Page 51 of The Alpha's Shattered Bonds

“Seraphina,” he said softly, “You need to save him.”

I shook my head, the ache in my chest intensifying. “He’s slipped away from me… I can’t—”

“You can with the mate bond,” Logan said. “It could bring him back. You need to sever the bond you have with me. Now.”

The words hung in the air as disbelief flickered through me.

“I’m not just offering out of a sense of duty,” Logan added quickly, his voice steady. “Of course, Tyler deserves it but,” he cast his eyes downward, “I can see how much you two love each other.”

A lump formed in my throat at the magnitude of what Logan was offering to sacrifice pressed down on me. But a lick of hope ignited in my chest.

My pulse raced. Logan was right. Only that sacred bond could save Tyler’s life. And, after all, that’s what we’d been until so recently:mates.That’s what we had always been meant to be. My heart crashed against my ribcage, telling me that it was still possible. If I could reconnect it, I might once again feel his heart beating in rhythm with mine.

“Do it,” Logan said steadily. “You deserve happiness, and he deserves the chance to fight for his life. Call upon the Moon goddess, Seraphina. Now!”

My breath caught as he extended his resolve. The heaviness of our past hung between us, but his selflessness made my heart swell with a renewed sense of affection for Logan.

With a final glance at Tyler’s too still form, I grudgingly laid his head down on the ground so that I could draw the runes Ineeded around me in the churned-up snow. The compacted dirt of the arena was like a canvas.

I had only just written the final rune,pilak—cutting through, when I intoned, “Amaruq pilak qiviut ilak.” I only had to say the incantation once before the bond between Logan and I dissolved. It had been a fragile thing like a spring shoot just born, and with one pluck, it was gone.

I didn’t have time to think about it before I closed my eyes and settled into my trance. I knew the place I sought from all my meditations, and coming to a place where I could commune with Igaluk was as simple as opening the door. I summoned my magic and focused on the glimmer of silvery light immediately in my mind—Igaluk’s light. I reached for the Moon goddess, opening my heart, pouring out every ounce of love and pleading for a second chance.

“Igaluk,” I called into the void, “Please, help me. I ask for your mercy. I made a mistake. So many mistakes. I should have let your wisdom guide me from the start. Please, restore my mate bond with Tyler. My love for him is true and will not waver again. Please, help him return to me.”

The silvery light intensified, and the deep pool I’d seen in my dream appeared before me. The surface shimmered with my reflection but with the milky-white glow of the goddess’s complexion. Her luminous green eyes surged with the potent spring buds, recalling the re-vitalizing bond I’d just felt plucked from my chest.

The air crackled with energy, and the wind stirred around me in a celestial dance. I felt the presence of the Moon goddess, powerful yet gentle, wrapping me in her ethereal embrace. Shelooked thoughtful, searching my face as if looking for the truth of my words.

“Your bond is sacred, forged in love. It deserves to be treasured, and you must cherish one another. Only then will its true power shine.” My heart raced, each beat reverberating with the tension of uncertainty, praying for her mercy. Finally, she declared, “Let it be reborn.”

As her words struck deep within my soul, a golden light enveloped me, stretching outward toward Tyler. I felt the pull of the mate bond reigniting, the two halves of our souls reconnecting, and my life force rerouting into Tyler’s.

Then, my shifter senses caught it: his heartbeat. Life and warmth began to return to Tyler’s body, the magic of our bond granting some of its energy to the wound in his side.

With a gasp, Tyler’s breath returned, and the flutter of his heartbeat synchronized with my own, growing steadier and stronger with each passing second.

Even as I was still swathed in darkness, concentrating on working the Goddess’s magic from behind closed eyes, I heard the gasps and joyful murmurings of our packmates and friends around us.

As I dared to blink my eyes open, I took in the rise and fall of Tyler’s chest, as well as the wound in his side knitting together.

I hurried forward, once again sweeping my arm beneath Tyler and drawing his body to me. “Please, Tyler, come back to me,” I whispered, clutching him tightly, taking comfort in the bond tightening through my chest. If I felt that, he could, too. It would show him his way back to me.

Finally, Tyler’s eyes fluttered open, their azure blue looking brighter than ever.

“Seraphina?” he murmured, his voice still raw with the remnants of pain but laced with wonder. The note of a question there.

“The goddess returned our mate bond, allowing me to bring you back,” I whispered. He gazed up at me as if I’d hung the Moon, the mixture of reverence and passion settling over his face. I felt the flood of emotions crackling in the air around us as our packmates and friends exchanged exclamations of joy.

“I almost lost you,” I breathed. The devastation from moments ago hadn’t yet released me from its jaws, and I stroked his face, marveling at the life and love etched across it. “I love you, Tyler. I never meant to sever our bond. I was just afraid of losing you,” I finally admitted. I locked my gaze with his, allowing myself to be as free with him as I’d always wanted.

Tyler sat up, even as I tried to push him back down, worried about his still-healing body. But his strong arms encircled me, holding me as if I were as necessary as the breath he was drawing in with great welcome shudders. “You’ll never lose me, Seraphina,” he said. “You’re my strength and home, always.”

My breath caught in my throat as I looked deep into Tyler’s eyes and felt that truth resonating through my chest, making it feel full to bursting. As I kissed him, I knew deep down that everything we had endured had brought us here for a reason, in the embrace of the Moon Goddess’s blessing. Our story was far from over. This was only the beginning.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Seraphina

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