DAMON'S POV
I'm in the middle of a business call when the pain hits.
It feels like someone reached into my chest and ripped out my heart with their bare hands.
The phone falls from my grip, clattering on my office desk. I try to breathe, but there's no air. Just pain. Hot, burning, impossible pain that spreads through every part of my body.
"Damon?" My assistant's voice crackles through the phone speaker. "Mr. Blackwood? Are you there?"
I can't answer. I can't do anything except fall.
My knees hit the hardwood floor hard, but I barely feel it. All I feel is my chest—burning, tearing, breaking.
The mate bond.
Something is wrong with the mate bond.
"Help!" I try to shout, but it comes out as a strangled gasp.
The office door bursts open. My beta, Thomas, rushes in with two guards behind him. Their faces blur in my vision as another wave of agony crashes through me.
"Alpha!" Thomas drops to his knees beside me. "What's happening? What's wrong?"
I clutch at my chest, right over my heart. The bond—the magical connection that ties me to Mira—feels like it's on fire. Like someone is cutting it with a burning knife, strand by strand.
"Mira," I manage to choke out. "Something's wrong with Mira."
Thomas's eyes go wide. "Get Dr. Harrison! Now!" he barks at the guards.
But I know a doctor can't fix this. Because this isn't a normal injury.
This is the mate bond breaking.
"No," I gasp. "No, that's impossible. She can't—"
Another scream rips from my throat as the final strand snaps.
The bond is gone.
Seven years of connection, of knowing she was out there somewhere, of feeling her presence like a constant hum in the back of my mind—all of it just vanishes.
The emptiness that replaces it is worse than the pain. It's like someone carved a hole in my chest and left nothing behind.
I collapse fully onto the floor, my body shaking violently.
"Damon! Stay with me!" Thomas grabs my shoulders, trying to keep me steady.
Dr. Harrison runs in, his medical bag clutched in his hand. He's old, experienced, the best pack doctor in the city. He drops beside me and immediately starts checking my pulse, my breathing, shining a light in my eyes.
"What are his symptoms?" Dr. Harrison asks Thomas sharply.
"I don't know! He just collapsed and started screaming about Mira—"
"The bond," I interrupt, my voice raw. "Check the mate bond."
Dr. Harrison goes very still. Then slowly, carefully, he places his hand over my heart. His eyes close as he uses his gift—the ability to sense the magical connections between wolves.
His eyes snap open, filled with shock.
"It's broken," he whispers. "The mate bond is completely severed."
"That's impossible!" Thomas explodes. "Mate bonds don't just break! They're permanent! They're—"
"I know what they are," Dr. Harrison cuts him off. His hand is still on my chest, and I can feel him probing the emptiness where the bond used to be. "But this one is definitely broken. Cleanly severed, like it was cut with a blade."
The words hit me like physical blows.
Mira broke our bond.
My Mira—quiet, gentle, weak Mira—somehow found the power to do something that should be impossible.
"How?" I demand, forcing myself to sit up even though my whole body screams in protest. "How could she break it?"
Dr. Harrison shakes his head slowly. "I don't know, Alpha. Breaking a mate bond requires immense power. Ancient power. The kind that doesn't exist anymore."
"Well, it clearly does exist!" I snarl at him. "Because my bond is gone!"
The office door opens again, and Selene walks in. Perfect Selene, with her long blonde hair and designer dress. She's been my girlfriend for the past six months—a relationship that started as a distraction and became... comfortable.
She's not my mate. She'll never be my mate. But she's here, and Mira isn't.
Wasn't.
Whatever.
"Damon!" Selene rushes toward me, her heels clicking on the floor. "I heard you screaming. What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
She reaches for me, her perfectly manicured hands extending toward my face.
Something inside me snaps.
I don't think. I just move. My hand shoots out and shoves her away—hard.
Selene stumbles backward with a startled cry, barely catching herself before she falls.
"Don't touch me," I growl. My voice sounds strange, wild, like my wolf is too close to the surface.
"Damon?" Selene stares at me with wide eyes. "What—"
"I said don't touch me!" I roar, and she flinches back.
Thomas quickly moves between us, his hands raised in a calming gesture. "Alpha, you need to calm down. You're in shock."
"Shock?" I laugh, but it sounds bitter and broken. "My mate just severed our bond, Thomas. She broke something that's supposed to be unbreakable. She—"
Wait.
The reality hits me like a truck.
If Mira broke the bond, that means she's awake. Not the quiet, obedient girl Marcus told me about. Not the weak omega who accepted her fate.
She's powerful.
And she just rejected me.
"Where is she?" I demand, struggling to my feet. Thomas tries to help me, but I push him away too. "Where's Mira right now?"
"Still at Silvercrest Pack, as far as I know," Thomas says carefully. "With Marcus—"
"Get Marcus on the phone. Now."
Thomas hesitates. "Alpha, maybe you should rest first—"
"NOW!"
Thomas pulls out his phone, his fingers flying over the screen. After a moment, he puts it on speaker.
The phone rings once. Twice. Three times.
Then Marcus's voice answers, and he sounds furious.
"What do you want, Damon?"
"Where is she?" I demand. "Where's Mira?"
There's a long pause. Too long.
"She's gone," Marcus finally says, and I can hear the rage in every word. "The little witch destroyed half my house and ran. But don't worry—I'm tracking her right now. She's in Moonshadow territory."
My blood runs cold.
Moonshadow Pack. Caius's territory.
Caius Moonshadow—the ancient Alpha who's been alive for centuries. The one who's powerful enough and old enough to recognize things that shouldn't exist anymore.
Things like phoenixes.
"You're going after her?" I ask, my voice dangerously quiet.
"Of course I am. She's MY mate. She's carrying MY child. And she's not getting away with what she did."
"Marcus—" I start to say.
But he's already hung up.
I stare at the phone, my mind racing. Mira is with Caius now. Marcus is going after her. And I just lost the mate bond that's connected us for seven years.
Selene approaches again, more carefully this time. "Damon, please. Let me help you. Let me—"
"Get out," I say quietly.
"What?"
"Get out!" I roar, and this time everyone flinches. "All of you! Get out of my office! Now!"
They scramble toward the door—Thomas, Dr. Harrison, the guards, even Selene with tears in her eyes.
The door closes behind them, leaving me alone.
I walk to the window and stare out at the city below. Somewhere out there, Mira is awake and powerful and free.
And she chose to break our bond rather than come find me.
The emptiness in my chest throbs like an open wound.
"What are you, Mira?" I whisper to the glass. "What did you become?"
My phone buzzes. A text from Thomas: Marcus is mobilizing his warriors. Heading to Moonshadow territory tonight. What are your orders?
I stare at the message for a long moment.
Then I type back: Get our warriors ready. We're going too.
Because mate bond or not, Mira is still mine.
And I'm not letting her go without a fight.