Chapter 3 The Bond That Burns

Ava's POV

They said that time heals pain. After a while, the heartbreak would fade like a distant memory. But they lied.

I could still hear the gossip wherever I went, and I felt the stares. No one saw Ava Duskthorn anymore. They only saw the rejected mate, the cursed girl who didn't die when she should have.

Even the wind carried my Shame, but I had enough. If Caden wouldn't free me from the cursed bond, I would free myself. I stood before the Blackvale Pack's stone courtyard, my heart pounding like thunder in my chest.

They all gathered around me. Curious, mocking. Expecting what was to come of me. Even Caden stood there, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his expression carved from ice as usual.

"Don't do this," my wolf whimpered. "The bond..."

But I silenced her. I couldn't bear the weight of this anymore. I could not bear to live one more day tied to a man who despised me.

I drew in a shaky breath, my voice shaking but loud enough for them to hear. "By the laws of the Moon, I, Ava Duskthorn....reject you, Alpha Caden Varkas."

Silence suddenly filled the air. For one terrible second, I thought it worked, I thought I was finally free. But then, pain unlike anything I had ever known tore through me in an instant.

It felt as though my soul was ripped apart. My knees gave up on me as a searing heat spread across my arm, branding me from the inside out.

I screamed in agony, the sound cutting through the courtyard, sharp and raw, forcing even the bravest of wolves to flinch. A mark- the same one that was on the crimson seal from the letter-flared to life on my skin, glowing red-hot like molten lava.

"No....no....this isn't supposed to happen," I whispered, clutching my arm, gasping as the world burned around me.

But no one moved to help me. Caden stood there, watching, his arms crossed over his chest, his face unreadable, distant. His cold stare cut through me sharper than any blade, slicing what little remained of my heart.

For a little while, I thought...prayed...that maybe he would come forward to help me. That something in him would soften. He would at least offer a hand to the girl he once called his mate.

"I warned you not to embarrass yourself. But I suppose it's fitting....falling alone, just like you always do." His lips curled into a faint, cruel smirk.

"You've made your choice, Ava. Now live with it."

And then, without another glance, not even a single ounce of mercy, he turned away. Leaving me drowned in the wreckage of his words.

Just like that, I was nothing. The crowd began to scatter, their footsteps fading one by one. Leaving me lying hopelessly on the cold stone floor, alone with the burning mark and the emptiness in my chest.

I thought this was it. That I would finally die here, but then....footsteps. Soft at first, running closer to me, steady. Sure. A shadow fell over me, blocking out the fading light.

"Ava."

The voice was low, hesitant. Familiar.

I looked up through my blurred vision to see a figure kneeling beside me. It was Elias. Caden's Beta. His most loyal wolf.

Why would he even want to help me?

"Help...help me..." I choked on the words before I could finish, my throat raw. "Save your strength, Ava." His brows furrowed as he slid his arm under me and lifted me effortlessly.

I tried to push him away, but my limbs wouldn't obey. I expected him to mock me like the otters, to throw me back down like the rest. But his grip was gentle, kind.

"Why...why are you.....helping me?" My voice barely whispers. But he didn't respond to the question I asked him.

"I'll take you to the healer, "he said simply, as if I hadn't just asked him an important question. "But why?" The words slipped out before I could stop them.

For a moment, I thought he wouldn't answer me. Then he whispered. "Because someone should have helped you a long time ago." I couldn't stop the tears that slid down my cheeks at what he had just said to me.

I was too tired to wipe it away. We were already at the healer's hut before I knew it, smelling of sage and bitter roots. Faded curtains fluttering in the cool night breeze as Elias laid me down gently on the worn cot.

"She collapsed after rejecting him, "Elias explained, his voice low. The healer was an ancient woman with silver hair and sharp eyes, her hand hovering over my mark as she approached me.

"This ... this is no ordinary mate bond," she murmured, her face darkening as she traced its fiery outline. I forced myself to speak through the pain.

"Break it....please....break it."

Her eyes softened with something like pity. "Child, only if it were that simple."

"What do you mean?" My voice trembled. She pulled up a worn scroll, unrolling it with trembling hands. Symbols were glowing faintly on the paper.

"You're not just fated to him, Ava. You're bound. A blood-bound mate bond. The rarest, most ancient kind. Not even the Moon Goddess herself can undo it."

"No..." The word escaped my lips like a dying breath.

"Every time you try to sever it, it will retaliate. Grow stronger. Until it consumes you." She paused, her gaze sharp and unyielding. "But.....there is more."

I could barely hear what she said over the rushing in my ears. Her next words hit me harder than any wound.

"You are not only bound to him. You are bound to something older ... very ancient and dark. Something that awoke the day you and Seraphina went into the Forbidden Forest."

My breath stopped, and then it all came crashing down on me. The forest, the river. That cold, invisible hand that had pulled me under that day.

"What is it?" I whispered, dread curling through my bones. Her voice dropped dangerously low.

"I don't know. But...it's coming for you."