Chapter 129: Chapter-129

Raven's POV

I stared at the pathetic excuse of a man lying near my feet. The pain had finally loosened its grip on my heart.

Alaric looked nothing like the powerful Alpha who once dominated my every thought. Now he was just a broken, hollow shell—barely recognizable as the man who'd terrorized me.

"Wake him up," I commanded one of the guards beside me. He didn't hesitate. He grabbed a bucket of ice-cold water and splashed it over Alaric's face with violent force.

Alaric let out a low, animalistic groan as he jerked awake, his body trembling. Not from the cold. From panic. From fear. He tried to lunge at me, his eyes flashing with that desperate attempt at dominance he'd managed before, but his body wouldn't obey. By now he'd realized the truth, that he was no longer the predator.

I took a slow step forward, letting the dim light hit my face. A bitter, satisfied smirk pulled at the corner of my lips as I looked down at him. "Is that the best you've got?" I asked quietly. "You look weak and pathetic, Alaric."

For weeks I'd begged and starved in that rotten dark cell while he enjoyed himself with my sister. Now, the tables were turned.

"Raven," Alaric gasped, struggling to lift his head from the floor.

With all my strength, I took a deep breath and finally said the words I wished I had told a long time ago.

"I, Raven Kennedy," I started, my voice echoing through the cell with a commanding Alpha tone that made even the guards lower their heads in submission. "Reject you, Alaric. I reject you as my husband, my Alpha, and my mate."

"No!" Alaric thrashed against the metal restraints, shaking his head frantically as the reality of my words sank in. "No, no, please, Raven, don't do this! You can't!"

The rejection severed our connection with brutal force. He was already drowning in the agonizing torture of the wolfsbane. The broken bond doubled his pain.

"You love me. Please, don't do this!" he begged, groaning on the floor.

I felt nothing. Before, the bond would have torn me apart seeing him like this. Now, there was just... silence inside me.

"I feel nothing for you. The bond is dead, Alaric, and so are we," I said in a flat voice.  "You are nothing to me now."

I adjusted my shirt, ignoring his cries, and I smiled. Finally, I'm free.