Ex-Alpha's Regret: Siren's Comeback novel Chapter 75

POV: Seraphina

The trial was over. My will was my own, forged in the fires of betrayal and tempered by the ice of my hatred. The spirit realm faded, and before me, two paths materialized in the swirling mist.

One path was paved with gold, leading back to a gilded cage. I saw a vision of the Blackwood manor, of a remorseful Damian, his face streaked with tears, begging for my forgiveness. I saw a life of comfort, of luxury, of hollow power at his side. But my wolf would be chained, her spirit broken, my soul a prisoner forever, living a beautiful, empty lie.

The other path was a narrow, rocky track leading into a vast, unknown wilderness. It was a future of hardship, of struggle, of uncertainty. It would be a life of blood and battle. But it was a future of freedom.

I didn't hesitate for a second. I turned my back on the golden cage and took the first step onto the path of the wilderness.

As my foot touched the stone, I sent a final, desperate command to the Healer in the physical world, a single, silent scream from my soul that vibrated with all my pain and all my resolve.

Now!

POV: Damian

As my eyes locked onto that sacred symbol, the mate bond inside me, already a frayed and dying thread, gave one last, violent lurch and then… snapped. The sensation was a physical agony, a white-hot tearing in the center of my chest, as if a part of my own soul had just been ripped out.

At that exact moment, Seraphina's body arched in a final, agonizing spasm. A scream was torn from her lips, a sound of such profound, soul-shattering pain that it made the very stones of the altar seem to weep. It was the sound of a universe being torn in two.

And as I stood there, frozen in a moment of pure, uncomprehending horror, the Healer's arm came down.

The obsidian dagger sliced into the flesh at the base of Seraphina's neck, carving out the silver light of our bond in a spray of blood.