After He Chose His Plaything, I Severed the Bond

Back at the estate, I checked the time.

Three days until the Elders' final ruling.

In three days, I would be completely free.

I began to pack the things I would take with me. After all these years of our relationship, I was only taking a few changes of clothes and some of my jewelry design tools. I wanted nothing that had anything to do with Kaelen.

The door was suddenly thrown open.

Kaelen stood in the doorway, and behind him, a fragile-looking Cassandra. He was clearly here to interrogate me, and he didn't even have the decency to do it away from his mistress.

"What are you doing?" Kaelen frowned at the suitcases on the floor.

"Packing," I said without looking up.

"Packing for what? Where do you think you're going?"

"That's none of your business."

Kaelen strode over and seized my wrist. "Are you still throwing a tantrum?" His voice was thick with impatience.

The moment his fingers touched my skin, Cassandra let out a pained moan and collapsed.

"Cassandra!" Kaelen immediately let go of me and turned to catch her in his arms.

"Kaelen…" Cassandra leaned weakly against him, her face pale, tears welling in her eyes. "I… I feel so sick…"

"What's wrong? Aren't you wearing the Soulstone?" Kaelen asked anxiously.

"No… it's not…" Cassandra shakily removed the raw Soulstone from her neck and held it up to him. "Kaelen… this stone… it's a fake…"

My mind went blank.

"What did you say?" Kaelen's gaze shot toward me like a dagger.

"I can feel it… There's not a trace of soothing energy inside, only a cold… deadness," Cassandra sobbed. "How… how could she do this to me? She'd rather give me a fake stone than save me…"

"You're lying!" I retorted sharply. "That was my original stone, infused with all of my spiritual energy!"

But Kaelen wasn't listening.

He stared at me, his eyes filled with absolute disappointment and rage.

"Estelle, you dare to deceive me with a fake?" he roared. "You have a truly venomous heart!"

"I didn't!" I was shaking with anger. "That was my life's work! How can you not believe me!"

"Believe you?" He sneered, pointing to the moaning Cassandra in his arms. "Her body doesn't lie! You were willing to risk her life just to get back at me!"

I looked at him and felt a wave of both ridicule and sorrow. He would rather believe the clumsy acting of an Omega than the mate his soul was bound to.

"Kaelen, I think… I think she needs to be purified…" Cassandra whispered in his arms. "Send her somewhere that blocks all spiritual energy… maybe if her resentment subsides, I'll feel better…"

"Look at yourself!" The disgust in his eyes was thick and suffocating. "Go to the confinement cells for three days! Reflect on your poisonous jealousy!"

"I am your mate! The future Luna!" My voice trembled.

"It is precisely because you are the future Luna that you should be magnanimous!" he cut me off coldly. "Not like this, constantly creating problems for me! You've disappointed me so much!"

The confinement cells were used to punish low-ranking wolves who had broken pack law, their walls embedded with silver bars that suppressed a wolf's power.

He gave me no more chance to argue, simply shouting to the guards outside the door. "Guards!"

Two tall Beta guards entered immediately.

"Take Miss Estelle to the confinement cells," Kaelen ordered, his voice devoid of any emotion. "No one is to visit her without my permission."

The guards looked hesitant but did not dare to disobey. They flanked me and took my arms.

I didn't struggle. My heart was already dead. What was the point?

As the guards led me from the room, Kaelen was already turning away, carrying Cassandra to soothe his "frightened" love.

As she passed me, she looked over his shoulder. Her mask of fragility fell away, replaced by a cold, triumphant smirk.

In a voice only the guards and I could hear, she said, "Take good 'care' of our Luna. Let her experience what daily life is like for us Omegas."

One of the Omegas kicked over the bowl of water in front of me, the murky liquid splashing all over me.

"Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

"You still think you're the Luna?" another Omega sneered, her arms crossed as she looked down on me. "Cassandra said you're nothing but a bitter, clingy shrew who won't let go of a title you don't deserve."