Chapter 20: Shattered Bonds
Chapter 20: Shattered Bonds
(Samantha’s POV)
I sat at my vanity, carefully applying moonlight herb salve to the cut on my palm. The cooling sensation brought immediate relief, but did nothing for the ache in my chest.
Ethan hovered in the doorway, his reflection visible in my mirror.
“Let me help you,” he offered, taking a step forward.
I met his eyes in the mirror. “I don’t need your help. Not anymore.”
His face fell, but I hardened my heart against the familiar pang of guilt. For too long, I’d prioritized his feelings over my
own.
“Sam-”
“Don’t call me that,” I interrupted, setting the salve aside and rising from my seat.
I moved to my closet, selecting a midnight blue dress with subtle silver accents that I’d purchased during my last shopping trip with Hector. The fabric was luxurious against my skin as I slipped it on, a reminder that I could still appreciate beautiful things without Ethan’s influence.
“Where are you going?” Ethan asked, his voice tight with barely controlled emotion.
I applied a touch of lip color, meeting my own eyes in the mirror. The woman staring back at me looked stronger than I
felt.
“Silverclaw Law Firm,” I replied calmly, turning to face him. “To discuss our divorce agreement.”
His face paled. “Sam–Samantha, please. We can work through this.”
I shook my head, gathering my purse and car keys. “I don’t want our years together to end in animosity, Ethan.”
“Then don’t let them,” he pleaded, stepping into my path. “Stay. Talk to me.”
I sidestepped him with practiced ease. “I hope we can remain on civil terms. For both our sakes.”
The desperation in his eyes nearly broke my resolve, but I remembered the contract with Rebecca, the roses at Golden
Sands Cove, the months of lies.
“I’ll be back later to collect some of my things,” I added, my voice steady despite the storm raging inside me.
I walked past him, my head held high, refusing to look back even when I heard what sounded suspiciously like a sob. The
sound followed me down the stairs and out the front door.
Only when I was safely in my car, pulling away from Blackwood Manor, did I allow a single tear to fall.
(Ethan’s POV)
I watched Samantha’s car disappear down the driveway, feeling as though she was taking my heart with her. The
emptiness of the house pressed in around me, suffocating in its silence.
My wolf howled in anguish, urging me to chase after her, to bring her back by any means necessary. I tamped down the
primal instinct with effort.
Forcing myself to move, I returned to the living room where crystal shards still littered the floor. I knelt, carefully picking up
<Chapter 20: Shattered Bonds
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the larger pieces, remembering how Samantha had threatened my mother with one.
The thought brought an unexpected smile to my lips. My mate had always possessed a fiery spirit beneath her gentle exterior. It was one of the things I’d fallen in love with.
But somewhere along the way, I’d started trying to cage that fire rather than nurture it.
“You fool,” I muttered to myself, depositing the shards in a waste bin.
My phone buzzed with a message from James: “Rebecca Taylor is asking about moving her things to Moonlight Manor.
Orders?”
Rage flared hot and bright within me. Rebecca. The woman who had started this downward spiral with her manipulations
and schemes.
I texted back a terse reply: “Keep her where she is. I’m coming.”
Twenty minutes later, I pulled up to the small cottage where Rebecca had been staying. The guards stationed outside straightened as I approached, their expressions carefully neutral.
“Wait here,” I ordered, not bothering to acknowledge their salutes.
ntered without knocking, finding Rebecca arranging flowers in a vase–blood–red roses that reminded me of the ones
en Samantha on our first anniversary.
rned with a practiced smile that faltered when she saw my expression.
Ethan,” she breathed, one hand moving to her still–flat stomach. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Clearly,” I replied coldly, taking in the half–packed suitcases scattered around the living room. “Going somewhere?”
She flushed, her eyes darting nervously. “I thought… Your mother said I would be moving to Moonlight Manor today.”
“My mother,” I repeated, the words like acid on my tongue. “Of course she did.”
Rebecca took a hesitant step toward me. “Is something wrong?”
I laughed, the sound harsh and unnatural even to my own ears. “Did you think I wouldn’t figure it out? The way you copy Samantha’s mannerisms? Her favorite foods? Even the way she tilts her head when she’s listening?”
Her face paled. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t insult my intelligence,” I snapped. “You orchestrated that scene at Golden Sands Cove, didn’t you? Made sure Samantha would see us together.”
Rebecca’s expression hardened, dropping the pretense. “She needed to understand her place. She’s barren, Ethan. I’m giving you what she couldn’t.”
“You manipulated my mother and sister,” I continued, advancing slowly. “Promised them status and influence once you
replaced Samantha.”
“They approached me,” she countered, chin lifting defiantly. “They saw what you couldn’t–that I’m better suited to be your
Luna.”
Rage boiled over. With a sweep of my arm, I sent the vase of roses crashing to the floor. Water and petals splattered
across the hardwood, the crystal vase shattering into jagged pieces.
Rebecca flinched, taking a step back. “Ethan, please. Think of the baby.”
I bent down, picking up a particularly sharp crystal shard. “The baby is the only reason you’re still breathing.”
Fear flashed in her eyes as I approached, the shard glinting in my hand. “What are you doing?”
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“Let me make something perfectly clear,” I said, my voice dangerously soft. “I don’t care about you. I care about my child.”
Before she could react, I slashed the crystal across her cheek, leaving a thin red line that immediately began to well with
blood.
She cried out, hand flying to her face. “You’re insane!”
“If you ever try to replace Samantha again,” I continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “I will make that cut look like a caress.”
Tears mixed with blood on her cheek. “You can’t do this. We had an agreement!”
“Yes, we did,” I agreed, tossing the crystal shard aside. “A surrogate agreement. Not a replacement Luna agreement.”
I pulled out my phone, sending a quick text to James. “My guards will be here in five minutes to move your things back to
your Rented Cottage.”
“But Margaret said-”
My mother doesn’t make decisions for the Blackwood Pack,” I interrupted coldly. “I do. And I’ve decided your access to pack resources will be restricted to what’s necessary for my child’s health.”
Rebecca’s eyes narrowed despite her fear. “You can’t just discard me like this.”
“I can, and I am.” I stepped closer, forcing her to back against the wall. “Remember our contract, Rebecca. You’re carrying my heir. Nothing more.”
My voice dropped to a whisper as I leaned in, making sure she understood every word. “If anything happens to my child, I
will tear you apart with my bare hands. Are we clear?”
She nodded, trembling visibly now.
“Good,” I said, straightening and adjusting my cuffs. “The doctor will visit weekly to check on my heir’s progress. You will follow every instruction to the letter.”
I turned to leave, pausing at the door. “And Rebecca? If I ever catch you wearing Samantha’s perfume again, that cut on
your cheek will be the least of your concerns.”
I walked out, leaving her clutching her bleeding face, surrounded by shattered crystal and ruined roses.
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