Paige’s POV
"Noah Hanson, do you take Paige Lopez as your mate and Luna?"
"I do."
The memory of our mating ceremony burned painfully in my chest.He answered so quickly and I didn’t realize he'd let go swiftly too.He had claimed me before the entire Frostridge Pack, bit my neck as the Moon Goddess bore witness. Back then, he’d spoken those words with such conviction—I was his fated mate, not just some business arrangement.
But then, on our anniversary, he shattered everything.
"Sign the mating bond dissolution papers, Paige. I’m giving you one week to sign them and vacate the house."
Tears rolled down my cheeks. "Why?" My wolf, Tiana, whimpered inside me, feeling the pain of rejection.
I’d loved Noah since our college days. When our wolves recognized each other as mates during a pack gathering, I thought the Moon Goddess had blessed me. So when he proposed a mating contract—marriage in exchange for an heir to secure his Alpha inheritance—I signed without hesitation. I was naive enough to believe love would grow between us, that the bond would deepen beyond duty.
For three year, I played the perfect Luna—hosting pack feasts, mediating disputes, even restructuring the pack’s finances using my business degree.And tonight, on our three-year mating anniversary, he slammed the papers onto the desk, demanding that I sign—his complete and final rejection.
His forehead creased."Why?We had a deal. You’d give me an heir to secure my position as Alpha. Three years, Paige. The council won’t accept an infertile Luna."
The words gutted me. Infertile. Like I was a defective broodmare instead of his mate.
"But we still have time and you didn't tell me that you'll reject me if I fail to give you a heir," My voice trembled with grief as I pleaded, feeling the bond that once united us now tearing apart.
"Enough!" His fist slammed the mahogany desk, the Alpha command in his voice making my knees weaken instinctively. "It was just a simple logic, Paige. You know me well. I am a pack leader. I won't invest in something that won't benefit the pack."
He’s so heartless.I tasted blood where my teeth pierced my lip. "So that’s all I am? An investment?It's all just pack politics to you? Don't you have feelings for me, Noah? Don't you feel anything? We've been mated for three year. Today is our anniversary. Is this how we're gonna celebrate our bond?”
He looked at me with annoyance. "Do we need to celebrate, Paige? There's nothing to celebrate. I'm rejecting you as my Luna and I won't take it back."
I shook my head as tears continued streaming down my face.
“Stop it, Paige!”
Noah's nostrils flared at the scent of my distress, but his voice was cold. "My father's final law is clear: if I don't have an heir, Neo takes my birthright—he'll rip the pack from my hands." His jaw clenched at the name of his half-brother, the son of his father's mistress. "Would you have me kneel to that bastard?"
I kneel before him. "Please, Noah. Let me try again. I'll do anything - black magic, bargaining with witches, ancient fertility rites - just give me one more chance to bear your pup."
He threw the papers at my feet."I, Alpha Noah, reject you,Paige Lopez, as my mate."
"Noah! Noah, please!" My voice cracked."You can’t do this to me."
My fingers barely grazed Noah's sleeve before he jerked away, his broad shoulders blocking the moonlight streaming through the house windows.
As the door slammed, my wolf,Tiana,collapsed, her whines echoing my shattered heart. The bond with Noah wasn't just breaking—it was being ripped away, a physical pain like claws tearing through muscle, thread by thread, leaving raw edges that would never heal.
Every cell in my body screamed to chase after my mate, but the bond between us hung in tattered shreds, sapping my strength. I felt so weak—my knees refused to move. I can't lose him. The thought alone threatened to shatter what remained of me.
Tiana raged inside me. "He can't do this! The Moon Goddess bound us—"
When I finally managed to pull myself up, I didn’t hesitate. I bolted out of the house with the desperate thought of following him, only to bump into someone who, with gentle urgency, caught me by the waist.
"Paige. Oh my God! What happened? Why are you crying?"
I cried harder at the sight of Aunt Precy's worried face—the Lightning Pack's revered doctor who had raised me since my parents' death. I held her arms helplessly. My tears won't stop from falling.