Chapter 25: THE SHATTERED BOND

Ophelia's POV

King Logan hadn’t even led me fully out of the ballroom when a furious shout cut through the hall.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!”

My blood turned to ice.

Dominic stormed forward, shoving aside anyone in his path. His Beta struggled to restrain him, but rage burned through Dominic like wildfire. Eve hurried after him, her face twisted with triumph and hatred.

King Logan pulled me closer, half shielding me behind his body. His wolf was already snarling beneath his skin.

Dominic pointed at me with shaking hands.

“That girl— that Omega— is MY fated mate!”

The entire ballroom gasped.

Whispers erupted like flames.

“His mate?”

“But she’s a servant—”

“An Omega?”

“A rejected mate?”

“Is the king involved—!?”

King Logan froze, not physically, his body still blocked me completely. But emotionally… something shattered in his eyes. Pain, fury and shock. All tangled into a storm he was barely containing.

I felt the shift in him.

His wolf went deadly quiet.

Dominic continued, voice rising, unhinged.

“She belongs to me! She is MINE by the Moon Goddess! And I will not let anyone—NOT EVEN A KING—take her!”

King Logan’s claws slid out, his jaw clenched, his heartbeat thundered through his arm.

He said nothing… yet his silence was more violent than any roar.

He still stood by me and protected me even after finding out the whole truth. Who is this man?

Eve smirked. “That’s right. She rejected her own pack. She ran. She’s a cursed mate, and she—”

“She is NO one’s mate!” Dominic roared.

Then he turned on me, eyes burning.

“Ophelia Come here NOW.”

My entire body trembled, but I didn’t move.

Logan tilted his head slightly, like he was waiting to see what I would do. Like my answer mattered more than anything.

I took a breath, after another.

Finally, I met Dominic’s eyes through my mask.

“No.”

Silence fell like a blade.

Dominic blinked. “What?”

“I said no,” I whispered. My voice shook, but the truth did not. “You rejected me.”

Gasps exploded through the ballroom.

Eve’s smirk vanished.

Dominic’s entire expression cracked. “Ophelia—”

“You rejected me,” I repeated louder, the words clawing out of my chest. “You called me weak. Cursed. Useless. You said I was unworthy of being your mate.”

The hall fell so silent I could hear my own heartbeat pounding against my ribs, sharply, pain wrapped my whole body. Crushing

The mate bond, but not the one Dominic spoke of.

The one between me and—

I gasped and clutched my chest. The pain pulsed like a burning string pulling taut.

King Logan staggered slightly, gripping the wall with one hand. His breath hitched. His glowing eyes snapped to me, wild, pained, confused.

He felt it too, the bond, our bond.

He whispered my name like a confession, like a breaking point, like he’d been holding this inside for too long.

“Ophelia…” His voice trembled king Logan never trembled. “It’s you… it was always you.”

Everything in me cracked open. The ballroom forgot how to breathe.

Dominic’s face went white.

Eve gasped so sharply she choked on her own breath.

King Logan didn’t look at them. He only looked at me. Even after the betrayal and lies.

It was as if the world was burning behind him and he still chose to watch me instead.

My chest tightened painfully as the bond pulsed again, hot, urgent, undeniable.

I stumbled slightly, but king Logan caught me instantly, one hand gripping my waist.

Dominic saw it all, and he snapped.

His wolf surged so violently that fur rippled beneath his skin. He bared his teeth at king Logan, eyes glowing blood-red.

“You think you can take what’s MINE?!” Dominic screamed.

King Logan shoved me behind him, claws out, eyes locked on Dominic with lethal calm.

“She was never yours,” he growled. “You threw her away.”

Dominic lunged. Chaos exploded.

King Logan met him head-on, Alpha and a Lycan king who ruled an entire kingdom colliding like storms. The impact shook the entire ballroom—glass shattered, guests screamed, tables flipped.

Dominic slashed at king Logan’s face.

King Logan dodged, grabbed Dominic by the throat, and slammed him into a marble pillar so hard cracks spider-webbed through the stone.

“STAY AWAY FROM HER.”

Dominic roared and shifted partially, claws raking across king Logan’s arm. King Logan barely flinched, his wolf rising, golden eyes burning brighter.

Guards rushed in the Nobles scattered.

Eve shrieked, “DOMINIC, STOP—!!!” Dominic didn’t stop.

He charged at king Logan again, primal and crazed.

King Logan shifted his stance, ready to tear him apart.

“My Lord!” I screamed, reaching out.

The both men paused only for a heartbeat but it was enough to send a shockwave through their wolves.

King Logan’s eyes flicked toward me.

Dominic saw the distraction. He lunged—

“LOGAN!”

King Logan turned just in time to block, claws meeting claws.

Sparks flew, snarls echoed, blood splattered the polished floor.

The entire room descended into chaos, and just before I lost sight of king Logan in the storm of bodies and fury, his voice tore through.

“OPHELIA, RUN!”