He Rejected Our Pup, So I Rejected Our Bond

# Love at the End of the Road

My pup Max was burning up with fever, his small body wracked with coughs that shook his tiny frame. The healer had said we needed a rare healing moss only harvested from the high northern peaks, that it would cost every cent I had left to get it in time. I’d gone straight to the pawn shop in the downtown human district and sold the diamond pendant King Rex had given me for my Come of Age Ceremony—my only piece of valuable jewelry from the royal family, the last thing I had left after I’d cut ties with the palace to be with Lewis.

My hands shook as I clutched the thick wad of cash the pawnbroker handed me, already rushing home to call the healer. But Lewis was waiting by the door of our small apartment, and before I could even speak, he’d wrenched the entire stack of bills out of my grip, tucking it into his jacket pocket like it was his by right.

“Max is still breathing, isn’t he?” he said, his voice cold, no trace of worry for our pup in his tone. “He doesn’t need a healer yet. This money’s got a far more important use. You wouldn’t understand, you’ve always been too selfish to think about anyone but yourself.”

I begged him. I knelt on the floor and grabbed his wrist, sobbing that our boy was dying, that he needed the treatment. But he shook me off hard enough that I fell back against the wall, and turned to walk out the door without a single glance back at Max, whimpering in our bedroom.

Three days later, my little boy went still in my arms. His fever never broke, his little lungs filled up and he stopped breathing. I wrapped his cold tiny body in a blanket, and stumbled through the dark streets to Felicity’s apartment on the other side of town. I’d known Lewis would be there.

I pushed the door open, and there they were. Lewis, Beta of the Ashwood Pack, my fated mate, was leaning over the couch, holding out a sparkling diamond tennis bracelet to Felicity Collins, the Gamma warrior he’d loved since childhood. His face was soft, the kind of soft he’d never given me, and she was leaning into him, her hand resting on his chest, the scent of her jasmine thick in the air. They looked perfect, like they belonged together, just like I’d always known they would.

Rage and grief burned through every vein in my body, and I bared my claws I’d hidden in my jacket, charging at them, ready to take them both with me before I died from the broken mate bond that was already tearing my soul apart. Pain exploded in the back of my head—Lewis had shoved a bookshelf at me, I distantly remembered, and the world went black.

When I opened my eyes again, the morning sun was streaming through my bedroom window in the royal palace. I looked down at my stomach, flat, no sign of the pregnancy I’d carried when I died. I fumbled for my phone on the nightstand, checked the date. It was three years ago, the week after I’d first found out I was pregnant with Max. I was back. The Moon Goddess had given me a second chance.

I’m a Lycan Princess, only daughter of the Lycan King. I gave up everything for Lewis Hunt once: I left the palace, turned my back on my father, cut off every privilege I’d been born with just to stand by his side, because the Moon Goddess had marked him as my mate, and I’d loved him. I’d thought love was enough. What I got in return was my dead boy, a broken bond, and an early grave.

This time would be different. I walked to the window, pulling out my phone to call him. When he answered, his voice lazy and annoyed at being disturbed, I spoke the words I should have said long ago, clear and steady, just like the ritual requires:

“I, Aurelia Griffin, Lycan Princess, daughter of Lycan King Rex Griffin, reject you, Lewis Hunt, Beta of the Ashwood Pack, as my mate.”

The faint burn of the mate bond on my neck fizzled out, leaving only cool skin behind. No pain, no regret. Just freedom. I hung up before he could reply, and turned as a soft knock sounded on my door. Gabriela Russell, the senior Omega servant who’d served my family for decades, stepped in, dipping her head in respectful greeting.

“Princess,” she said, her voice gentle. “King Rex requests your presence in the throne room. He says someone is waiting to see you.”

I smoothed down my dress, already knowing who it would be. Joseph Kelly, the Lycan Prince who’d been watching me from afar since I saved him when we were kids, the third in line to the throne, Alpha of the Black Peak Pack. The second chance mate the Moon Goddess had been saving for me all along. This time, I wouldn’t make the same mistake. This time, I’d choose right.