Chapter 11
Julian’s POV
I tore through the Blake Estate like a madman, searching every corner for any sign of her.
But Selene had left nothing behind.
Nothing–except the Severance Certificate lying cold and heavy on the table.
And the Bond Oath Stone-
I stumbled to the mantle, my heart hammering in my chest.
The stone, once proudly displayed under the Blood Moon’s light, was shattered
split clean down the middle
Our names had been carved there together, side by side, an eternal testament to our Mate Bond
My name still gleamed, barely clinging to the fractured surface.
But Selene’s half
Gone
Obliterated without mercy.
I stared at the broken remnants, my fists trembling at my sides.
Why?
Why bad she left without a word?
Only when I forced myself to think–forced myself to rewind the past month–did the realization start to seep in, slow and poisonous.
It had started that night
The night she had called me, over and over.
Calls I ignored.
Calls I dismissed because I was with Claire Lancaster, watching a sunrise meant for someone else.
I remembered the document she had handed me to sign-
how I’d barely glanced at it, how I had laughed it off.
“My wealth is yours,” I had said.
So sure.
I thought I was betting safely.
But what I lost wasn’t wealth
It was everything.
Selene’s POV
The Syndicate Research Center was off–limits to outsiders. Chapter 11
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I knew that.
So when I saw Julian standing beyond the glass, looking disheveled and haunted, my heart gave an involuntary, painful lurch
He had used a sponsor’s title–throwing money like blood into the water–to buy himself a way in.
The man I had once called my Mate locked nothing like the Alpha I remembered.
He was a ghost wearing Julian Blake’s face.
The Research Director approached me with an awkward smile.
“He said he must see you,” he said. “The donation was significant Fifty million marks for the first round.
And he’s promised more if needed.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
Throwing money again.
As if that could fix what was broken.
Still,
a moment of hesitation, I peeled off my gloves and walked to the door.
after a
Our eyes met.
And for the first time, I saw il-
he finally realized the truth:
The bond between us was dead.
Truly dead.
He staggered forward a step, his voice hoarse and pleading
“You just left me,” he said. “You even abandoned our pup.
Couldn’t you give me a chance?”
His voice cracked on the last word, barely holding together.
I stood there, calm.
“I thought,” I said slowly, “that the Severance would make both of us happy.”
The words:
Is were soft, matter–of–fact.
Like discussing the weather.
But I saw the way he flinched.
It shattered him more than any rage ever could have.
“No,” he said, his voice breaking apart. “Selene, no–listen to me.
I know I was i
wrong
I know I neglected you.
I’ll fix it. I swear. Just… don’t leave me.
I looked at him steadily.
No anger.
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Notcars.
Just the cold clarity of someone who had bled out long ago,
“You always loved someone else,” I said quietly.
He flinched as if struck.
“You said you were busy when I needed you,” I continued. “You ignored my calls because you were watching the sunrise with Claire.”
He opened his mouth to deny it-
but no words came.
I pressed on, my voice steady and merciless.
“You stood by her side again and again, doubting me, betraying me.
You were drunk once, remember?
Do you know what I saw when I came to find you?”
A faint, bitter smile tugged at my lips.
“I saw you kissing her.”
The memory hit him like a blow
I saw it
He swayed on his feet, as if the weight of the truth was too much to bear.
He reached for me, desperate.
I stepped back, out of his grasp.
“Even a pup
knows,”
“I whispered, “that you should clean your heart before asking for a new bond.”
“You’re thirty years old, Julian.
Not thirteen.”
The words landed like a death sentence.
I watched as his breath tore from his lungs, his wolf howling wildly inside him, clawing and thrashing behind his broken eyes.
But it was too late.
Thad severed the bond.
The blood–thread that once connected us was gone–cut clean, leaving only silence.
He stumbled forward, collapsing onto his knees before me.
“Selene,” he rasped. “I didn’t know.
About the accident about the pup… I didn’t know…”
Tears streamed down his face, unbidden and raw,
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Please. Please give me one more chance. I’ll never let you go again.”
I stared down at him, the man I had once loved.
But there was nothing left inside me to give
