CHAPTER 89: CHAPTER 89: SHATTERED BONDS

Aeron’s POV ~

It felt like drowning. Every breath burned in his chest, like salt water filling his lungs. Guilt wrapped itself around him, dragging him deeper into the abyss. Aeron had thought he knew pain before... battle wounds, betrayal, even the grief of watching packmates die and become slaves under a bloodthirsty Alpha. But nothing compared to this. Nothing compared to the torment of almost losing her.

Selene.

Even thinking her name felt unreal, like a fragile flame that could flicker out if he held it too tightly. For so long, he had forced himself to believe she still lived. He had prayed to the Moon Goddess every night, begging for just one sign.

But nothing worked. There was no sign from her, but he still clung to the faintest ember of faith. Because if he didn’t—if he accepted she was truly gone—then he knew he would have been shattered long ago.

But everything changed tonight... She had been here, in front of him.

His chest shook as he drew in a ragged breath, his mind replaying the moment over and over until he thought it would drive him mad.

The second his hand brushed against her skin, his entire being had short-circuited. The bond had flared, searing to life with such force that it made him stagger, his heart beating so violently he thought it might tear from his chest.

His eyes, his senses—even his wolf—had hesitated, confused because her scent was different, entirely different from what he remembered. His eyes hadn’t recognized her. But his heart had.

The truth had screamed inside him: that it’s her. It’s Selene—his mate.

For the first time in the past year, Aeron had thanked the Moon Goddess with his whole soul. Thanked her for sparing Selene, for hearing the prayers of him and his brothers, and for not letting the mate bond become nothing but torment.

But even with that joy coursing through him, the fear had not vanished. For so long, he had tortured himself with the possibility that his faith was only an illusion.

What if it had all been in his head? What if he had been worshipping nothing, chasing a ghost that never truly returned his call?

And yet, tonight, he had felt her heart beating beneath him. But the happiness did not last long.

Her words struck harder than anything he could have imagined; his entire excitement turned into dread with her few words.

"Don’t push me to hate you more than I already do, Aeron."

The moment they left her lips, Aeron felt the world collapse beneath his feet. His breath stalled, and for a heartbeat, he thought his chest had split open.

The bond, that beautiful, terrible tether, convulsed violently inside him, searing him from within as if it too had been wounded by her rejection.

He stumbled back when she pushed him, though her strength was nothing compared to his. It wasn’t her touch that sent him reeling... it was her coldness, the way her eyes had looked right through him as though he were nothing. Nothing but the enemy. Nothing but a cage she wanted to escape.

"Selene..." His voice broke, barely a whisper now. He felt confused, even about how to talk to her.

But she didn’t answer. Her silence weighed heavier than her words. Silence told him she would rather tear her own heart out than give him even the smallest mercy of hope.

Inside his mind, his wolf surged forward.

"No!" Rhydian’s howl echoed so violently it rattled through Aeron’s bones, his spirit shaking under the weight of it. "She’s ours! She’s our mate! Don’t turn from us, Selene—don’t—"

But she already had when she had decided to push him away.

Aeron’s knees nearly buckled. He braced a hand against the wall behind him. His heart thundered against his ribs, as if it too was trying to chase after her, desperate to bridge the distance her rejection had carved between them.

Her final words gnawed at him, each syllable twisting deeper.

"I would rather burn alone in the ashes of my own heart than let my love be built on your guilt."

He clutched his chest, because that was exactly what he had feared. That no matter how much he begged, no matter how much he swore to fix, to change, to make it right, it would never be enough. His guilt, his brothers’ cruelty, the scars they had left on her—all of it had poisoned what could have been theirs.

And she wanted nothing of it.

"Rhydian..." Aeron’s whisper cracked as he closed his eyes, feeling his wolf thrash against the inside of his skull.

"She can’t mean it," Rhydian whimpered, his once-proud voice trembling. "She’s hurting. She’s angry. She doesn’t see... she doesn’t feel what we feel. She can’t hate us—she’s our mate. She’s ours."

Aeron shook his head, his vision blurring with tears he couldn’t hold back. "She does, Rhydian. She meant every word."

And when he snapped out from his haze, she was already gone.

He stumbled forward, calling her name under his breath, but the hallway was empty. It was like she had vanished into thin air.

His breath caught in his throat as panic settled in. He turned, searched again, eyes scanning every direction. Still nothing.

Aeron’s heart pounded harder. No. No, she was here. She was right here.

For a split second, he wondered if his mind had made it all up. If the bond had tricked him. If she had never been real to begin with.

But he shook his head hard, refusing to let doubt in. "No," he muttered. "She was here. She was right in front of me."

He clenched his fists. He could no longer find her alone. He needed help, so he opened the mindlink to Luca. But he only got a faint reply.

Immediately, he realized something was off.

Aeron frowned. The connection wasn’t right. It was weak—distant. Not like usual. The bond between the brothers was strong. They could sense each other’s emotions like they were their own.

And now, Aeron could feel it... something was wrong.

He didn’t wait for a second before he ran.

Shoving past the heavy doors at the end of the hall, he burst into the cool night air, the wind hitting his face like a slap. His body moved on instinct, sprinting in the direction Luca had last been.

"Luca, where are you?" He tried again, but this time he got no response.

His heart slammed against his chest as he pushed faster, boots hitting the ground hard.

Selene was missing.

And now, maybe Luca was in trouble too.