Page 2 of Shifting Hearts 1
The words echo hollow in the night. My chest hurts, knowing that this is all just a ritual and the man facing me, fated or not, can’t even stand to look at me.
The silence that follows stretches too long. Gabriel doesn’t move or speak but his eyes are on me, assessing. But they do not warm, and they do not soften, not even for a single second.
The whispers begin again, sharper this time. Confusion. Curiosity. A ripple of unease. My stomach turns and my breathcomes shallow. The dread in me blooms, jagged and cold. Something is very, very wrong.
Gabriel clears his throat. His voice is low, flat, and final when he speaks, the sound carrying through the clearing.
“I reject the bond.”
The words detonate through the clearing. The crowd gasps before the whispers cut off. Silence crashes down heavy enough to bury me under its weight. I freeze. My body won’t move. My breath stalls and my heart falters.
No.He can’t. He wouldn’t. And yet…, he has.
His gaze doesn’t waver, his tone like steel as he says it again, louder, and crueler this time.
“I reject you, Paris. The bond, the claim. All of it.”
The words tear through me and the bond snaps. The pain is instant, savage, and merciless.
It feels like my soul is being ripped in half, a tether yanked out of my chest, leaving me hollow and cold. I scream into the night air, raw and animal, collapsing to my knees on the cold altar stone. My palms scrape raw as I claw at my chest, desperate to hold the pieces of myself together.
But the magic doesn’t matter.
The rejection burns like fire through my veins and sears into my bones. My panther shrieks inside me, thrashing, and clawing, before she falls silent. Too silent.
She’s gone.
Tears blur my vision as I fight to keep myself together. My body convulses, writhing on the ground as sobs tear through me. My breath is shallow and ragged. All the while, the pack watches but no one moves.
Not my father.
Not my mother.
Not my Alpha.
I am alone.
Gabriel turns his back on me, walking away. Each step echoing louder than the last. He doesn’t look back. He doesn’t care. I will either survive or die; there is nothing anyone can do for me now.
The crowd murmurs, whispers as sharp as knives. Some pity me. Some feel satisfaction at my pain. And others feel only relief that I will not be the fated mate of the next Alpha.
But no one comes to help me.
Shame scalds hotter than the fire and grief crushes heavier than the silence. My world is shattered, and I am alone.
I crawl, my nails tearing into stone, dirt, and pine needles as I drag myself past the altar, and into the forest. My body shakes, my chest burns, and every single breath is pure agony. I pray to the moon Goddess to end this, but I know that I am far from dead.
The shadows of the forest close in around me, branches clawing at my dress, mud slick under my palms. My vision tunnels, the silver light fading.
I stumble, and collapse face-first into the cold earth. Blood fills my mouth, sharp and metallic. My heartbeat stutters and falters. For a brief moment, I think it will stop but it just keeps going.
The forest is silent, holding its breath. And as darkness swallows me, the last whisper of my soul flickers out.
TWO
The Loner’s Curse
Ranger
