After My Mate Chose Her, I Chose Myself

I didn't want to follow them. My pride screamed at me to turn around, to go back to the pack house and pack my bags, to do anything other than stand in the sterile, white hallway of the pack clinic. But my feet moved on their own, heavy and numb. I stopped just outside the closed door of the treatment room.

Inside, it was quiet.

Then, a sharp, buzzing pressure drilled into my temple. It was the pack mind-link, but it wasn't a general broadcast. It was a private channel. Mckenzie was deliberately leaving the mental door cracked open, inviting me in to listen to her victory.

'It hurts, Jonas,' Mckenzie’s mental voice whimpered. It was soft, fragile, and completely devoid of the mocking cruelty she had shown me by the river.

'I know, baby. I know. I’m right here.'

I stopped breathing. It was Jonas. His voice wasn’t just gentle; it was completely wrecked. It was the raw, desperate voice of a man terrified of losing the only thing that truly mattered to him.

'You shouldn’t have jumped, Mac,' he whispered, the sound echoing in my head like shattering glass. 'If I lost you... Goddess, if I lost you, I wouldn’t survive it. You’re my everything. You know that.'

'What about Gwen?' Mckenzie asked. I could practically hear the smirk curling her lips, the triumphant gleam in her eyes.

'Forget her. She’s nothing. I’ll deal with her later. Just focus on me. I’m not going anywhere.'

The mental connection snapped shut, leaving a ringing silence in my ears.

My knees buckled. I caught myself against the cold wall, gasping for air that wouldn't fill my lungs. The clinic suddenly smelled overwhelmingly of medical bleach and cherry blossoms, and it was suffocating me. The floor tilted beneath my feet. Five years of loyalty, of quiet devotion, of suppressing my own needs for his... all of it reduced to 'She's nothing.'

I had to get out.

I pushed off the wall and ran. I burst through the double doors of the clinic and sprinted into the treeline. I didn't care where I was going. I just needed to outrun the echo of his voice in my head.

My inner wolf was thrashing against my ribcage, tearing at my mind in pure, unadulterated agony. She didn't understand. She had chosen him. We had loved him, and he had just discarded us like trash. She howled, a deafening, broken sound that vibrated through my very bones, clawing blindly at the walls of my consciousness.

I ran faster, my boots tearing through the damp earth. The trees blurred into dark, jagged shapes. I headed north, toward the steep cliffs and the treacherous border of our territory. The wind whipped my face, stinging my eyes, but it wasn't enough to numb the pain. I wanted to shift. I wanted to let my wolf take over, to run on four paws until my muscles gave out, but she was too fragmented. Every time I reached for her, she retreated into a whimpering, bleeding ball of grief.

I breached the northern ridge, my chest heaving, my throat burning with every ragged breath. The ravine yawned below me, a steep drop into jagged rocks and rushing black water. I stopped at the edge, gripping a thick pine branch to steady my trembling body.

A low, guttural growl vibrated through the brush.

I froze. The scent hit me a second too late—rotten meat, wet fur, and sour aggression. Rogues.

Three massive, mangy wolves stepped out of the shadows of the pines. Their eyes were wild and hungry, their lips peeled back to reveal yellowed fangs dripping with saliva. I was completely alone, emotionally shattered, and standing right on the edge of a deadly drop.

Shift, I commanded my wolf. Please, shift!

But she couldn't. The bond-shattering grief had paralyzed her. My bones ached with the effort, a phantom pressure building beneath my skin, but my flesh wouldn't tear. I was stuck in my fragile, human form, completely defenseless.

The largest rogue lunged.

I threw myself to the side, his massive jaws snapping mere inches from my throat. I scrambled across the dirt, reaching for a rock, a heavy stick, anything, but the second rogue was already on me. A heavy paw slammed into my chest, knocking the wind out of my lungs. Before I could roll away, razor-sharp claws ripped through my shirt and sliced deep across my ribs.

White-hot pain exploded in my side. I screamed, the sound tearing from my raw throat as warm blood instantly soaked my clothes.

The rogue snarled, lowering his massive head to sink his teeth into my neck. Adrenaline flooded my veins. I kicked out blindly, my heavy boot connecting hard with his snout. He recoiled with a yelp, but the violent momentum sent me sliding backward.

There was nothing beneath my feet.

My hands scrambled desperately for purchase, catching only loose dirt and dead leaves as I tumbled backward over the edge of the ravine. The wind roared in my ears, drowning out the snarls of the rogues above. I fell into the empty air, the dark, rocky abyss rushing up to swallow me whole.