Kira Beaumont POV:

Aiden's handsome face darkened, a storm brewing in his deep, ice-blue eyes. His mockery was palpable, his Alpha aura flaring in irritation. "Classic Kira. Always so absolute, always so ruthless in everything you do. Fine. Let's go to the Pack Hall."

I offered a bitter, silent smile. So, in his eyes, I was the ruthless one.

An hour later, Aiden and I walked out of the ancient Pack Hall, the sacred Rejection ceremony complete. The invisible, spiritual bond that had tied our souls together was gone, severed by the Elder's ancient chants. The process had felt like a giant, unseen hand ripping my soul in two, leaving behind a gaping, bleeding void in my chest. We now held the official severance documents in our hands.

Lila, who had been waiting outside the heavy oak doors, looked at the document in Aiden's hand with unbridled joy. She could finally be the official, undisputed Luna of the Sterling Pack.

She turned to me, putting on a mask of fake, exaggerated concern. She studied my face carefully. I had changed. The quiet, subdued girl was gone; my stunning, sharp features were now on full display, radiating a cold, untouchable aura that made people hesitate to look directly at me. It was the face she had always been insanely jealous of. But now, she comforted herself, she would never have to see it again.

"Sister, the Carlisle family has already disowned you, and now you've left the Sterling Pack with absolutely nothing. Do you even have a place to go?" she asked, her voice laced with pity that couldn't hide her underlying glee.

In her eyes, I was just a country bumpkin. Being associated with the Carlisle family had been my greatest blessing, and now I had lost even that.

I found her fake concern utterly laughable. Years ago, when the Carlisles discovered I was the wrong child, they banished me to a remote pack in the countryside, ignoring my existence until I was eighteen. That was when I met Aiden. Two years ago, they found Lila, sent her abroad to be groomed to match a high-society Alpha like Aiden, and when she returned, they officially cut all ties with me.

I didn't care. I had only returned to the city to find clues about my real parents anyway. And it was only a few days ago, overhearing Aiden's friends, that I learned he had fallen in love with the "pure and innocent" Lila at first sight during a business trip abroad. They had been secretly together ever since she returned. Lila had even texted me photos of them in bed to humiliate me. She was the most arrogant mistress imaginable.

I cast a cold, indifferent glance at her. "You don't need to worry about me, Miss Carlisle. Where I go is none of your business."

Without sparing Aiden a single glance, I kept my back ramrod straight and walked to the edge of the pack territory, hailing a passing taxi. I left so decisively because I knew exactly how cruel Aiden could be.

Aiden stood frozen, his hand gripping the severance document so tightly his knuckles turned white and his veins bulged. She hadn't even looked back at him. Not once.

But as he watched her retreating figure, his brow furrowed. Why was she walking so strangely? Her steps were stiff, almost limping.

He watched the taxi disappear down the road, his mind unable to snap back to reality for a long time. The sudden emptiness in his chest from the broken bond was far more jarring than he had anticipated.

"Aiden, this is wonderful!" Lila cheered, clinging to his arm, completely oblivious to his internal turmoil. "That country girl is finally gone. We can officially be together now!"

She was so thrilled she wanted to scream the news to her parents immediately.

Aiden's eyes flashed with a sudden, chilling coldness, but his voice remained soft. "Lila, I'll take you home."

"Oh, yes! My father will be so happy to hear you're finally free. Let's go tell him the good news!"

Aiden's eyes were clouded with complex, suppressed emotions that were impossible to read. He looked down at the sweet, innocent-looking woman beside him and forced a gentle smile. "Alright, Lila. Let's go tell your father."

"Okay!" Lila beamed with wild excitement. Kira, I finally drove you away for good.

Aiden Sterling POV:

The drive to the Carlisle estate Lila chattered endlessly about our future. She was practically vibrating with joy.

As I pulled the car up to the grand gates of the Carlisle mansion, my encrypted pack phone rang. It was the Alpha CEO of H.Y. Corp. I gestured for Lila to go inside first. She obeyed with a sweet smile, stepping out of the car and waving before heading up the steps.

"Speak," I answered, my voice low and cold.

A mocking laugh came through the speaker. *"Alpha Sterling, I have to say, your sales director has some serious guts. She literally held a silver blade to my throat to force me to sign that treaty. I shot her with a silver bullet in retaliation. And you know what she did? She dug the silver bullet out of her own flesh right in front of me, without a flinch. I've never admired a woman more in my life. Tell me, is she still alive?"*

My pupils shrank to pinpricks. The world seemed to tilt on its axis. "What did you say?"

I hung up the phone, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm against my ribs. I immediately mind-linked my head tracker.

"Where is Kira?" I demanded, my voice cracking with an emotion I refused to name.

*"Alpha, Miss Kira returned to the villa briefly, packed a single suitcase, and left."*

I knew she would leave, but I didn't expect her to vanish so quickly. With a silver bullet wound, where could she possibly go?

"Did she say where she was heading?"

"No, Alpha. But... Miss Kira was picked up by a multi-million dollar luxury Bentley. The driver was a very handsome, powerful male. He looked incredibly wealthy."

A layer of absolute frost instantly covered my eyes. I slowly lowered my hand from my ear, my jaw clenching so hard my teeth ached.

She had just broken the bond, and a luxury car was already waiting for her? She had probably never loved me at all, which was why she could betray me and walk away so effortlessly.

Kira, you are unbelievable.

Kira Beaumont POV:

I was picked up by my eldest brother, Gideon, the Beta of the Beaumont Pack. He drove me straight to the most luxurious private estate in Silverwood City, the Beaumont Manor.

Gideon had to leave immediately for urgent pack business, completely unaware of my gunshot wound.

I lay on the massive, soft bed in my old room. Everything was exactly as I had left it years ago. But my body could no longer hold out. My face was ashen, cold sweat pouring down my forehead. The excruciating pain of the silver wound, combined with the devastating heartbreak of the Rejection, made it hard to breathe.

I lay there weakly, my long eyelashes fluttering as I closed my eyes. I couldn't understand how two people who had once loved each other could just fall apart so easily. Thinking back on the last four years, all the little moments, his gentle eyes that now belonged to someone else... it tore my heart to shreds.

I guess even the most passionate vows of a mate have an expiration date.

There was another reason I had been so determined to break the bond. I placed a trembling hand over my flat stomach. I was pregnant.

Aiden was too powerful, his reach too vast. I couldn't let him know about the pup. When I was shot, I had dug the bullet out myself without any anesthetics, terrified that the drugs would harm the baby growing inside me.

Thinking of the promise I had made to my grandfather, I finally accepted my fate. I was going to inherit the Beaumont Pack.