Chapter 120: Don’t Break My Heart

ARIEL

My heart is running a marathon in my chest right now.

I try to take deep breaths, to steady myself, but a hundred different sensations are pulsing through my body.

Craving, longing, desire, lust, excitement…

~Just to name a few…~

I can feel the nerves joining in my synapses, electricity shooting through my veins.

A new connection is forming…

~A mating bond.~

I stare at the man standing in the training arena directly across from me. He looks just as confused and disoriented as I feel.

He has golden-brown skin, dark curly hair, and a scar over his left eye that makes me think he’s a more seasoned warrior than his recruit status suggests.

I feel dizzy as my eyes flit to his defined muscles, his statuesque body, then his roguish stubble, ending on his haunting amber eyes.

One of us needs to speak, to say something—~anything~—to break this silence, but we’re both in a state of shock.

My wolf is just as silent in my mind. She knows who her real mate is, but this damned destined connection is throwing her off.

The recruit takes a step forward and my wolf regains her wits, as do I. We’re immediately on guard.

“Who are you?” I finally manage to rasp.

“I am”—he hesitates—“I am…my name is Matt.”

~My new mate, Matt. Fucking great.~

“You’re a new recruit to the Royal Pack warriors?” I question.

He nods, still looking disoriented from the sudden mate bond that has invaded his body like an alien.

“Listen,” I say firmly, “I know this is confusing, and I can’t even begin to explain to you how this happened—that story is far too long…”

Matt waits for me to continue, perplexed.

“But I can’t be your mate!” I say, much louder than I’d planned.

I’m surprised to see not disappointment washing over Matt’s face, but instead…~relief~.

“Oh, thank the Goddess,” he says, his shoulders instantly relaxing.

~Wait, what?!~

It’s not that I ~want~ him to desire me, but also…

~What the hell?~

~Am I that repulsive?~

“Are you okay?” Matt asks, shaking me from my thoughts.

“Oh, yeah, sorry…,” I say. I can almost hear Amy’s voice in the back of my mind, even though she’s all the way in the Scripture Pack. ~Get it together, bitch!~

“So, we are technically mates, but we do not want this…agreed?” Matt says, rubbing the stubble on his cheeks. His fingers look calloused and rough.

“Agreed,” I reply.

I learned my lesson with my first destined mate.

Destiny did me dirty with Xavier. Destined mates are far more trouble than they’re worth.

~Not today, Fate, NOT TODAY.~

“I’m already mated, and very much in love,” I say. “To the royal alpha.”

Matt’s amber eyes widen in disbelief.

“You are mated to the ~king~?! But then that makes you…”

“The luna,” I say pointedly. “And I’m also your squad leader, which is just as inappropriate.”

“Okay, this just got even more complicated,” Matt mutters under his breath.

~Yeah, how do you think I feel?!~

Matt suddenly gives me an intense look of resolve.

“Reject me,” he says harshly. “Right here, right now.”

I’m taken aback by how completely certain he seems.

“I will be the one to take the pain,” he says. “It is the only way.”

~The pain…~

Xavier’s sneering voice enters my head before I can stop it.

His voice is cold, completely devoid of emotion. ~“I reject you as my mate and luna.”~

The moment Xavier broke our mating bond…

I remember that feeling like it was yesterday.

All the torture I’d faced at the hands of the Hunters, my body being torn open by their experiments…

That was nothing compared to what I felt that day in the Crescent Moon Pack.

It felt like my still-beating heart had been ripped from my chest and crushed into dust.

A wave of immense guilt hits me as I stare into Matt’s eyes.

~Can I really do it?~

~Can I do what Xavier did to me, knowing just how much it broke me?~

“Please, I am asking you to do this,” Matt says, a hint of desperation in his voice. “It is what’s best for both of us.”

I know he’s right, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

And he has no idea the pain that’s in store for him.

~Moon Goddess, give me strength.~

I have to do this. Not just for me, but for Alex.

~I’m so sorry, Matt…~

I take a deep breath, ready to say the words…

The words that will sever our connection forever.

But before the rejection can escape my lips, a white light shrouds my vision.

“Ariel…,” says a silky, faraway voice.

“Selene?” I reply, not knowing if I’m still in the training arena with Matt or if I’m somewhere deep within my own mind.

Selene appears before me, a graceful smile on her face.

I’m always astonished by her ethereal beauty, no matter how many times she appears to me, and this time is no different.

She takes my hands in hers and kisses me on the forehead.

“I’ve asked so much of you, my child. But I must ask you for your help once again.”

I feel weightless as Selene places a hand on my heart.

“Your love for your chosen mate is beautiful and pure. You and Alex have made each other whole again.”

I nod, smiling as I think of the relationship I’ve built with Alex.

We’ve overcome every obstacle Fate has thrown our way.

“But your new destined mate…his heart is not whole yet,” Selene says, causing my smile to falter.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“He is lost, and his heart is hurting.”

“But what does that have to do with me?”

“I gave you the gift of healing, my child. You must use it to mend what is broken.”

I suddenly understand what Selene is asking of me.

Maybe it’s the years of interpreting vague riddles from a literal goddess, but I know exactly what I’m supposed to do.

“I can’t break my mating bond with Matt just yet…,” I say. Selene nods.

~It looks like I’ll be tethered to Matt for a while longer…~

“First, I have to heal his broken heart.”