I used to believe in fairytales before.
Not the kind with glass slippers and charming princes but the ones whispered in pack legends, the ones about fated mates, about love so strong that it can withstand any storm.
Not anymore.
I thought that nothing could break me.
That no pain could wound me so deeply, no betrayal could shatter me beyond repair.
I was wrong.
I believed that the worst thing that could happen to me was rejection.
Turns out rejection is a small thing compared to betrayal.
I should have known something was off the moment Kieran started acting differently. My mate, the future Alpha, the one who was supposed to love me unconditionally, was all of a sudden too busy, too distant, too secretive.
I chalked it up to stress, maybe he was burdened by the heavy weight of leadership bearing down on him, or it was the upcoming Alpha ceremony, perhaps the moon goddess was testing our bond.
I was a fool.
The night I found out the truth, the world I had carefully built crumbled beneath me. I wasn’t just betrayed. I was discarded—tossed aside like I meant nothing. And worst of all, the people who did it didn’t even flinch.
They were laughing.
I stood frozen in the doorway of the packhouse, my heart pounding in my ears as I watched them—my mate and my best friend—wrapped around each other like they had belonged together all along.
Maia’s head tilted back in laughter, her soft curls brushing against his cheek. His arm tightened around her waist, pulling her against him like she was the most precious thing in the world.
The way he used to hold me.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
Then, as if the universe itself wanted to rip my heart out of my chest, he kissed her.
Right there.
In front of everyone.
My mate. The man who was supposed to be mine.
The pack murmured in hushed voices, but no one looked surprised. That was the worst part. They knew.
Everyone knew.
Except me.
I staggered back, my hands trembling. My wolf let out a wounded snarl inside me, the pain cutting through both of us like a silver blade.
No. This wasn’t happening.
This had to be some kind of cruel misunderstanding.
I forced my feet forward, my voice barely above a whisper. “Kieran.”
His head snapped up, his expression morphing from surprise to something else.
Annoyance.
Not guilt. Not regret.
Just irritation.
Like I was the one interrupting something that should have been obvious all along.
Maia turned, her green eyes widening, her lips still swollen from his kiss. For a second, she looked almost guilty—but then she straightened her shoulders, lifting her chin as if daring me to question what I had just seen.
The silence stretched. The pack watched, waiting.
I swallowed, my throat dry. “Tell me this isn’t what it looks like.”
kieran sighed. He actually sighed, like I was exhausting him.
“Sera,” he said smoothly, stepping away from Maia. “I didn’t want you to find out like this.”
The breath left my lungs.
“Find out what?,” I whispered.
He ran a hand through his dark hair, his jaw tightening. “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”
Like that made it any better.
Like that erased the months—no, years—I had spent loving him, believing in our bond.
I clenched my fists. “How long?”
Kieran's expression hardened. “Does it matter?”
I let out a sharp, humorless laugh, my vision blurring. “It matters to me.”
Maia sighed, stepping forward. “Sera, you don’t understand—”
“Don’t.” My voice came out sharp, deadly. “Don’t you dare stand there and try to justify this.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn’t back down. “I love him.”
I flinched.
Love.
She used that word so easily, so effortlessly, while I was standing here, drowning in agony.
Kieran exhaled sharply. “Sera, listen—”
“No, you listen.” I took a step closer, my nails digging into my palms. “I have been faithful to you. I have stood by your side through everything. I have loved you with everything in me. And you—” My voice broke. “You threw me away for her?”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “It’s not that simple.”
“Then explain it to me,” I demanded, my voice rising. “Explain to me why my mate—the man who was supposed to cherish and protect me—has been fucking my best friend behind my back!”
The gasps from the crowd barely registered in my ears.
kieran’s eyes darkened. “Watch your mouth, Seraphina.”
I barked out a laugh. “Oh? Now you care about respect? Now, after all this?”
Maia stepped closer to him, her fingers brushing against his arm. “We didn’t mean to hurt you.”
I turned on her so fast she took a step back. “Spare me your pathetic lies, Maia.” My voice shook with fury. “You were my best friend. I told you everything. Every hope, every fear, every dream I had about my future with him—and you used it against me.”
She swallowed but said nothing.
kieran sighed. “Look, this isn’t up for debate.” His eyes met mine, cold and detached. “I love Maia. She understands me in a way you never could.”
The words hit like a dagger to the heart.
I sucked in a sharp breath, my vision tunneling.
This was it.
This was the moment I realized I had never truly mattered to him.
All those nights we spent together, all those whispered promises… they were nothing.
The air felt thick, suffocating. My wolf howled inside me, urging me to lash out, to make them bleed for what they had done.
But I refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing me break.
I straightened my spine, forcing the tears back. “Fine,” I said, my voice like steel. “Then reject me.”
kieran blinked. “What?”
“You heard me.” I took a step closer, meeting his gaze head-on. “If you love her so much, then reject me.”
A flicker of hesitation crossed his face.
Because he knew.
He knew what it meant to reject a mate.
He knew it would scar us both.
But I didn’t care.
I wanted this pain to be over. I wanted him out of my soul, out of my heart.
And yet, when he spoke, the final betrayal sliced deeper than anything else.
“I, Kieran Blackwood, reject you, Seraphina Hale, as my mate.”
The moment the words left his lips, something inside me snapped.
A searing pain ripped through my chest, my wolf letting out a strangled cry as the bond shattered between us.
I gasped, my knees buckling, my vision swimming in and out of focus.
The pack whispered around me, their voices distant and distorted.
I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to stand. I wouldn’t collapse. I wouldn’t give them that satisfaction.
kieran turned to Maia, his lips already curling into a soft smile.
As if I had never existed.
As if I had never mattered.
Rage burned through me, white-hot and unrelenting.
I would make them pay.
I would carve this pain into their skin and watch them bleed for what they had done to me.
I would become the monster they never saw coming.
And I would not stop until they begged for mercy.
