Chapter 9: The Bond We Chose to Release

The sacred grounds were already glowing when we arrived.

Silver moonlight covered the ancient stones, and dozens of pack members stood silently around the ceremonial circle.

The Head Elder waited at the center.

Bruce stood on the opposite side.

For a moment, our eyes met.

There was no anger in his expression anymore.

Only sadness.

Leo held my hand tightly.

The Head Elder raised his staff.

"Avril, are you certain you wish to sever this mate bond?"

"Yes."

My voice didn't shake.

The Elder turned toward Bruce.

"Bruce Knightley, do you contest the dissolution?"

Bruce looked at me for a long moment.

Then he shook his head.

"No."

A murmur passed through the crowd.

Everyone had expected the Alpha to fight for his mate.

But Bruce didn't.

"I have no right to stop her," he said quietly.

The Elder nodded.

"Then step forward."

Bruce walked into the circle.

I did the same.

The moment we stood opposite each other, the mate bond became painfully clear.

A faint silver thread connected our souls, glowing beneath our skin.

I remembered the day that thread had first appeared.

Bruce had held my hand beneath the moon and promised that I would never have to face the world alone.

I had believed him.

The Elder began the ancient prayer.

The silver thread brightened.

My chest tightened.

Bruce's face twisted with pain.

"Avril," he whispered.

I looked at him.

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head.

"Don't apologize."

"You were the one who kept asking me for another chance," I said softly.

"And you were the one who kept giving them to me."

His eyes filled with tears.

"I wasted every one."

The Elder raised his staff.

"When the bond is severed, neither party may claim the other again. What was promised beneath the Moon Goddess shall be returned to the Moon Goddess."

The silver thread began to crack.

Pain swept through my body.

I gripped my chest and closed my eyes.

Bruce staggered too.

For one final moment, I could feel everything he had felt.

His regret.

His loneliness.

His love for Leo.

And beneath all of it, the terrible realization that he had understood my worth only after losing me.

Then the thread snapped.

A wave of silver light burst through the sacred grounds.

The pressure in my chest disappeared.

I could breathe.

For the first time in years, I felt completely free.

Bruce dropped to one knee.

The crowd fell silent.

I turned toward Leo.

He was staring at me with wide eyes.

"Is it over, Mom?"

I smiled.

"Yes."

He immediately wrapped his arms around my waist.

I held him tightly.

Behind us, Bruce slowly stood.

He looked at his hand where the mate bond had once glowed.

There was nothing there.

He took a breath and walked toward us.

Leo stiffened.

Bruce stopped several steps away.

"I won't ask you to come back," he said.

"I won't ask you to forgive me tonight."

His gaze moved to Leo.

"I only want to be your father if you still want me to be."

Leo looked at me.

I nodded.

He walked toward Bruce.

For a second, I thought he might hug him.

Instead, he handed Bruce the little wooden bow he had brought from home.

"You can keep this," Leo said.

Bruce stared at it.

"Why?"

"Because I don't need it to remember you anymore."

Bruce's lips trembled.

"Leo..."

"But if you want to be my dad, you have to prove it."

Bruce nodded slowly.

"I will."

"No promises," Leo warned.

A faint, broken smile appeared on Bruce's face.

"No promises."

The ceremony ended.

The pack members slowly dispersed, leaving the three of us beneath the moonlight.

Bruce looked at me one last time.

"Can I see him sometimes?"

"You can ask him," I replied.

Bruce nodded.

"And you?"

I looked toward the mountains.

"I'll be fine."

He seemed to understand that there was nothing more to say.

He turned and walked away.

Leo watched him disappear into the darkness.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I think I'm still a little sad."

I knelt beside him.

"It's okay to be sad."

"Even if we're happy now?"

"Especially then."

He leaned against me.

Together, we watched the moon rise above the sacred grounds.

The bond was gone.

The promises were gone.

But my son was still beside me.

And for the first time, I knew that our future didn't have to depend on whether Bruce chose us.