The sensations grew more painful with every passing minute. I curled up tighter on the bed, biting down hard on the corner of the pillow, trying to muffle the sob that broke through my throat. My chest hurt from crying too hard and from the pain inflicted by Elliot’s physical betrayal of our mate bond. I felt like I was being ripped apart from inside out.
Elliot.
He did it on purpose. He wanted me to suffer.
I knew it the second he looked me in the eye and whispered, “You are mine, Jasmine. You think you can walk away from me?” And then, just like that, he turned and walked straight into Isabella’s waiting arms—like I hadn’t mattered. Like everything we ever shared was just... disposable.
A broken sob escaped me, and I rolled onto my side, fists clenched against my chest. The mark on my neck was still throbbing faintly, a sick reminder of the bond I never wanted. A bond he used like a weapon.
