Page 50 of Shattered Soulmates

A debt? Fire rips through me, and it feels like the tapestry of fate is unraveling—pulling at me, twisting around me, binding me, and consuming me. I try to untangle myself, but I can’t. The darkness moves deeper, penetrating me as the chanting grows louder.

Just before I succumb to the blackness, a gentle light breaks through like a small sliver of moonbeams cresting a storm cloud. It’s calming and inviting.

The burden of pain I’ve carried since Miles broke me begins to ease, as if the light is healing me.I can breathe deeply for the first time in months.As the glow deepens, warmth surrounds me and seeps into the fractured spaces.

Then, it transforms, taking on the shape of a glyph. A beautiful, ethereal moon hangs overhead. It’s so enchanting that tears well up in my eyes. I watch as a unique celestial event unfolds—a lunar eclipse. A dark shadow glides across the silvery orb, its edges delicate and luminous.

As the image sharpens, it begins to pulse. Slowly, it detaches from the sky and cascades toward me like a comet, trailing tiny stars in its wake. Just before it pierces my chest, I rise to meet it, instinctively drawn to receive it, and warmth rushes through me. When thestardust clears, a radiant tattoo appears, delicate and shimmering just above my heart.

For a moment, complete peace washes over me. Every hurt is erased, and all my brokenness is made whole. The ache that has been my constant companion lately disappears, replaced by this stillness that makes me feel healed.

But then… it shatters.

And the ties that bind me to Miles are finally severed, and all that’s left is relief.

When the image settles on my skin, it’s bleeding. This beautiful tattoo is made even more haunting by a webbing of fractures. It’s as if something sacred has broken. The pain has faded, replaced by a deep sorrow that’s slowly waning.

‘Paisley…’

The voice comes, soft and soothing in the space around me, and then there she is—the moon mother.

“Do you know what that mark is called?”

“No,” I whisper.

“It’s the Shattered Bond,” she replies. “It represents the tattered remains of the connection between you and Miles. It also symbolizes your beauty and strength despite the brokenness.”

I bow my head with grief.

“That which was between you, and Miles was special because it was sealed under a rare celestial event—the lunar eclipse,” she continues. “It’s a bond that was never supposed to be broken.”

I quietly begin to sob at the magnitude of what was lost between us.

“You chose each other,” she says. “Not just in this life, but before the Earth was formed. It was always your and Miles’ destiny, written in the stars. But... the fault is not yours to carry. You were betrayed.”

“He chose Marissa,” I whimper.

“Yes, he did. And she deceived him,” the moon mother whispers. “They will pay the price.”

“The debt?” I ask. “I heard chanting before that spoke of a debt being paid.”

“That’s right. The debt for the broken bond must be paid, but it’s not yours to pay.”

The darkness begins to gather around me.

“You’re innocent in this, Paisley; you have another true mate,” the moon mother says. “Within you lies an unawakened bond, someone you chose before time began. This one is pure and without blemish. But it’s not without trials.”

“I don’t understand. How can I have two true mates?”

Before time was measured, a prophecy was spoken:

“Two mate bonds were created before the world began—one of ice, the other of fire. The first will shatter you; the second will restore you with a true love’s kiss. Within you, both were meant to join, but deceit tore the bonds apart. The choice is yours: choose both, choose one, or neither. In your choice, true happiness will be found. Decide, and your heart will be healed, and your path will be sealed.”

“Your bonds will never be what they once had the potential to be. Not pure, nor without scars,” she whispers. “But they are still there, awaiting your final decision.

“Does that mean I have the freedom to choose Miles and this other true mate?”

“Yes,” she replies. “Or even neither.”

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