The forest road beyond Crimson Fang territory was cold and quiet, lined with frost-covered trees that creaked softly in the wind. The King’s convoy was long gone, and the rest of the guests had taken their leave—but Lilith and Luke traveled alone, apart from her parents, the silence between them louder than any storm.
She hadn’t spoken since Celine’s dismissal. Her perfect smile had cracked hours ago. Now her eyes were red-rimmed, her breathing shallow and erratic.
Luke rode beside her on horseback, posture stiff, hands clenched around the reins.
He knew it was coming.
“Say it,” Lilith snapped finally, breaking the silence like a whip. “You wanted her to humiliate me. You stood there like a coward while she threw me out.”
“I did what was right,” Luke said, his voice flat.
Lilith laughed, sharp and joyless. “Right? You think letting her shame us in front of everyone was right?”
Luke turned toward her. “You sent a message to the King, knowing it would put her life in danger.”
“She’s a threat!” Lilith hissed. “She always has been. You just couldn’t see past your obsession with her!”
Luke inhaled slowly, like he was preparing to lift something far heavier than a pack.
“I can’t do this anymore,” he said quietly. “This bond… it’s wrong.”
Lilith went still.
“I want it severed.”
For a heartbeat, the world froze.
Then her voice rose—shaky, disbelieving. “You’re ending the bond?”
“You never loved me,” he said. “You used me to climb, to win. And I—” He hesitated, eyes filled with a strange sorrow. “I stayed because I thought I could fix it. That I owed it to fate. But I don’t.”
“You’re mine,” she whispered.
“I was,” Luke said. “But not anymore.”
He raised his hand and muttered the words of release. A ritual only a bonded mate could initiate. One that required intention, pain… and finality.
Lilith screamed.
It wasn’t dramatic. It was real. The sound ripped from her chest like it was being torn out with her soul. She fell to her knees in the snow, clutching her chest as if her heart had shattered from the inside.
The mate bond broke. Cleanly. Permanently.
Luke watched for a moment, jaw clenched, but his eyes were steady. He turned, mounted his horse, and rode off. While Lilith remained on the ground, gasping, shivering, consumed.
She had once forced that same ritual on Celine. Cold. Unfeeling. Triumphant. Now she knew what it felt like. And something inside her snapped.
“I’ll ruin her,” she whispered, her voice hoarse and cracking. “If it’s the last thing I do… I’ll destroy her happiness.”