He Shattered Our Bond Until Rejection Set Me Free

I had a dream.

In my dream, I returned to the year I first met Caleb. I was only ten years old when my parents died in a car crash. My father, a Delta warrior of the Silver Moon Pack, had died protecting our Alpha during a rogue attack. My mother followed soon after, unable to bear the loss. With no relatives to take me in, I was left alone in the world. Alpha John Tran, the leader of our pack, took me in as his own. His mate, Luna Skyla, was still alive then. Caleb grew up as the future Alpha, surrounded by love and privilege, while I became his foster sister. His kindness and attention warmed my lonely heart, and I began to quietly harbor feelings for him.

Things turned upside down when Caleb turned eighteen. His parents had an explosive argument. Impulsively, Luna Skyla stormed out but tragically got into a fatal car accident soon after. Caleb was heartbroken over losing his mom and grew resentful towards Alpha John. The Alpha was wracked with guilt over the whole ordeal but was powerless to fix it. I stayed by Caleb's side, trying to comfort him through his despair, slowly helping him heal.

In what felt like his happiest times, Caleb made a promise to me: once I graduated from college, he would mark me as his mate. But on the night of our marking ceremony, a shocking discovery unraveled the peace we'd known. Caleb accidentally stumbled upon his father's journal, which revealed that the fight between his parents was about me. Alpha John's first love had been my mom, and suddenly everything fell into place. Luna Skyla, who once adored me and called me her little princess, looked at me with nothing but contempt the day she left.

From that moment, Caleb’s resentment towards his father shifted to me as well. The man who had once cherished me seemed to seek revenge, channeling his anger through intimacy. That night, his expression was a swirl of complex emotions. His tears mixed with mine, indistinguishable in the dark, much like the years of tangled feelings we shared. Despite my attempts to mend our relationship, it was futile. We remained stuck in the past, unable to break free. My wolf whimpered in the back of my mind, her voice weak but insistent, urging me to find the strength to move on. But I wasn’t ready—not yet.