Chapter 105 105

Chapter 105 105

~ARLINA~

"Arlina!"

Zayne's sounded across the parking lot. I looked up and saw him in the doorway, backlit by the party lights.

"Don't," Selene warned. "Don't go near her."

But he was already walking toward us.

Nessa appeared behind him, her hand catching his arm. "Zayne, baby, let her have some space. She's clearly upset—"

"I need to talk to her—"

"Not now. This isn't the time." Nessa's voice was gentle, soothing. "Come back inside. Your friends are waiting."

I watched him hesitate. He looked at me, then back at Nessa.

He chose Nessa.

Turned around and let her lead him back into the party.

He didn't even make it halfway across the parking lot before giving up.

"Did you see that?" Selene's voice was sharp with disbelief. "He just—he left. She said stay and he just left."

"Because she's what he wants now."

"No. That's not Zayne. Zayne wouldn't—" She pulled out her phone. "I'm calling Stefan. Something is very wrong here."

"Don't."

Selene was already dialing but I stood up, brushing gravel off my knees.

"Arlina, what are you—"

"Don't call anyone." My voice came out strong and strict. "I'm going to handle this myself."

"Handle what? You can barely stand—"

"I'm fine."

I wasn't fine. The bond was still tearing itself apart in my chest, each breath felt like swallowing glass, and my hands wouldn't stop shaking.

But something had shifted. Watching Zayne turn around, watching him choose Nessa over even a five-minute conversation with me, something inside me had snapped violently inside of me.

"Arlina, don't do anything stupid—"

I was already walking back toward the community center.

"Arlina! Stop!"

Selene grabbed my arm but I shook her off. The doors were right there. I could hear the music, the laughter, the celebration of Zayne's new relationship.

My feet hit the steps.

"Please don't go back in there," Selene begged. "Let's just go home. We'll figure this out tomorrow—"

"There's nothing to figure out."

I pushed through the doors.

The party was Still in full swing. People dancing, drinking, having the time of their lives. No one noticed me slip back inside.

Except I wasn't slipping. I was walking straight down the middle of the room, eyes locked on the stage where Zayne and Nessa stood.

They were kissing again.

His hands were in her hair, her arms wrapped around his neck. The kiss was deep, intimate, the kind of kiss that left no question about what they were to each other.

My wolf howled.

The sound didn't come out of my mouth but I felt it tear through my chest. Agony and betrayal and rage all twisted together.

They broke apart. Zayne was smiling at her, saying something that made her laugh.

I kept walking.

People started noticing. Conversations died as I passed. Someone whispered my name.

Selene was behind me, hissing urgently. "Arlina, please. Don't do this. Whatever you're thinking—"

I reached the stage.

Zayne saw me. His expression shifted from confusion, guilt, that's if he even had a conscience to feel guilt anymore.

"Arlina? I thought you left—"

"Zayne Pierce." My voice rang out clear and cold. "I, Arlina Morgan, reject you as my mate."

The room went dead silent.

Zayne's face went blank with shock. "What?"

"Under pack law, I formally reject the mate bond between us." Each word was a nail in a coffin. "I sever all ties, all claims, all connections."

"You can't—that's not—" He stepped toward me but Nessa's hand on his arm stopped him.

"She has the right," Nessa said quietly. "If a mate feels abandoned, they can invoke rejection."

How convenient that she knew pack law.

"Arlina, wait." Zayne's voice cracked. "Let's talk about this—"

"There's nothing to talk about. You made your choice." I looked at Nessa, still holding his arm. "You chose her. In front of everyone. You kissed her, claimed her, celebrated with her while your mate stood in the parking lot falling apart."

"I didn't know you were there—"

"Does that make it better? That you betrayed me without knowing I was watching?" My laugh came out jagged. "You asked another girl to be your girlfriend. You kissed her. You let her call you baby. And when you had a chance to talk to me, to explain, you turned around and went back to her."

Zayne opened his mouth and closed it. Of course he culdn't argue because every word was true.

"The bond is already dying," I said. "I'm just making it official."

"No. You don't understand—something's wrong—I don't know why I—" He pressed his hands to his head. "Everything's confused and I can't think straight—"

"Then let me think straight for both of us. You don't want me anymore. You want her." I gestured to Nessa. "So have her. Be happy. I'm done fighting for someone who won't fight back."

Pain flashed across his face.

"I reject you," I said again. "As my mate, as my partner, as anything to me. We're done."

The bond screamed. I felt it in my bones, in my blood, in every cell of my body.

Zayne stumbled backward like I'd physically hit him. His hand went to his chest, right over his heart.

"Arlina—please—"

"It's too late." And I meant it. Whatever we'd had, whatever we could have been—it was gone. "You destroyed it. You chose to destroy it. So now I'm just finishing what you started."

Nessa was watching with barely concealed satisfaction. This was what she'd wanted. To break us apart so completely there was no coming back.

She'd won.

"Under pack law," I said, my voice carrying to every corner of the silent room, "I reject Zayne Pierce as my mate. The bond is severed. We are nothing to each other."

The words hung in the air.