He Chose Her Heat Over Our Son’s Cold Grave

Elara's POV

The silver blade sliced through the skin just above my collarbone.

"You thought the bond would keep me chained to your grave, Leo," I said, staring at the man thrashing weakly on the hospital bed.

Blood welled instantly, hot and thick. I gripped the cold metal hilt with my right hand and dragged it downward, severing the intricate crescent-moon scar.

Leo’s eyes rolled back. A gurgling sound escaped his throat, followed by a violent cough.

Black sludge splattered across the white sheets.

"Look at you," I told him, my voice steady. "The great Alpha, choking on his own rot."

He tried to lift his hand, his fingers clawing at the empty air toward me.

"Save your strength," I advised. "You'll need it."

His lips parted, revealing teeth stained dark with poisoned blood. He wanted to issue an Alpha command. I saw the instinct burning in his fading eyes.

"Command me to heal you," I challenged, stepping closer to the rail of the bed. "Command me to share my life force."

He choked again, unable to form the words.

"You can't," I answered for him. "Because I just cut the tether."

The heart monitor emitted a piercing, continuous screech. A flatline.

I didn't reach for a towel. I didn't wipe the blood pooling in the hollow of my throat. Instead, I leaned over the mattress. The hospital’s critical condition notice lay near his pillow, now soaked with the dark fluid he had just expelled from his lungs.

I picked up the paper.

"This is the only inheritance I want from you," I whispered.

I folded the damp edges together, pressing the crease hard, and shoved the ruined document deep into my jacket pocket.

I turned my back on the dead man and walked to the exit. I wrapped my fingers around the handle and yanked the heavy door open.

"Code Blue! Room 412!" a voice shouted from the hallway.

A team of nurses rushed down the corridor, pushing a heavy metal crash cart directly toward me.

"Move!" a tall doctor yelled.

Beta Julian Mercer stood right behind them, his gaze darting from the flatlining machine to my bleeding neck. "What did you do?"

"He stopped breathing," I stated.

The doctor shoved past me to get into the room.

The physical toll of the severed mate bond hit me in that exact second. A violent spasm ripped through my vertebrae. My spine seized, arching entirely against my will.

My weakening legs gave out. My knees slammed against the metal doorframe with a sickening thud. Pain shot up my femurs, settling deep in my joints.

"You cut the mark!" Julian lunged forward, stopping just short of my crumpled form. "You crazy bitch, the shock will kill him faster!"

"The poison killed him, Julian," I replied, my voice raspy. "I just saved myself."

"You’re his Luna! You share his fate!" he roared.

"I was his collateral," I corrected. "There's a difference."

Sweat soaked my shirt collar, mixing with the red streaks still flowing from my wound.

My facial muscles remained completely locked. Rigid. No tears formed in my dry eyes. I had cried my last tear for Leo three years ago.

"Paddles! Charge to two hundred!" the doctor ordered from inside the room.

Julian stood over me, his fists clenched at his sides. "If he doesn't wake up, the pack will tear you to pieces, Elara."

"They can certainly try," I said.

"Hold her right there!" the doctor shouted over the deafening beep of the monitor. "She’s bleeding heavily! Did she attack the Alpha?"

"Check his throat!" a nurse yelled. "I need an airway!"

"I severed the tie," I called out, loud enough for the medical team to hear. "He's all yours."

The doctor halted with the defibrillator paddles in his hands, staring at me in horror. "You broke a true mate bond? Are you insane?"

"Clear!" another nurse screamed.

The machine thumped. Leo’s lifeless body jerked upward on the bed, then flopped back down.

Still a flatline.

Julian kicked the wall. "Call pack security! Do not let her leave this floor!"

"I’m not running, Julian," I said.

I placed my palms flat against the smooth corridor wall and dragged myself upright. My legs trembled under my weight, but I locked my knees.

"Grab her!" Julian ordered a passing orderly.

The orderly hesitated, eyeing the silver blade still gripped loosely in my left hand.

"I said grab her!" Julian bellowed.

"Touch me, and you lose your hands," I warned the orderly.

The young man backed away, raising his palms in surrender.

"Coward," Julian spat, pulling his phone from his pocket. "I'm calling the enforcers."

"Do that," I said. "Tell them their Alpha is dead."

"Charge to three hundred! Clear!" the doctor yelled again.

Another heavy thump echoed from the room. Another failure.

"He's gone," I told Julian. "You feel it too, don't you? The pack link is fraying."

Julian’s face paled. He pressed a hand to his chest, the realization hitting him. The Alpha’s presence was fading from the collective mind.

"You murdered him," Julian whispered, his anger shifting into raw panic.

"I survived him," I replied.

"You won't make it out of this hospital," Julian threatened, backing away to dial his phone. "The exits are guarded."

"I don't need the exits yet," I said.

I turned away from the doorway. The hallway stretched long and empty ahead of me, lit by harsh fluorescent bulbs.

"Where do you think you're going?" Julian demanded.

"To finish the paperwork," I answered.

I steadied my breathing. I lifted my right hand toward the red metal box mounted on the plaster.

My index finger, coated in my own wet blood, found the glass panel.

I pressed the fire alarm.