Kieran's POV
The mate bond shatters, and I feel like I'm dying.
It's not physical pain—not exactly. It's worse than that. It feels like someone reached into my chest, grabbed the most important part of me, and ripped it out while I was still awake to feel every second of it.
"Isla!" I scream, but she's already gone.
A silver wolf—her wolf—crashes through the broken classroom window in a shower of glass, landing gracefully on the ground below before sprinting toward the forest. She's beautiful and powerful and absolutely nothing like the weak, wolfless girl I thought I knew.
And she just rejected me.
My legs give out. I collapse to my knees in the doorway, clutching my chest where the bond used to pulse with golden warmth. Now there's just cold emptiness, like a wound that won't stop bleeding.
"Alpha Kieran!" Someone's shaking my shoulder. One of the teachers, maybe. I can't focus. Can't think past the roaring in my ears and the way my wolf is howling inside my head, thrashing and screaming for our mate.
Go after her! my wolf snarls. Get her back! She's OURS!
But she's not ours. She made that very clear.
"I reject you, Kieran Blackthorn."
Her words echo in my mind on repeat, each repetition feeling like another knife to the gut. The way she said my name—not with the fear I'm used to, but with something so much worse.
Hatred.
Pure, absolute hatred.
"Sir, we need to get you to the pack hospital," the teacher says, trying to pull me to my feet. "You're in shock. The rejection—it can be dangerous for Alphas—"
"Don't touch me!" I snap, shoving him away harder than I mean to. He flies backward, hitting the wall. Oops. Can't control my strength right now. Can't control anything.
Students are staring at me—some scared, some excited like this is the best drama they've seen all year. Their phones are out, recording my breakdown for everyone to see.
The future Alpha, destroyed by a girl he spent years tormenting.
They're going to talk about this forever.
I force myself to stand, even though every muscle in my body is screaming. My wolf is still howling, still begging me to chase after Isla, but I push him down. I'm good at that—pushing down feelings, ignoring instincts, being the perfect weapon my father trained me to be.
Except right now, I don't feel like a weapon. I feel broken.
"Everyone back to class," I order, and my Alpha command still works even if nothing else does. Students scatter immediately, probably grateful to escape before I lose control completely.
I need to get out of here. Need to think. Need to understand what the hell just happened.
Isla Thorne was my mate.
Is my mate, even if she rejected the bond.
The girl I've been tormenting for years. The girl my father told me to break. The girl I thought was weak and worthless and beneath my notice.
My fated mate.
I stumble out of the school, ignoring the stares and whispers following me. My truck is where I left it in the parking lot, but I can barely see straight enough to drive. My hands shake as I grip the steering wheel.
Think, Kieran. Think.
This morning, Isla was nobody. Wolfless. Powerless. Easy to dismiss.
Now she's shifted—late, but she shifted—and the amount of power that exploded from her in that classroom wasn't normal. The windows didn't just crack. They shattered. The lights flickered. Even the strongest wolves in our pack can't do that on their first shift.
Who is she really?
And why did my father want me to keep her weak?
The thought hits me like ice water. Dad's been obsessed with the Thorne girl for years. He's the one who ordered me to torment her, to make sure she never felt confident or strong. "The Thorne girl is weak. Keep her that way," he'd said over and over.
But why would an Alpha care about some random wolfless girl unless she was a threat?
Unless she was never actually weak at all.
I start the truck and drive toward the pack house, my mind racing. Dad's going to hear about this—probably already has. Every wolf in school felt that power surge when Isla's wolf emerged. They all saw the mate bond snap into place.
They all watched her reject me in front of everyone.
The humiliation should bother me more. The future Alpha, rejected by an omega. My reputation is destroyed. But all I can think about is the look in Isla's eyes right before she ran—the golden glow of her wolf mixed with years of pain and anger.
Pain I caused.
Anger I earned.
"What have I done?" I whisper to the empty truck.
My wolf whimpers, still mourning the loss of our mate. He's confused and hurt and furious at me for not chasing her immediately. But what would I even say if I caught her?
Sorry for making your life hell for years, but surprise! We're fated mates, so you have to forgive me now!
Yeah, that'll definitely work.
I pull up to the pack house—the massive mansion where my family has ruled from for generations—and I'm not even out of the truck before my father storms out the front door.
Alpha Dominic Blackthorn is a big man, intimidating even when he's not angry. Right now, his face is red with fury, and his power rolls off him in waves that make weaker wolves submit automatically.
I'm not a weaker wolf, but I still feel the urge to bow my head. Old habits from years of training to be the perfect obedient son.
"Inside. Now," Dad growls, and it's not a request.
I follow him into his office, my chest still aching where the bond used to be. He slams the door hard enough to crack the frame and rounds on me immediately.
"The Thorne girl is your mate?" he roars. "The one girl in this entire pack you couldn't be tied to, and fate picks HER?"
Interesting. He's not surprised that Isla had a wolf. Just that we're mates.
"You knew," I say slowly, the pieces clicking into place. "You knew she'd shift eventually. That's why you wanted me to break her."
