Chapter 9
720words
I kicked the door open to the room where they were holding Ariana. She was sitting on the bed, crying.
"Byron!" She saw me and flew into my arms. "You're here! Thank the Goddess! Those rogues… what have they done to Sandra? I heard she's badly hurt—"
"Shut up." I shoved her away. "This is your fault. You let them hurt her."
"Byron, are you crazy?" Ariana’s tears fell harder. "Sandra's lost her mind! You can't possibly believe a word she says! How could I ever go against your orders and harm her?"
I stared into her eyes, searching for a single sign of a lie.
But her tears felt real. Her pain looked genuine.
"Have you forgotten, Byron?" She grabbed my hand. "I saved your life. You would be dead if not for me. And I was the one who told you Sandra was cursed. I was trying to save her, how could I possibly hurt her?"
She saved my life.
Those words cooled the rage burning inside me.
"But Sandra—"
"She hates me because I accidentally caused the death of our child," Ariana sobbed. "She goes crazy the moment she sees me. She'll say anything. Byron, you can't doubt me just because of her side of the story."
I looked at her tear-streaked face, and my resolve began to waver.
Maybe Sandra really had lost her mind.
Maybe the pain of losing our child was too much for her to bear.
"I know." I sighed, pulling her into my arms. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you."
"The Blood Moon ceremony is tomorrow," Ariana trembled in my arms. "If Sandra says those crazy things at the ceremony, I'll be ruined. Byron, you'll protect me, won't you?"
"Of course." I patted her back. "I won't let anyone ruin you. Not even Sandra."
The morning of the ceremony, I walked into the house I once shared with Sandra, my chest tight with a guilt I couldn't shake.
I’d thought about it all night. Maybe I had been too hard on her.
Maybe I should have tried a gentler way.
"Sandra?" I pushed the door open. "We need to talk."
No answer.
"Sandra?" I walked toward the bedroom. "The ceremony is about to start. Are you ready?"
The bedroom was empty.
Her closet was empty. Her vanity stripped bare. Even the silver necklace her mother gave her—her most prized possession—was gone.
I rushed back to the living room and saw the wreckage.
The floor was covered in shards.
Every symbol of our life together was smashed to pieces.
Our photos, the jewelry I gave her—all of it destroyed.
But I didn't panic.
This just proved she still cared. She was just trying to get my attention.
"Throwing a tantrum?" I muttered to myself. "It will all be over after today, Sandra."
Her mother was still in the care facility I controlled.
Her brother was still locked in my dungeons.
Where could she possibly run?
She had nothing. Sooner or later, she'd come crawling back.
That's when I saw the document on the table.
MATE BOND SEVERANCE.
The same papers she tried to force me to sign yesterday.
I picked them up and couldn't help but laugh.
"Trying to threaten me with this?" I shook my head. "Sandra, you're so naive."
What could a piece of paper change?
Could it break the sacred bond the Moon Goddess gave us?
Could it erase my mark from her skin?
"This is nothing but scrap paper," I sneered, moving to rip it in two. "It means noth—"
Suddenly, a pain like nothing I'd ever felt exploded in my chest.
"Argh!"
It felt like a silver knife had been plunged straight through my heart, then twisted.
I dropped to my knees, clutching my chest, unable to breathe.
This wasn't a physical pain.
It was my soul being torn in two.
The mate bond between me and Sandra—
That sacred thread connecting our lives—
It was breaking.
"Impossible!" I roared. "The bond is sacred! It can't be—"
I looked in horror at the papers in my hand. My signature was glowing with a strange silver light.
Another wave of agony crashed over me, more violent than the last.
"Sandra!" I collapsed on the floor, roaring in despair at the empty room. "What did you do?!"
