Chapter 115 115

Chapter 115 115
~ARLINA~

"You need to come with me. Now."

Mom burst into my room, her face pale. I was still surrounded by the books Patricia had given me, notes spread everywhere.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Zayne. He collapsed during training. He's—" Her voice cracked. "He's not waking up."

Everything inside me went cold. "What happened?"

"I don't know. Edward said he was sparring with Stefan and just collapsed. Started seizing." She grabbed my hand. "The healer is with him now but—Arlina, he's calling for you. Even unconscious, he won't stop calling your name."

I stood up. My legs felt shaky but I made them move. "Take me to him."

The drive to the pack training facility took ten minutes. The longest ten minutes of my life.

Mom kept glancing at me. "Are you okay?"

"No."

"The bond, can you feel anything through it?"

I pressed my hand to my chest. The space where the bond used to be was still empty and aching.

But there was something else. A faint pull, like a thread I couldn't grasp.

"I don't know. Maybe. I can't tell."

We pulled up to the facility. Edward was waiting outside.

"He's stable," he said before I could ask. "But the healer needs to talk to you. Privately."

Mom squeezed my hand once, then let me go.

I followed Edward inside. The healer, an older woman I didn't recognize, was waiting in a small office.

"Arlina. Sit down."

I sat.

"Zayne is under a compulsion spell," she said without preamble. "A powerful one. It's woven into his thoughts, his emotions. I tried to break it but the spell fought back. It burned him."

"Is he—"

"He's alive. But he won't be for long if we can't break the spell. His wolf is fighting it from the inside and the conflict is tearing him apart."

"So break the spell. Do whatever you have to do—"

"I can't. I tried. The spell is designed to protect itself. Any attempt to remove it forcefully will kill him."

My stomach dropped. "Then what do we do?"

The healer leaned forward. "Only his mate can break it safely. Only you."

"I'm not his mate anymore. I rejected him. The bond is severed."

"Is it?" She pulled out a small mirror and held it up. "Look at your neck. At the claiming mark."

I looked. The mark Zayne had given me months ago was still there. Faded, barely visible, but there.

"It should be gone," the healer said. "Completely erased when the bond severed. But it's not. It's still there because the bond is still there."

"That's impossible. I invoked formal rejection—"

"Under false pretenses. Zayne was under compulsion when you rejected him. His actions weren't his own." She set down the mirror. "True mate bonds don't sever completely. They can be damaged, weakened, but not broken. Not entirely."

I touched the mark on my neck. It was warm under my fingers.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying the bond is damaged but not dead. There's still a connection between you and Zayne. Faint, but present. And that connection is the only thing that can save him."

"How?"

"You have to reach him through the bond. Use what's left of it to anchor him while I work on the spell. With you holding him steady, I can break the compulsion without killing him."

"But I don't know how to do that. I can barely feel the bond anymore—"

"Your wolf can. She's been hiding, yes, but she knows where Zayne is. She's always known." The healer stood. "I can't force you to do this. But if you don't, Zayne will die. Or worse—he'll be permanently lost to the compulsion."

I stared at her. "What if I try and it doesn't work? What if the bond is too damaged?"

"Then we'll know we tried. But Arlina—" She met my eyes. "Zayne is calling for you. Even unconscious, trapped in his own mind, fighting a spell that's trying to destroy him—he's calling your name. That's not coincidence. That's the bond."

"The bond I severed."

"The bond you damaged while trying to protect yourself from what you thought was betrayal. But now you know the truth. Zayne didn't choose Nessa. He was forced to. Everything he did, everything that hurt you—it wasn't real."

"It felt real."

"I know. But it wasn't. And now he needs you to save him."

I looked down at my hands, they were shaking.

"What if I can't? What if I'm not strong enough?"

"Then we'll find another way. But right now, you're his only chance." The healer opened the door. "He's in the next room. Take all the time you need to decide."

She left. I sat there, trying to process everything.

The bond wasn't completely severed. Zayne had been under compulsion. I could save him.

But I'd have to open myself up to the bond again. Risk the pain, the devastation, the possibility that even if I saved him, we still might not end up together.

Could I do that?

I stood up and walked to the door. Through the window, I could see Zayne lying on a cot. Burns covered his skin, his body was still twitching, and even from here I could see his lips moving.

My name. He was still calling my name.