Chapter 1
Raine
One minute you are waking up to the day you have dreamed of your entire life.
Next, you are standing at the altar with your heart being ripped out of your chest.
And the worst part is, you are the one holding the knife.
.......
"Reject me, Raine," I heard Kordell said. I looked up immediately, shaking my head non-stop.
"No...no I won't do it. Please, don't make me do it," I pleaded as panic surged through me, cold and suffocating.
Tears slid down my face, I know my make up is messed up but I couldn't care less.
I grabbed the edge of the altar, my knuckles turning white. The beautiful lace dress, felt like chains tight around my ribs.
"Please don't do this," I whispered as I reached for his hand, but he pulled away sharply.
"We can make it work," I tried again even though I knew the words sounded ridiculous the moment they left my mouth..
Kordell gave a broken, hollow laugh. "Do I look like a fool to you?"
I flinched. Not at the words, but at his eyes. Those same warm brown eyes that once held nothing but absolute love for me were now filled with a quiet devastation, I had put there myself. Something I could never take back.
My wolf curled tight inside me, whimpering and begging me to stop. But I couldn't.
"Can't you see what's happening, Raine?" His voice shook. "They only come to you when they need you. Can't you see that?"
Fresh tears spilled over my cheeks. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, trying to hold myself together.
"You've sacrificed everything for them," Kordell said, his voice dropping to a raw whisper. "Now you want to sacrifice us, too."
"I'm sorry," I choked out, the words barely audible. "Raina is dying, Kordell. I don't..."
"How is that your fault?" The disbelief on his face cut deeper than any anger ever could. "She took your kidney. She's taken your blood over and over again, and now she wants you to give up your mate, too? Your entire life?" I swallowed hard, struggling to form the words.
"Make me understand, babe." That one word. That single, familiar word shattered whatever was left of my composure.
"Make me understand how your dying sister can ask you to marry her own mate and not care that you'll live the rest of your life in misery. She doesn't care about you, Raine. None of them do."
Tears poured faster. A sob tore from my chest, because every single word was true.
They were truths I had buried so deep I thought they couldn't hurt anymore, but I was wrong.
But how could I tell him I had no choice? How could I explain that I owed my sister so much that even my entire life wouldn't be enough to pay the debt?
My wolf thrashed inside me, desperate and grieving.
Kordell stepped closer, his eyes glistening with tears he refused to let fall. "Say the words. End this." I looked at him through a blur of tears.
My mother's words on the call was the only thing I could hear in my head.
This is the least you can do, Raine. You owe her so much. Do not be selfish.
I took one long, slow breath that did absolutely nothing to calm the panic in my chest.
"I, Raine..." My voice cracked. I stopped, swallowed hard, and started again. "reject you, Kordell, as my mate." The bond snapped.
The pain detonated through every part of my body at once. My wolf screamed from somewhere so deep inside that I felt it in my brain and lungs.
My knees buckled. I gripped the altar with both hands, gasping for air as fire tore through every vein.
And then, the warmth drained out, leaving nothing behind.
Nothing but cold as I watched him turn around, watched his shoulders drop just once, a tiny, defeated slump before he straightened them and kept walking.
Every cell of body yearned for me to run over and make him stop. But I didn't, I stood there with arms wrapped around my own empty stomach and let every second of it happen.
And when the last of him disappeared through the double doors, I pressed the truth into the quiet air where he used to be.
"I love you, Kordell," I whispered, my voice sounding hollow. "I'll always love you till the end of time."
