Shattered Bonds

Piercing sunlight penetrates my eyelids, forcing me awake. A sharp pain jolts through me as I lazily turned around and snuggled into the warm sheets. Why is my bed so hard? Papa replaced it just a few weeks ago.

Groggily, I shift, feeling the cool morning breeze against my skin. Too cool. I can feel it seeping into my bones, deeper than it should. As if I am—

I jolt upright, my heart hammering in my chest, the cold air biting at my skin.

Something’s wrong.

I glance down, and my breath falters. Bare skin.

I’m… naked.

Panic tightens its grip, my pulse roaring in my ears. I can feel my heart racing, every beat vibrating through me. I can’t breathe. Slowly, my gaze drops lower, and there it is—an arm, heavy and muscled, wrapped possessively around my waist.

Not mine.

A man’s.

The room spins. My breath catches in my throat, stuck somewhere between disbelief and sheer terror.

What the hell have I done?

Everything from last night comes crashing down. The drink, the dizziness and the… stranger. My hands move to my lips.

I kissed a man last night.

My first kiss is stolen by a mere stranger and not my mate.

I stare, too shocked to move. Who—how—? My mind scrambles to piece together the blurry fragments of last night, but all I feel is the cold, sharp bite of dread.

Get up. Now.

I slap his heavy arm away, scrambling from the bed, and dragging the sheets with me. His body shifts, the muscles flexed and I catch a faint mark on his arm and suddenly, he’s exposed—completely naked.

My cheeks flame with embarrassment and I don’t know what I should do.

His eyes flutter open, groggy, confusion flickering across his face as he looks my way. He rubs his temples, groaning softly.

My head throbs, matching the rhythm of my racing heart. And then, like a slap to the face, the full weight of my actions crashes down on me.

I’ve slept with a man.

A stranger.

My lips part, and my voice is shaky, as I stumble back. “Who—who are you?”

His eyes narrow, still half-asleep, but his voice comes out, deep and commanding. “Who am I?” He scoffs, sitting up with a sharp, irritated glare. “You’re asking me that? You came to me.”

I blink. What?

“No, I didn’t—” I begin, but the words tangle in my throat. His gaze is piercing, like he can see straight through me.

He looks around, rubbing his face like he’s trying to shake off the lingering effects of the night. “You barged into my room.” His tone is rough, edged with confusion and irritation. “And now you’re asking me who I am?”

I wrap the sheet tighter around me, my heart still pounding in my chest. “I-I didn’t know—” My voice trembles, barely above a whisper. “I didn’t know who you were.”

His expression darkens, eyes narrowing as he scrutinizes me. “Well, sweetheart, let me enlighten you.” His voice is sharp as a blade. “I don’t play games. So let’s cut the bullshit.”

Before I can respond, there’s a knock on the door. Rhythmic and calculated. Two knocks.

“Alpha Valen, are you in there?”

My world freezes.

Every breath, every heartbeat, every sound vanishes in an instant. My mouth hangs open, a wave of cold shock washing over me. Alpha Valen. The infamous Alpha.

No, no. This can not be possible. I want to laugh, but no sound comes out.

Fate won’t play such a cruel joke on me, right?

Right?

I can not have possibly slept with Alpha Valen, right?

Oh gods, please. What if my father finds out? What if… our Alpha finds out?

The man in front of me stiffens, his jaw tightening as he turns toward me, his expression unreadable.

“What...?” My voice barely makes it past my lips, my brain trying to process the impossible. Valen Nightclaw. I’ve slept with Valen Nightclaw.

His gaze shifts back to me, harder this time and I realise why people are scared of him. The way his midnight dark eyes are surrounded by the crimson rings, they’d make anyone cower in fear.

His body tenses, like a wolf ready to pounce. His eyes glint with something sharp, something dangerous.

“Who the hell are you?”

My heart races, my mind screaming at me to speak, to say something—anything. But all I can do is stand there, trembling, clutching the sheets as if they could shield me from the weight of his gaze.

“I-I’m...” My throat tightens, and my words come out in a rush. “I didn’t mean to—I didn’t know.”

His nostrils flare, frustration and disbelief crossing his face. “You didn’t know?” His tone is biting, cutting me down with every word. “You show up in my bed and don’t know who I am? You spiked my drink, didn’t you?”

I flinch, stepping back as his words lash at me. My wolf stirs inside me, restless, confused. She feels something I can’t yet understand. Something that makes my skin prickle, my senses sharpen.

And then suddenly my whole body stiffened. A strange feeling creeps up my stomach as it settles in my heart.

I feel it. The pull. The undeniable force that reckoned me was speechless and lifeless.

No, this can not… true.

It has to be a delusional sensation or there is still alcohol in my system cause there is no way.

My chest tightens, and I stagger back, my breath catching in my throat as the realization hits me.

Mate. He’s my mate.

I stare at him, wide-eyed, as my wolf howls in recognition. I wonder if he feels it too.

The pull between us is overwhelming, raw and powerful, like nothing I’ve ever felt before. My heart pounds against my ribcage as if it’s trying to leap toward him.

Valen’s eyes flicker, something shifting in his gaze, a fleeting moment of recognition... before it vanishes. His expression hardens.

He stands, towering over me, his jaw clenched, and for a brief second, I think—I hope—that maybe he feels it too.

Valen’s eyes flicker, just for a heartbeat. Something shifts in his gaze—a fleeting recognition that mirrors my own. For a split second, I see it.

He recognises me.

His eyes lock onto mine, dark and searching, as though he’s battling something inside himself. My heart races, hope surging within me.

The way his gaze lingers on me, the way his body tenses, like he’s fighting to hold back. His chest rises and falls, heavier now, his breathing deep and uneven.

He run his hand through his hair and I hold my breath.

For a brief second, I dare to believe. Believe he was my mate… but then. I do not want to believe it too.

Jaw clenches, muscles tight, and I can see the turmoil.

But then it vanishes. Just like that, the warmth in his gaze dies, snuffed out like a candle in the wind.

His face hardens, cold and unyielding. The softness I thought I saw is replaced by ice, his walls slamming up around him with brutal finality.

“I, Valen Nightclaw, Alpha of the Nightclaw pack, reject you as my mate.”

His words strike like lightning, ripping through me, tearing apart the fragile hope I had clung to. The bond snaps under the weight of his rejection, but not completely. It shatters, leaving jagged edges that pierce through me, bleeding me from the inside.

I stagger back, the force of his rejection hitting me like a physical blow. My wolf howls in agony, clawing at the bond, refusing to let it go. Tears blur my vision, but I refuse to let them fall. Not in front of him. Not in front of the man who just ripped my soul apart.

His eyes are cold now, distant like I’m nothing to him. Just another woman. Just another moment to be discarded.

"This never happened," he says, his voice low and merciless. He steps back, his expression rigid, the Alpha in him winning over the man.

I try to speak, to say something, but the words die in my throat. There’s nothing left to say.

Everything crumbles around me. My breath catches in my throat, my vision blurs and the sound of his words echoes in my head. He rejects me. He rejects me.

I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. My wolf whimpers, retreating, wounded and rejected.

“Get out.” His voice is cold, and dismissive.

Tears prick at the corners of my eyes, but I won’t let them fall. Not in front of him. Not in front of the Alpha who has just ripped my heart to shreds.

I turn, clutching the sheets tighter around me, and run from the room, from him.

The heart may be bruised, but it is not broken.