Lysandra's POV
Tristan froze above me, his breath ragged. The fire in his eyes dimmed, confusion bleeding into disbelief. His grip on my wrists slackened, and he drew back from my neck, as if stung.
I took the moment my hands flying protectively to my stomach. My heart thundered beneath my ribs, but my mind was clear.
"I want to sever the bond."
The words were heavier than stone, yet they tumbled from my lips like breath I'd held for far too long.
His voice dropped to a deadly low. "Do you even know what you're saying?"
I met his gaze, praying to see even a flicker of something human. Regret. Hurt. Anything.
But there was only cold fury.
Of course there was.
Ending the bond meant freedom for him. No more of this fake mating. No more being tied to a wolfless nobody forced into his life by his father. He could finally be with Selene without me dragging behind like an unwanted shadow.
"I can't do this anymore," I said quietly. "I'm done living like I don't exist."
Tristan rose from the bed, towering above me, his tall frame casting a shadow over my body. A shimmer of silver flashed across his eyeshis wolf stirring dangerously close to the surface.
His jaw clenched. "Pathetic."
The word stung more than a slap.
"You think you have the right to speak of bonds?" he spat, pacing slowly. "You? A wolfless disgrace? You shame the Silverblood Pack by merely breathing."
My stomach twisted, but I held my ground. For the first time in months, I wasn't afraid for myself I was afraid for them.
My babies.
With trembling fingers, I reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out the Severance scroll. "I'm not bluffing. Look at the date I've been preparing this for months."
His lip curled in disgust as he snatched it from me. He scanned the contents, then snarled, throwing it to the ground and stomping on it.
"You dare try to dictate terms to me?" His voice was a low growl now, rising with every word. "No one tells me what to do. No one."
Before I could react, his hand shot out and wrapped around my throat.
I gasped, claws instinctively digging at his fingers.
His eyes turned blood-red The Blood Gaze. A rare and terrifying manifestation of Alpha rage.
"I could snap your neck like a twig," he whispered, voice dripping with menace.
"I... I'm leaving the Silverblood Pack."
He threw his head back and laughed, cruel and mocking.
"Leave? You?" He leaned in, breath hot on my cheek. "Where would you go, Lysandra? You're nothing out there. No wolf. No strength. No pack. You'd be hunted down like a rogue. Killed. Or worse picked up by some low-ranking pack and sold off as a breeding toy."
Tears pricked my eyes, but I didn't look away. I couldn't.
"I stayed," I whispered, voice trembling, "because I believed... someday we'd have a family. I thought we could be happy."
He recoiled like I'd slapped him. And then he laughed again.
"Family?" he echoed mockingly. "You really believed I'd let you carry my heir? The next Alpha born from you? A wolfless freak?"
I flinched, his words cutting deeper than any blade.
"You were never more than a convenient distraction," he hissed. "Good for a warm bed, nothing else."
But something inside me snapped. The part of me that had clung to hope the small, aching piece that loved him shattered.
And all that remained was fire.
I squared my shoulders. "Then sign the damn scroll."
His gaze narrowed, seething. "You think I care enough to keep you here?"
He snatched it up again, grabbed a pen, and signed with a flourish. The pen cracked in his fist.
"You know what comes next," he said. "The Severance Rite. Full moon."
"I know the rules."
He leaned in close, his voice a poisonous whisper. "But do you know the pain? Hooks ripping through your soul, shredding the bond from the inside out? I'll be there, Lysandra. Front row. I'll watch you writhe, and I'll love every second."
He reached into his wallet and shoved a platinum credit card into my hand.
"Payment," he sneered. "For your services. Two years of acting the part. Don't say I never gave you anything."
He turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him. With his presence gone, the air felt breathable again.
I stood there, unmoving. My fingers let the credit card fall to the table like it burned me.
I had never felt so hollow.
He never loved me. Not once.
And yet I had loved him. Every broken, cruel part of him. I'd given everything.
But now… I had something someone to live for.
My children.
I moved to the closet, opened a suitcase, and began to pack. My eyes landed on the calendar tomorrow. Full moon.
I paused, hand resting gently on my belly. There was a tiny flutter beneath my palm.
Real or imagined, it didn't matter.
"I'm sorry, my little moonbeams," I whispered. "But I have to take you far away. Somewhere safe."
I zipped the suitcase closed, spine straightening with resolve.
This wasn't the end.
This was the beginning.
"I won't forget this, Tristan Wolfbane," I said quietly. "And neither will they."