CHAPTER 536: THE BOMB

Lennox’s POV

For a moment, the world stopped.

I couldn’t hear anything.

Not the wind.

Not my heartbeat.

Not even my own breathing.

I just stared at Levi... waiting... praying... begging silently for him to take back what he said.

But he didn’t.

It felt like I had just heard something wrong, but the next words from Levi proved I didn’t hear wrong.

"LENNOX, you’re supposed to know... your wolf must have felt it."

My eyes widened as my heart raced while I stared at Levi...

My wolf?

Should have felt it?

What the hell was he saying?

"Levi!" Louis yelled at him, his eyes widening in shock... it was as if Levi had just exposed a secret that was never meant to be told.

My lips trembled.

I wanted to speak... to yell... to ask him what he meant, but I realized my throat was sealed shut.

Confused, I looked at Olivia, whose eyes were filled with fresh tears and guilt... and just staring at her, something told me I was about to receive the biggest shock of my life.

Levi continued, "I will save you the stress by going straight to the point, brother."

Brother.

He said it, but it didn’t feel like a brother speaking to me.

Louis shouted, "Levi! Stop talking!" His voice cracked with fear, like Levi had thrown a bomb into the room.

But Levi ignored him.

He kept staring at me with eyes that didn’t look like my brother anymore.

It felt like I was looking at a stranger wearing Levi’s face.

"You and Olivia being mates was dangerous for her. Too dangerous. So I rejected her for you."

Rejected.

That word hit me like a knife.

Rejected.

Rejected.

Rejected.

My ears rang.

My vision blurred.

My head felt too light and too heavy at the same time.

My voice finally came out, but it was so weak... so broken... I barely recognized it.

"W–What did you say?"

Levi didn’t blink.

He didn’t look away.

"I rejected her," he repeated. "You and her being mates were too risky. So I acted in your place. I broke the bond."

The room felt like it spun.

"No..." I whispered. "No... you can’t... you can’t reject someone for me..."

But Levi didn’t flinch.

He just stood there like he didn’t do something that destroyed my whole life.

My whole soul.

I looked back at Olivia, and she cried harder—like the sight of me hurting was killing her.

My heart squeezed painfully.

My mate bond... gone?

My chest tightened again.

"You mean..."

I swallowed hard.

"...she is not my mate?"

Olivia sobbed and covered her mouth.

Her silence was my answer.

I felt something inside me tear... rip... fall apart piece by piece.

"You took her from me..." I whispered, my eyes never leaving Levi. "You took my mate..."

Levi swallowed but said nothing.

Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

Olivia crawled closer, crying. "Lennox, please—listen—"

I looked at her.

Really looked at her.

The woman I loved.

The woman I died for.

The woman who was supposed to be mine forever.

Not anymore.

"Lennox... I swear I didn’t know... he did it without my consent."

But that didn’t matter.

With or without her consent... the truth stayed the same.

Olivia and I... were no longer mates.

And nothing in the world could prepare me for how that felt.

My heart didn’t just break—

it collapsed.

The bond that once tied our souls together...

The bond that made me breathe, made me fight, made me live...

was gone.

My lips parted, but no sound came out.

My throat burned like someone was choking me from the inside.

"You..." I breathed shakily, "You’re not mine anymore."

Olivia sobbed louder, shaking her head. "Lennox—no—please—listen—"

"LISTEN TO WHAT?" I exploded, my voice breaking. "THAT I LOST YOU?! THAT YOU’RE NO LONGER MINE?!"

Olivia slapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming as she cried.

Louis took a step toward us but stopped—his eyes shining with guilt and fear.

Levi didn’t move.

He just stood there with that same empty expression...

As if he accepted the monster he had created.

I stared at him—really stared at him.

"You broke my bond," I whispered. "You broke the ONLY thing that mattered to me."

Levi swallowed hard. "Lennox, you don’t understand—"

"I DON’T WANT TO UNDERSTAND!" I roared.

"You took away the one thing that kept me alive. You took her. YOU TOOK HER!"

Olivia cried harder, crawling forward again. "Lennox, please—don’t say it like that... please..." she cried, "you didn’t lose me. You didn’t. Mates or not—I still love you... I’m yours. I never stopped loving you, and I will never stop."

I looked at her.

Her tear-stained face.

Her trembling lips.

Her broken voice.

Everything about her screamed guilt and pain and love all mixed together.

"You’re not mine anymore..." I repeated, my heart breaking.

"I woke up from a coma," I roared, my voice cracking into pieces. "CRIPPLED. WOLFLESS. ALONE!"

My hand slammed against my dead leg.

My whole body shook.

"I woke up to find out my family abandoned me. My parents. My brothers. Everyone!"

My voice echoed all over the room.

"And now Olivia is not my mate?! The ONLY thing that kept me alive—GONE!"

Olivia sobbed harder, crawling closer but too scared to touch me.

Louis covered his mouth, his face pale.

Levi looked like he’d been stabbed.

I pressed my palm against my chest because it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my flesh.

"What am I living for?" I choked.

My breath hitched.

My lungs squeezed painfully.

Darkness edged my vision.

"What is left for me?!" I screamed.

"WHY DID I EVEN WAKE UP?!"

My breathing went wild.

And that was when I saw it—the small silver tray on the table beside me, where a maid had left fruit and a jug of water.

And on the tray... a knife.

I didn’t think.

I didn’t pause.

I grabbed the knife, and before anyone could react, I lifted it to my throat and dragged a deep slice across my skin.