I was losing my mind.
My body was screaming in exhaustion, my arms numb from carrying my daughter’s lifeless body through the vast forest. I had lost track of time, of how long I had walked, of how many times I had stumbled and fallen. My knees were bruised, my skin covered in dirt and dried blood. But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.
By the time the sun began to rise, I reached the werewolf cemetery. My legs buckled, but I forced myself to stand. I had no one. No pack, no family. Only Naya. And now… even she was gone.
With my bare hands, I dug into the earth, my nails breaking, my skin tearing, but I didn’t care. I only stopped when my fingers finally hit deep enough ground. And there, under the cold morning light, I laid my daughter to rest.
I sat there for hours. Motionless. Empty.
Until night fell, and I realized—I couldn’t just sit here. I needed something. One last thing.
I needed to take something of hers.
So I dragged myself home. Back to the house I shared with him.
But when I stepped inside, the silence was loud. The house was empty.
“Where is Ezekiel?” I asked the maid.
She hesitated before lowering her head. “He’s at the werewolf meeting, my lady. They’re announcing Miss Skyla’s pregnancy…”
My breath hitched.
“…and the expected heir of the Moonford family.”
The words hit me like a punch to the gut, leaving me speechless.
No. No, no, no.
I should have collapsed. Should have screamed. But I didn’t.
Instead, I turned around and walked out.
And then I ran.
Ran straight to the meeting.
The grand doors burst open as I stepped inside. The chatter stopped. Every eye turned to me, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t here for them.
I was here for him.
Ezekiel stood at the front of the room, tall and composed, his arm wrapped around Skyla’s waist. The woman he had chosen.
His gaze landed on me, but there was no surprise in his eyes. No guilt.
“Viana.” His voice was sharp, cutting through the silence. “What the hell are you doing here?”
I barely recognized him.
I forced my legs forward, each step fueled by rage, by heartbreak. “You—” My voice broke. “How could you do this?”
Ezekiel exhaled sharply, his expression darkening. “Leave.”
I let out a shaky laugh. Leave?
“That’s all you have to say to me?” I hissed. “You don’t even have an explanation?”
“What do you want me to say, Viana?” His voice was calm, cruel. “Do you want me to comfort you? To mourn with you over a child that was never mine to begin with?”
The room erupted into gasps.
I felt like I had been slapped.
My breath hitched. “What—”
Ezekiel moved, pulling something from his jacket before tossing it at me. An envelope. It landed at my feet.
“Read it,” he ordered coldly.
My hands trembled as I picked it up, ripping it open. The first thing I saw was a picture—of a woman kissing another man. A woman who looked exactly like me.
My stomach twisted.
Then I saw the second paper. A DNA test.
The words burned into my skull.
Not Ezekiel’s child.
This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real.
I lifted my head, my vision blurred with rage and disbelief. “You know this isn’t true, Ezekiel.”
He let out a cold chuckle. “You’re the only one saying that.”
“I never betrayed you,” I whispered. “You are the only man I’ve ever loved. The only man I’ve ever given myself to. How can you believe this?”
His jaw tightened at my words, but then he scoffed, his lips curling into a smirk.
“You want the truth, Viana?” He leaned closer, his voice dropping low. “The truth is, choosing you was my biggest mistake.”
Something inside me shattered.
“I should have killed you the moment I met you,” he added, his voice void of any warmth. “If I had known what kind of traitorous woman you were.”
I sucked in a sharp breath.
Skyla, beside him, let out a soft laugh. “Did you really think you’d get away with it, Viana?”
That’s when it hit me.
The way she was smirking at me. The way she was enjoying this.
She planned this.
She. Planned. Everything.
“You…” My voice shook. “You did this.”
Skyla’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “What are you talking about?”
My chest rose and fell violently, my fists clenching at my sides. “You set me up.”
“No one wants to hear your lies, Viana.” Ezekiel’s voice was sharp.
I snapped my head back to him. “Believe me or not, I never betrayed you. And Naya—” My voice cracked, my throat raw from all the emotions clawing out of me. “She was your daughter.”
His expression didn’t change.
No hesitation. No second thoughts.
He just turned his back on me.
And then, the pain hit.
A burning sensation ripped through my body, starting from my chest and spreading through my veins like wildfire. I choked on my own breath, my knees buckling beneath me as an unbearable force crushed my soul.
“No…” I gasped, clutching my chest. “No, no, no.”
I knew what was happening.
He was breaking our mate bond.
The invisible thread that tied my soul to his—our connection, our destiny—was being torn apart. And he was the one doing it.
I screamed.
Not just from pain, but from betrayal. From the sheer agony of watching him sever the one thing that once made us whole.
My vision blurred. My body trembled violently. I could hear the murmurs, the gasps from the crowd, but all I could focus on was the man who was supposed to love me.
The man who was killing me in the cruelest way possible.
I looked up at him, my breathing ragged. “You… You’re really doing this?”
Ezekiel didn’t even flinch.
“This is what you deserve, Viana.” His voice was sharp, final. “From now on, you are nothing to me.”
The last thread snapped.
A choked sob left my lips as my body collapsed to the ground, the weight of his rejection crushing every part of me. My mate—the father of my child—had just erased me from his life without a second thought.
And Skyla… that witch was smiling.
She won.
She took everything from me.
I felt hands grabbing me—guards, dragging me toward the exit like I was nothing more than filth. My body were too weak to fight, my heart too hurt to resist.
The last thing I saw before they threw me out was Ezekiel. Standing tall. Unbothered. Holding her close like she was his world.
I landed on the cold ground outside, gasping for air, my mind screaming in denial. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.
But as I lay there, broken and humiliated under the dark sky, one thought consumed me.
I will make them pay.
Every single one of them.
