Chapter 5 - 2

The realization hits like lightning. Rage floods through me, hot and fierce. For a moment, the weakness fades. My wolf stirs, trying to surface.

But then the stone pulses again, and everything crashes down. The anger disappears. The strength evaporates. My wolf whimpers once and goes silent again.

I'm trapped. Caged by whatever magic that thing holds.

The rest of lunch passes in a haze. I can't eat. Can't focus. Can't do anything but sit there and feel myself getting weaker by the minute.

When the bell rings, I struggle to stand. Other students flow around me like water around a rock. Fast. Energetic. Everything I'm not.

In third period, I put my head down on my desk and don't lift it. The teacher doesn't bother calling on me. I'm invisible now. A ghost haunting the back of the classroom.

By fourth period, walking becomes almost impossible. I lean against walls between classes. Rest on benches. Stop every few steps to catch my breath.

Students who used to ignore me now stare openly. Some with confusion. Others with cruel amusement.

"She's getting worse."

"Think she's sick?"

"Hope it's contagious."

Their voices blur together into meaningless noise. I'm too tired to care what they think anymore.

The final bell rings like salvation. I gather my things with movements that feel underwater. Slow. Clumsy. Wrong.

The walk to my locker takes forever. When I finally get there, I lean against it and close my eyes. Just for a moment. Just to rest.

"Rough day?"

I open my eyes to find Luna standing there. She looks worried. Guilty. Like she knows more than she's saying.

"What did you mean yesterday?" I ask. My voice comes out as barely a whisper. "About it getting worse?"

She glances around nervously. Makes sure no one is listening.

"There are rumors," she says quietly, glancing around nervously. "I don't know if they're true, but... there are stories. About the Nightbane bloodline."

"What kind of stories?"

"That they guard old relics. Use forgotten magic to get what they want."

My blood turns to ice. "What kind of magic?"

"The kind that can weaken wolves. Make them lose connection to their animal side. Make them stop feeling..." She trails off, looking scared to even say it.

"Make them stop feeling what?"

"Bonds. Especially mate bonds."

The words hit like a hammer to my chest. The bond. He's trying to destroy the bond between us.

"Why are you telling me this?" I whisper.

"Because I feel bad for you," she admits. "Because what's happening isn't fair. And because..."

"Because what?"

She looks at me with eyes full of pity. "Because if he succeeds, you'll lose everything that makes you a wolf. The bond will fade until you can't feel it anymore. You'll be completely human."

Her words hit like physical blows. Each one driving home the horrible truth I've been trying to ignore.

He's not just making my life miserable. He's trying to strip away my wolf. My connection to him. Everything that proves we're meant to be together.

"Can it be stopped?" I ask desperately.

Luna's expression says everything. "I don't know. Maybe. But you'd need to destroy the source. And even then, if the bond is completely severed..."

She doesn't finish. Doesn't need to.

I'm losing my wolf. And Ronan Nightbane is the one taking her away.

"I have to go," Luna says suddenly. Fear flashes across her face. "I can't be seen talking to you too much. I'm sorry."

She hurries away, leaving me alone with the terrible truth.

I lean against my locker and try to process what I've learned. Try to make sense of the impossible.

Magic. Ancient magic that can weaken wolves and sever bonds. That can strip away everything that connects me to my other half.

And Ronan is using it on me to destroy what the Moon Goddess created.

The necklace. It has to be the necklace. That dark stone that seemed to pulse with its own light. That's what's stealing my wolf. My connection to him.

But knowing what's happening doesn't help me stop it. I'm just one weak Omega against the future Alpha and all his power.

I try to push away from the locker and almost fall. My vision goes black at the edges. For a terrifying moment, I think I might pass out right here in the hallway.

Somehow, I make it outside. The fresh air helps a little, but not much. I sit on the front steps and put my head between my knees.

Students walk past me without stopping. Without helping. I'm invisible to them now. Just another piece of trash cluttering up their perfect world.

My phone buzzes with a text message. I pull it out with shaking hands.

The number is unknown, but the message makes my stomach drop:

*"Pain ends when you accept it."*

Is it really from him? Or am I so paranoid that every shadow looks like a threat? But somehow, I know. I can feel his presence behind the words.

He's watching me. Monitoring how well his magic is working. Making sure the bond between us grows weaker every day.

I delete the message and shove my phone away. But the damage is done. The fear has settled deep in my bones.

He's not just destroying my body. He's destroying the sacred connection between us. Trying to make me forget what we could have been.

And the worst part? It's working.

I can barely feel the bond anymore. What used to burn bright between us now flickers like a candle in the wind.

But as I sit there on the cold concrete steps, something inside me rebels. Something small but fierce. The same spark that whispered revenge yesterday.

He wants me to lose my wolf? Fine.

He wants the bond to disappear? So be it.

But I won't let him erase what we are without a fight.

And somehow, someway, I'll find a way to make him remember what he's destroying.

Even if it costs me everything.