Chapter 2
Right before Eric's fingers could graze my skin, my Head Guard, Liam, delivered a brutal kick straight to Eric's chest.
"Insolence! Who gave you the nerve to touch the Dark Moon Queen?!"
Caught off guard, Eric stumbled backward down the steps, landing hard on the floor.
"You dare strike me?!"
Eric clutched his chest. Fury flared in his wide eyes, but he quickly forced it down.
He looked up at me, his tone dripping with wounded pride.
"Selena, you're letting your guard treat me like this? I came here in good faith."
I slowly stood up, looking down at him from my throne.
"Good faith?"
I repeated the words softly.
"Eric, does your 'good faith' mean that just because you kicked Lily out, I'm supposed to forget everything and run back to your side?"
I raised my hand and snapped my fingers.
Instantly, dozens of massive werewolf guards stepped out from the shadows, their eyes gleaming dangerously. They drew their silver blades, tightly surrounding Eric and his meager entourage.
Eric's face finally changed. He could feel the terrifying, blood-soaked aura radiating from these warriors—a battle-hardened ruthlessness his pampered pack back home could never match.
Yet, he stubbornly shook his head, refusing to accept reality.
"I know you hate me, but a fated bond is real. The Goddess chose us. That connection is carved into our souls. It doesn't just disappear."
"Lily blinded me. She was the mistake, not our destiny."
"Who the hell do you think you are to talk to me about destiny?"
I walked down the steps, my eyes freezing over.
"When you threw me into the Frozen Tundra, where was your precious fated bond then? Liam, throw them out."
"Yes, My Queen!"
Liam signaled the guards, and they closed in on Eric.
"Selena!"
Humiliated beyond belief, Eric suddenly unleashed his Alpha aura. He desperately tried to force the remnants of our mate bond, hoping to use that soul-deep connection to awaken my feelings for him.
"You can't just sever our bond!"
But the very next second, Eric's voice caught in his throat.
His pupils shrank to pinpricks as his eyes locked onto my neck.
Horror washed over him as he realized the soul-binding thread between us was gone. Utterly eradicated.
Worse, as I stepped closer, an overwhelmingly dominant, lethal male Alpha scent spilled from my collar.
It wasn't lashing out to attack, but the sheer, oppressive weight of it felt like a collapsing mountain, nearly freezing the blood in Eric's veins.
Trembling, Eric pointed a pale finger at my collarbone. Right at the dark red mating mark left by another man.
"Your... your mark... What is that? Who left that?!"