Reaper 5


    <b>Chapter 6 Return and Reckoning</b>


    <span>Kirby’s POV (Crimson Moon Pack Hospital)


    Liana’s condition had stabilized for the time being, but the irritation in my chest only grew worse. Just as I ordered Mch to spare no effort in tracking down Leslie’s whereabouts, a sudden, violent pain gripped my heart—no, my soul.


    It felt like an invisible hand was tearing me apart. A hollow, consuming emptiness swept through me in an instant. This wasn’t just physical pain—it was spiritual rupture. Inside me, Lance let out a thunderous wail and a furious, guttural roar.


    “She broke the bond! No! My Asphodel! That Omega… how dare she?! How did she even manage it?! Kirby, you useless Alpha! You couldn’t even control your own mate!” Lance crashed violently through my consciousness, a whirlwind of pain and betrayal sending him into near madness.


    I stumbled, catching myself against the cold wall, my forehead dripping with cold sweat.


    The bond… broken? How was that possible? A mate bond is sacred, witnessed by the Moon Goddess herself. To sever it unterally requires immense power of will—or a special ritual. How could a low-ranked werewolf possibly aplish that?


    A tide of rage and humiliation surged over me, swallowing even the pain and emptiness that came with the severed link.


    She didn’t just refuse me and run away—now she’d even dared to cut the mate bond on her own? Fine. Perfect. This was outright betrayal.


    “Calm down, Lance!” I barked at my wolf. “A mate bond broken unterally can still be repaired. She’s just an unruly partner. Once I find her, I’ll make her obey—one way or another!”


    My fury dulled the spiritual pain, and I forced Lance’s unease back into silence. Just then, my phone rang. It was Leslie.


    I answered immediately, pushing down the fire in my chest, my voice sharp and cold. “Why did you sever the bond? You still dare call me?”


    “Kirby-Crimson Moon,” her voice was terrifyingly calm. Emotionless. Like the one who had just torn out my soul wasn’t her at all. “I’ve prepared the formal dissolution scroll. Meet me at the boundary stone in the neutral zone. It’s time we put an end to this.”


    Put an end to it? She actually had the gall to use those words?


    “Put an end to it?” I sneered. “Leslie, have you forgotten? Liana still needs your heart to survive. Get back to the Pack hospital. Now. We can settle everything else afterward. Don’t force me to abandon what little regard I still have for our bond.”


    Even if she had broken it unterally, I hadn’t epted it. That meant the bond still existed. She was still my mate. She still had to obey mymand.


    But Liana’s life was the priority. I didn’t want to push too hard—yet.


    “Liana?” she said, with a soft, mockingugh. “You’re still thinking about my heart? Kirby… you’ve really outdone yourself.”


    I swallowed my anger and delivered the line I’d rehearsed long ago. “Jake died saving me. I have a responsibility to Liana. Your sacrifice was necessary!”


    There was a pause on the other end, then she replied with a voice as cold as death. “The hospital, is it? Fine. Wait for me.”


    The call ended.


    She agreed toe to the hospital? Did I finally intimidate her with my Alpha pressure? Had shee to her senses?


    “Something’s wrong, Kirby,” Lance growled low in my mind. “Her voice… it was too calm. The kind of calm right before a storm. And with the bond broken, she has no reason to obey you anymore.”


    “Shut up, Lance!” I snapped. “She’s afraid. That’s all. An Omega like her can’t make waves. Once she’s here, we’ll deal with the heart transnt first. Everything else can wait.”


    I brushed off Lance’s unease and reimed the sense of control an Alpha should have.


    She woulde.She had toe.