Chapter 15: Broken Bonds
Amelia's POV
Alexander finished his warning, his words echoing the sterile silence of the room. I held my breath, waiting for the final verdict. Alexander's cold assessment, when it came, hung in the air between us.
"I've made my decision regarding this... situation," Alexander finally said, his voice clinically detached. "I will not be accepting this mate bond."
Even though I'd expected it, the words hit like physical blows. Each syllable sent fresh waves of pain through my chest, my wolf howling in anguish deep inside me.
"Whatever biological anomaly has created this connection between us," he continued with clinical precision, "it cannot and will not override my responsibilities to my pack or the alliance with Eclipse."
I gripped the hospital sheets, knuckles turning white. "It's not something I planned or wanted either."
"That makes no difference to the outcome," he replied coldly. "As of tonight, you no longer qualify for pack resources or protection. You're permitted to remain in Shadow Heights territory solely because of your enrollment at the university."
"You're cutting me off completely?" The implications slowly sank in. No protection in a world filled with predators who saw me as nothing but an Omega.
"Your medical expenses from this incident will be covered," Alexander said, his tone making it clear this was a final courtesy, not kindness. "But moving forward, you're on your own."
"And my mother?" I asked, my voice breaking.
"Your mother's medical care was provided as a courtesy to pack members," he said with a dismissive wave, not even meeting my eyes. "As you're no longer under pack protection, those benefits will be terminated as well." His words fell like stones, each one heavier than the last.
A small mercy amid the wreckage. I nodded, unable to form words through the lump in my throat.
"There's the matter of your brother to address as well," Alexander continued, his voice hardening.
My heart stopped. "Nathan? What about him?"
"Officer Throne publicly transformed during the Luna Festival after your collapse. He created a scene, disrupted sacred proceedings, and nearly attacked my brother." Alexander's expression remained impassive. "For these actions, he's been sentenced to one year of exile from Shadow Heights territory."
"One year?" I gasped. "But he was just worried about me!"
"Which is precisely why his sentence is only one year," Alexander replied coldly. "The standard punishment for such a disruption would be far more severe."
Tears spilled down my cheeks before I could stop them. Nathan exiled for a year—because of me. Because I couldn't control my reaction to Alexander.
"When?" I managed to ask through my tears. "When does he have to leave?"
"The sentence will be carried out at dawn tomorrow," Alexander stated flatly. "He's currently in detention at pack headquarters."
The finality of those words shattered something inside me. I wouldn't even get to say goodbye.
"I'll arrange for your discharge paperwork," Alexander said, already turning toward the door. "You can make your own way home."
"And what about us?" The question escaped before I could stop it. "The mate bond doesn't just disappear because you reject it."
His jaw tightened. "There is no 'us,' and there never will be. Whatever biological quirk has created this connection, I won't allow it to dictate my choices or the future of my pack."
With that final blow, he left, the door closing with quiet finality behind him.
I curled into myself, arms wrapped around my middle as if I could physically hold together the pieces that were breaking inside me. The pain wasn't just emotional—it was visceral, like something essential was being torn from my body with each breath.
Two hours later, a nurse handed me discharge papers with barely a glance. No one had come to check how I would get home. No one cared. The withdrawal of pack protection was immediate and absolute.
I stepped outside the hospital into the cool night air, looking up at the nearly full moon that had betrayed me so completely. Home was at least five miles away, and I had no money for a taxi or bus. My phone had died hours ago.
The unfairness of it all crashed over me in waves. Nathan being punished. Alexander's rejection. My complete abandonment by the pack I'd barely known I belonged to. A sob rose in my throat, but I swallowed it down. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of my tears—not here, not where anyone might see.
I started walking, keeping to the shadows along the edge of the hospital grounds. The pain in my chest from Alexander's rejection ebbed and flowed like a tide, sometimes receding enough that I could almost breathe normally, other times crashing over me with such force that I had to stop and double over.
As I reached the tree line that bordered the hospital property, a wild, desperate idea took hold. The pack had rejected me, but my wolf remained. Why shouldn't I use the one gift this cursed transformation had given me?
I glanced around to ensure no one was watching, then slipped between the trees, moving deeper into the small patch of woods until I was certain I was hidden from view. There, in the dappled moonlight filtering through the branches, I closed my eyes and reached for the part of me that I'd spent weeks trying to suppress.
The change came easier this time—still painful, but somehow more natural. My bones cracked and reformed, muscles stretched and bunched, skin sprouted thick fur. Within moments, I stood on four paws, my senses heightened to an almost painful degree.
The world looked different through wolf eyes—sharper, more immediate. Scents flooded my awareness: pine needles, damp earth, a rabbit that had passed through minutes earlier. The pain in my chest remained, but in this form, it felt more manageable, more distant.
I took a tentative step, then another, adjusting to the rhythm of four legs instead of two. Then, guided by instinct and the distant memory of Nathan showing me local maps, I began to run.
The sensation was incredible—muscles working in perfect harmony, lungs filling with crisp night air, paws barely touching the ground before pushing off again. I stuck to the wooded areas where I could, darting across open spaces when necessary, keeping to shadows and avoiding the occasional late-night pedestrian or car.
For the first time since I'd collapsed at the Luna Festival, I felt something other than pain and despair. There was a wild freedom in this form that my human body couldn't comprehend. My wolf didn't understand politics or alliances or rejection—she understood only movement, sensation, and the primal joy of running under the moon's silver light.
I crossed the river that divided the city, splashing through the shallows with an almost childlike delight. Water droplets clung to my fur, catching moonlight like tiny diamonds. In the distance, I could make out the familiar silhouette of Shadow Heights University, and beyond it, the residential area where our modest home stood.
Home. The thought of my mother waiting, worrying, not knowing what had happened to me or Nathan, sobered me instantly. The brief moment of joy faded, replaced by the crushing reality of our situation. Nathan being exiled at dawn. My rejection and abandonment by the pack. The mate bond that throbbed like an open wound in my chest.
I picked up my pace, racing through a small wooded park that would lead me within a few blocks of home. The physical exertion helped dampen the emotional pain, focusing my mind on the rhythm of my paws against the earth, the burn in my muscles, the cold night air in my lungs.
As I ran, a new resolve began to form beneath the pain and confusion. Alexander Westbrook might have rejected me. The pack might have abandoned me. But I was still here. Still breathing. Still running.
And tomorrow, when they took Nathan away, I would be there. I would find a way. I would not be broken by a bond I never asked for or a rejection I didn't deserve.
The moon watched silently overhead as I raced through the night, a lone wolf running toward a home that, like everything else in my life, would never be the same again.