

"Why? So nobody finds out?" I twisted, trying to get free. "You're my mate too. You're supposed to be on my side!"

He stopped at the door. For a heartbeat he just stared at me. Water dripped from his hair onto my wrist.

"I am on your side," he said quietly. "That's why I'm getting you out before you embarrass yourself."

Then he pushed me through the door.

The hallway was empty and too bright. The music from the banquet thumped through the walls. Somewhere, people were cheering Kieran's name.

"Go home, Vera," Rhett said. "We'll talk tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" I almost laughed. It came out broken. "I'm hurting right now."

"Then go see the pack healer."

He let the door swing shut.

I stood there, staring at it. Waiting for it to open again. Waiting for one of them to remember who I was.

It didn't.

The pain in my chest turned hot, then cold. My knees went soft. I slid down the wall, my back scraping the painted cinderblock, until I was sitting on the floor.

I tried to call to them through the bond.

Kieran. Rhett. Please.

Silence.

No, not silence. Worse. On the other side of the thread, I felt Kieran's mood. Light. Pleased. Annoyed with me, and already forgetting.

And Rhett? Rhett felt relieved.

Relieved that I was gone.

My vision blurred at the edges. My fingers went numb. I tipped sideways until my cheek hit the cold floor.

Through the door, I heard Sienna laugh. I heard someone say, "Dude, is she just lying out there?"

And I heard Kieran answer.

"Leave her. She'll get up when she's done being dramatic."

Footsteps moved away. The door stayed closed.

Nobody came.

My heartbeat slowed. Thud. Pause. Thud. Longer pause.

Then, right before everything went black, something new flickered inside me. Not pain. Not the bond.

A third pull.

Faint and warm and completely unfamiliar, tugging at me from somewhere far beyond these walls.

Like someone, somewhere, had just felt me falling.