Her lack of care, her complete disregard for what they’d shared—or what they were supposed to share—had been the final blow.
“Half of everything,” Mia had demanded, her arms crossed as she stared him down. “I’m the Luna. I get half of all of it.”
Luke’s anger, already simmering beneath the surface, finally erupted, outweighing the pain she had inflicted. Half of everything? This woman had contributed nothing to the pack, done nothing to earn the title of Luna except for the bond they shared. All she’d ever done was spend his money and warm his bed. And as for her claim to the Luna title—his mother still held that role. His father was still the reigning Alpha. He and Mia hadn’t even taken over yet.
“You’ll get nothing of the sort!” he roared, his voice filled with fury. “You rejected me! Go ahead and leave with what you came with—NOTHING!”
The last word came out as a deafening snarl, shaking the room. Without waiting for her response, he stormed out, his rage palpable in every step.
Despite his fury, Luke hadn’t formally accepted her rejection at the time. A part of him clung to her—the other half of his soul, his destined Mate. But Maddis had already retreated deep into his mind, silent and withdrawn. That silence unnerved Luke more than anything.
Maddis, who was usually a raging force of nature, seemed to have surrendered without a fight. Luke wondered if his wolf had seen this coming, perhaps warned by Lucas. Or maybe Maddis had simply had enough—enough of Mia’s tantrums, her selfishness, her blatant disregard for what it meant to be a Luna. Luke doubted it. Maddis’s silence felt like the calm before the storm.
In the months that followed, Mia made it her mission to flaunt herself around the pack, openly flirting with warriors and un-mated males, often right in front of Luke. Most of them, aware of the danger Maddis posed, quickly made their exits when her behavior turned bold. But her antics wore on Luke, chipping away at the last vestiges of patience he had for her.
The final straw came when she tried to bring one of those men into their shared suite.
Luke had kicked her out, banishing her from their rooms. Neither he nor Maddis could tolerate the disrespect any longer. Maddis’s rage became something new—unpredictable, uncontrollable. It was as if his wolf had been unshackled, and Luke, for all his strength, could no longer contain him.
Then came the ultimate betrayal.
A male had thought it acceptable to touch Mia, to crawl into their bed and claim what was theirs. When Luke had felt it, the pain had been unbearable. It tore through him like a thousand silver blades, slicing him to pieces from the inside out. Maddis had snapped, ripping free in a violent, uncontrollable frenzy. Luke had no hope of stopping him.
The half-shift had been monstrous—terrifying to everyone who witnessed it. Maddis, caught between wolf and man, had roared through the packhouse, his singular purpose clear. Within moments, he had found them: the male on top of Mia, her naked body beneath him.
Maddis had wasted no time.
The man’s head was ripped clean from his shoulders, his body crumpling lifelessly onto the bed. Mia’s screams filled the air as Maddis dragged her from beneath the corpse and slammed her against the wall. His massive hands wrapped around her throat, tightening with a fury that even Luke could barely comprehend.
Maddis didn’t care about her cries or her terror. The betrayal had driven him past the point of reason, and for a moment, Luke feared his wolf might actually kill her.
If it hadn’t been for Lucas surging forward to stop Maddis, Mia would have died that day. Both wolves knew it, and so did Mia. Fear clung to her like a second skin in the days that followed. Every time she saw either Luke or Maddis, she shrank back, her usual arrogance replaced by wary silence. She was entitled to nothing, and Luke made sure she got exactly that.
He’d had the pack lawyers draft a formal rejection letter, detailing every one of her shortcomings. When he summoned her to his office to read it, she had stood before him, scanning the document. It laid everything bare: her refusal to train as a Luna, her lack of interest in producing an heir, and the ultimate betrayal—her infidelity. The letter stated, in no uncertain terms, that she would leave with nothing more than what she had come with: one suitcase of her clothing.
She had the gall to snort and laugh in his face. “If you think I’ll sign this, you’re insane,” she sneered, turning on her heel to leave.
That was when Maddis took over.
Luke half-shifted in an instant, claws erupting from his hands. The sensation was strange and unsettling, but Maddis’s rage was impossible to hold back. He grabbed Mia, his claws digging into her arms as he dragged her back to the desk. She struggled, but it was useless against his overwhelming strength. Maddis was about to slam her head down onto the desk when Luke wrestled back some control.
“Sign it,” he hissed, his voice cold and menacing. “Or I’ll let Maddis kill you.”
He shoved a pen into her trembling hand, his grip firm, and grated out the words he’d been holding back for six long months. “I formally accept your rejection.”
The air seemed to shift as his acceptance of her rejection settled around them. The bond, which had been frayed and fractured, began to unravel completely. Tears welled in Mia’s eyes as the weight of the rejection hit her full force.
But it was too late for tears.
Luke and Maddis were done. Done with her betrayals, her selfishness, her endless demands. Her tears, once capable of softening Luke’s heart, now meant nothing. They were hollow, meaningless.
She didn’t sign right away, and Luke squeezed her hand tightly, almost to the point of breaking bones. She cried out in pain, and Maddis surged forward once more.
“Sign it!” Maddis roared, his voice a deep, guttural snarl. “Or die.”
In that moment, she finally understood. She had pushed too far, and there was no coming back from it.
Her shaking hand scribbled her signature at the bottom of the document. Without another word, she fled the office, her tears spilling freely now as she ran to pack her belongings.
No one helped her. Luke had made sure of that. She packed her things alone, her humiliation complete.
Luke watched her leave from the third-floor balcony, standing silently as she dragged her suitcase down the road. Pack members turned away from her, their rejection of her as clear as Luke’s own. She struggled, her suitcase bumping along the gravel, but no one stepped forward to offer assistance.
When she finally crossed the boundary of pack territory, Luke turned away.
He went straight to their suite—the suite they had once shared—and unleashed the pain and anguish he had been holding back. He tore the room apart, his fury consuming him as he destroyed everything in sight. The bed, the furniture, the curtains—nothing was spared.
By the time he was done, the suite was unrecognizable, reduced to rubble by his hands. It had to be completely rebuilt and refurbished, a fresh start for him and Maddis.
Mia was gone. And with her, the last remnants of the bond they had once shared.
