I Was the Starter Mate

I kept my voice steady when I met her. "I want the cleanest break. Even if he stands right in front of me, he won't feel anything through the mate bond. And make sure he never knows you did it."

The witch stared at me. "Zara, forcefully breaking a soul contract will cut your life short. In your condition... if you do this, the half month you have left could turn into three days."

"Three days is enough."

As long as I was free from him, even one day would be worth it.

She shook her head but honored my choice.

The ritual began.

The agony of my wolf tearing apart was a hundred times worse than the silver poison.

I clenched my teeth and watched the silver totem on my wrist—our bond mark—fade, piece by piece... until nothing.

I wanted to tell him the bond was gone.

I gave him his freedom.

The mind link was blocked.

So I called.

Again.

Again.

Finally, it connected.

"Oh, Eric... you're amazing..."

Velda's syrupy moan spilled through the speaker, tangled with a male wolf's rough breathing.

"Tell me—do you love me more, or that fat pig Zara?"

"Why bring her up? Let me—"

"No. Answer me, babe."

"Of course you, my baby... be good..."

The filthy sounds filled my ears.

I hung up.

I pulled out the journal wrapped in beast hide and flipped to the last page.

My hand shook as I wrote the final line.

[The wolf who promised me meat died that winter.]

I closed the journal, set it by the bed, and lay down. Sleep pulled me under.

Full moon.

The silver poison erupted.

My body went violent. Pain curled me into a ball. Black blood poured from my eyes, nose, and ears. My skin shriveled and darkened, like a rotting branch.

My consciousness thinned.

Through the haze, I saw the frozen north.

A snow-white wolf ran toward me, a deer leg in his mouth.

"Zara, look! I got meat! From now on I'll give it all to you—I'll make you my little chubby wolf..."

I closed my eyes.

And stopped breathing.

***

Third-Person POV

Moonveil's territory was dead silent.

Zara's heart had stopped.

Daisy didn't make it in time.

"You liar... You promised. There were still two weeks left..."

She covered her face and broke.

No one answered.

Per Zara's last wish, Daisy carried her back to Stormcrown territory.

Meanwhile, at a human resort, just as Eric reached for Velda, his heart slammed hard in his chest.

Terror and emptiness hit him all at once, like something had been ripped out of his wolf.

He grabbed his chest and stared at the full moon outside the window. 'Why... does it hurt this much?'

The silver mate bond totem on his wrist—the one that had been there for seven years—vanished.

Just like that.

Eric knew.

"Zara! You actually dared to break the bond!"

He pressed a hand to his chest, fury spiking.

A wolf's mate bond was sacred. It only ended in death—or by paying a brutal price to rip it apart.

"To make me turn back, you'd really go this far?"

Velda tried to cling to him. He shoved her off, grabbed his coat, and stormed out of the resort.

He drove like hell, straight for home, their cold war forgotten.

One thought on repeat—find Zara. Now.

And demand what kind of madness she thought she was pulling.

"Zara! Get the hell out here!"

He kicked the door open. His roar tore through the empty hall.

Silence.

The house felt wrong. Hollow. She was gone—and so was her scent.

"What the hell?!"

He stormed into the bedroom. The bed was perfectly made, like no one had touched it.

He kicked the nightstand over. A bone dagger slid out.

The one he'd carved for her when she came of age.

Rage ripped through him.

She used to treasure it more than her life. And now she just left it?

"Even your little stunt is sloppy."

He kicked the dagger straight into the still-burning fireplace.

Just then, his phone lit up.

Daisy.

He answered. Before he could speak, her voice came through, shaking and thick with tears.

"Eric... can you bring Zara's favorite dagger? She said she had to take it with her after she died. I forgot..."