Chapter 110 110

Chapter 110 110
~ARLINA~

"She's getting worse."

I heard Mom's voice through the door. She was talking to Edward in the hallway, thinking I was asleep.

I wasn't. Sleep didn't come easily anymore. Just the voices.

"How much worse?" Edward asked.

"She hasn't eaten in four days. Can barely keep water down. And the power surges, yesterday she levitated everything in the living room without realizing it."

"What about her wolf?"

"Still silent. She tried to shift this morning and collapsed from the effort. Whatever's happening, it's affecting her on every level."

A pause. Then Edward said, "I'm calling in healers. From other packs if necessary. This is beyond what Patricia can handle alone."

"Do you think—" Mom's voice cracked. "Do you think she'll survive this?"

"I don't know. Severed mate bonds are rare for a reason. Most wolves don't survive them."

The words should have scared me and made me want to fight. To live, and to get better.

They didn't. I just felt empty.

The door opened. Light spilled in and I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep.

"Arlina?" Mom's soft voice. "Baby, I know you're awake."

I didn't respond.

She sat on the edge of the bed. "Edward's bringing in healers. People who specialize in mate bond trauma. They're going to help you."

"Don't want help."

"I know. But you're dying, baby. I can see it. Every day you're a little more gone."

"Good. Let me go."

"No." Her voice turned fierce. "You don't get to give up. Not after everything you've survived."

"Why not? What's the point?"

"The point is you're my daughter and I love you and I'm not letting you die from a broken heart."

I finally opened my eyes. Mom looked terrible with dark circles, red-rimmed eyes, like she hadn't slept in days.

"I'm not dying from a broken heart. I'm dying from a severed mate bond. There's a difference."

"Then we'll fix the bond—"

"We caan't fix what doesn't exist anymore. It's gone, Mom. Completely severed. There's nothing left to fix."

She grabbed my hand. "Then we'll find another way. Magic, medicine, something. But you have to fight, Arlina. You have to want to live."

"I don't."

The admission hung in the air between us.

"The voices," I said quietly. "They're getting louder. They're with me all the time now. Even when I'm awake, even when I'm trying to focus on something else. They never stop."

"What are they saying?"

"That everyone leaves. That I'm not worth staying for. That I should stop fighting and just let go." I looked at her. "And they're right. Zayne left. My wolf left. Soon you'll leave too."

"I'm not leaving—"

"Everyone leaves. That's what I've learned. No matter how much you love someone, no matter how strong the bond, they'll choose something else eventually."

"Zayne didn't choose—"

"He did. I watched him do it. Watched him kiss her, claim her, pick her over me." My voice stayed flat, emotionless. "And now I'm supposed to what? Forgive him? Move on? Pretend it didn't destroy me?"

Mom was crying now. "You're supposed to live. That's all. Just keep living."

"Why?"

"Because—" She struggled for words. "Because you matter. Because your life has value beyond any mate bond or relationship. Because I need you and I can't lose you."

The shadows in the corner of my room seemed to grow darker. I'd been seeing them for days now. Dark shapes that moved when I wasn't looking directly at them.

The voices loved the shadows and used them to whisper louder.

"The healers are coming tomorrow," Mom said. "Will you at least try? For me?"

"Fine. I'll try."

Another lie. But it made her feel better, and that was enough to get her off my neck.

She left eventually. The moment the door closed, the voices came back.

“Worthless. Broken. Unwanted.”

I pulled the blanket over my head, to shut them out.

“Your mate chose someone else. What does that say about you?”

"Stop."

“Everyone sees it. Everyone knows you're not enough.”

My power flared. The water glass on my nightstand shattered.

I was losing control. Not just of my emotions or my life, but of the fundamental ability to contain my power.

Yesterday I'd walked through the living room and every piece of furniture had lifted off the ground. I hadn't meant to do it, hadn't even realized it was happening until Mom screamed.

The power was tied to emotion. Without the mate bond to anchor it, without my wolf to help control it, my emotions were affecting reality around me.

And my emotions were a mess.

Grief. Rage. Despair. All of it moving together, and spilling out as uncontrolled telekinesis.

Soon I'd hurt someone. Soon I wouldn't be able to stop it.

The door opened again. It was Alpha Edward this time.

"Arlina, we need to talk."

"Go away."

"Not happening. Sit up."

I didn't move.

He pulled a chair over and sat next to the bed. "Your power is destabilizing. That without proper control, you could level this entire house."

"So lock me up somewhere safe."

"That's not the solution—"

"Then what is? Because I can't control it anymore. I can't control anything."

"The healers will help—"

"Healers can't fix a dead mate bond. They can't bring back my wolf. They can't undo what Zayne did." I finally sat up, meeting his eyes. "There's no fixing this. I'm broken and I'm going to stay broken until I die from it."

"You're not going to die—"

"Yes I am. You said it yourself. Most wolves don't survive severed mate bonds. I'm just one of the statistics."

Edward was quiet for a moment. "What if we could restore the bond?"

"We can't. Rejection is permanent—"

"What if it wasn't rejection? What if Zayne was under compulsion when you rejected him? Would that change things?"

I stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Stefan thinks Nessa's been using magic on Zayne. Compulsion, to make him pull away from you and attach to her instead."

"That's—" I wanted to say impossible. But was it? Nessa had known things she shouldn't have known. Had appeared at exactly the right time to cause maximum damage.

And Zayne had changed. Gradually at first, then all at once.

"Even if that's true," I said slowly, "it doesn't matter. I rejected him. The bond is severed. What's done is done."

"Unless the rejection was based on false circumstances. If Zayne wasn't in his right mind, if his actions were manipulated, then the rejection could be—"

"No."

"Arlina—"

"No. I don't care if it was compulsion or magic or mind control. He still did it. He still chose her, still kissed her, still hurt me in front of everyone." My voice rose. "And I'm not going back to someone who could do that. Bond or no bond, magic or no magic, I'm done."

The windows rattled. My power was spiking again.

"You need to calm down—"

"I need everyone to leave me alone!" The nightstand lifted off the ground. "I need to stop hurting and I need my wolf back and I need—"

The furniture in the room started floating. Books, clothes, my laptop, everything rising into the air around us.

"Arlina, breathe—"

"Get out." My voice didn't sound like my own anymore. It was echoing, like multiple people speaking at once. "Get out before I hurt you."

He left quickly. The moment the door closed, everything crashed back down.

I lay back on the bed, exhausted from the outburst.

The voices whispered their approval.

“Good. Push them away. They'll only hurt you more.”

And in the shadows, something moved. Watching.