Ericka POV:
It was my birthday.
I lay in the hospital bed, listening to the silence. No one came. No cards. No flowers. Just the rhythmic beeping of the machines keeping my broken body functioning.
I pulled the IVs out.
The alarms blared, but I silenced them with a heavy hand. I sat up. The pain was excruciating, but the painkillers Dr. Evans had left gave me a floaty, detached sensation.
I had hidden a bag under the mattress. Inside was a white dress-the one Caleb had bought me for my 18th birthday, years ago. The last gift he ever gave me before the "accident."
I put it on. It hung loosely on my emaciated frame. The white fabric highlighted the black veins mapping my skin and the bruises covering my arms.
I couldn't walk. My leg was shattered. I dragged myself into a wheelchair left in the corner of the room. I wheeled myself out into the hallway. It was shift change; the corridors were momentarily empty.
I made it to the service elevator and pressed the button for the roof.
The wind on the helipad was biting, whipping my hair across my face. It was midnight. The full moon was directly overhead, a giant, unblinking eye witnessing my finale.
I took out the phone I had retrieved from under the bed in Hailie's room before I left. I placed it on the edge of the parapet, along with Dr. Evans' medical report that stated: Silver Toxicity: Terminal. Life expectancy: < 24 hours.
I dialed Caleb's number.
He answered on the second ring. "What do you want, traitor? I told you to die quietly."
His voice didn't hurt me anymore. It was just noise.
"Happy Birthday to me, Caleb," I said softly.
"Is this a joke? You're wasting my time."
"I left a gift for you. On the hospital roof."
"I don't want your trash."
"You'll want this," I said. "It's my freedom. And yours."
I looked up at the moon. I could feel the mate bond in my chest, a thick, golden rope connecting my soul to his. It was tattered, stained with abuse, but still holding.
It was time to cut it.
"Caleb," I said, my voice steady.
"What?"
I took a deep breath, drawing on the last reserves of my strength. I spoke the ancient words, the words that every wolf fears, the words that shatter souls.
"I, Ericka Reid, reject you, Caleb Skinner, as my Alpha and my Mate."
Silence on the other end.
Then, the pain hit.
It wasn't a sharp pain. It was a tearing sensation, as if someone had reached into my chest and ripped my heart in half. I screamed, collapsing back into the wheelchair.
"Ericka! What did you do?" Caleb's voice sounded panicked now, distant and tinny through the phone.
I gasped, blood bubbling past my lips. The bond snapped. The connection was gone. I was hollow. Empty. Free.
"Goodbye, Caleb," I whispered.
I pushed the wheels forward.
"Ericka! Stop!"
I rolled off the edge.
The wind rushed past my ears. The white dress fluttered around me like broken wings. For a moment, I was flying.
Then, the pavement rushed up to meet me. And everything went dark.