Dad's jaw clenches. "That girl is dangerous, Kieran. Her bloodline—" He stops abruptly, like he's said too much.
"What about her bloodline?" I press. "Who is she really?"
"Nobody," Dad snaps too quickly. "She's nobody important. Just an omega with delusions of—"
"She's not an omega." The words come out harder than I intend. "I felt her power, Dad. So did everyone in that school. Omegas don't make windows shatter on their first shift."
My father's eyes narrow dangerously. "It doesn't matter now. She rejected you. The bond is broken. You'll marry the Nightshade girl as planned and forget this ever happened."
Celeste Nightshade. Isla's perfect sister. The one everyone loves, the one with the powerful wolf and the bright future. My father arranged our engagement months ago to strengthen pack alliances.
I never wanted to marry Celeste. She's beautiful but cold, and something about her always felt wrong. But I agreed because that's what future Alphas do—they marry for power, not love.
Except now I know what my mate smells like. Pine and vanilla and something wild that made my wolf howl with recognition. I know what she looks like with golden eyes blazing and silver fur gleaming and power radiating from every inch of her.
How am I supposed to marry someone else when my soul knows exactly where it belongs?
"I can't," I hear myself say.
Dad goes very still. "What did you say?"
"I can't marry Celeste." The words feel right, even though I know they'll cause problems. "Isla is my mate. Rejected or not, she's—"
"She's NOTHING!" Dad roars, slamming his fist on the desk so hard it splits down the middle. "She rejected you, boy! She doesn't want you! Accept it and move on!"
Something in his desperation catches my attention. He's not just angry. He's scared.
Scared of what? A rejected mate bond? No, there's something more here. Something he's hiding.
"Why do you hate her so much?" I ask quietly. "What did Isla ever do to you?"
For just a second, my father's mask slips. I see something in his eyes that looks almost like guilt. But then the mask is back, and his expression hardens.
"Go to your room," he orders. "Don't leave the pack house. Don't try to contact the Thorne girl. Let her run back to whatever hole she crawled from."
"And if I don't?" I challenge, surprised by my own defiance.
Dad's power slams into me—a brutal reminder of who's actually in charge. I drop to one knee, my wolf whimpering under the weight of Alpha command.
"You will obey me," Dad says coldly. "Or you'll lose your position as future Alpha. Your choice, son."
He leaves, slamming the door behind him, and I'm left alone with my thoughts and my broken bond and a thousand questions I don't have answers to.
My phone buzzes. Text from my best friend Tyler: Dude, everyone's talking about it. Are you okay?
No. I'm not okay. I'm the opposite of okay.
Another text, this one from an unknown number: If you want to know the truth about Isla Thorne, check your father's private safe. Code is your mother's birthday. You deserve to know what you destroyed.
My blood runs cold. Who is this? How do they know about Dad's safe?
But the message burns in my mind. The truth about Isla. What I destroyed.
I look at the door. Dad said not to leave my room. Said to let Isla go. Said to forget about her.
But I've been obedient my whole life, and where has it gotten me? I've hurt an innocent girl, lost my fated mate, and destroyed any chance at real happiness.
Maybe it's time to stop being the perfect weapon and start being the man I should have been all along.
I stand up, ignoring the lingering ache from Dad's power, and head toward his office.
The safe is behind a painting of our pack's founding—ironic, considering what might be hidden inside. My hands shake as I enter the code. Mom's birthday: 0-3-1-5.
The safe clicks open.
Inside are documents. Old, yellowed papers that look like they've been hidden for years. I pull them out and start reading.
The first document makes my stomach drop.
It's a birth certificate.
Isla Thorne. Born to Alpha Marcus Thorne and Luna Elena Thorne of the Royal Moon Pack.
Royal Moon Pack. The pack my father destroyed eighteen years ago in what he called a "necessary coup." The pack he said was corrupt and dangerous.
I keep reading, each word making me feel sicker.
Isla isn't Beta Thorne's daughter. She's the heir to the royal bloodline. The pack my father murdered and overthrew.
And I've been tormenting her—breaking her—because my father wanted to make sure she never discovered who she really was.
I sink to the floor, papers scattered around me, as the full weight of what I've done crashes down.
I didn't just bully a powerless girl. I destroyed a princess. A future queen.
My mate.
And now she's gone, running through the forest alone, probably never wanting to see me again.
My phone buzzes one more time. Same unknown number: She's heading toward Silverpine territory. If you love her, let her go. If you want to fix what you broke, you'd better start running.
I look out the window at the darkening forest where Isla disappeared hours ago.
Every instinct screams at me to chase her. But what right do I have? After everything I've done?
My wolf growls: We fix this. Whatever it takes.
For once, I agree with him completely.
I grab my keys and head for the door, ignoring my father's orders, ignoring pack politics, ignoring everything except the need to find Isla and somehow—impossibly—make this right.
Behind me, I hear my father's roar of fury as he discovers the empty safe.
But I'm already gone, racing through the night toward the one person I should have protected from the beginning.
The person I destroyed instead.