Frozen Bonds, Broken Heart Chapter 02
We had been arguing about this for weeks.
He felt sorry for Sarah, a rogue with no pack to take her in. But I knew her too well. There was no way I was ever going to let her come between Damon and our mate bond.
And every time I refused, he found some way to punish me.
Leaving me alone on the frozen tundra was just their latest trick.
But this time, I didn’t fight back.
“Elena, why are you doing this?” he demanded, and I could feel his wolf stirring under his skin. “You swore you’d die before letting her cross our doors—so where’s all your anger?”
Because my heart was already dead.
The day after he left me out there, Sarah made up an excuse about losing her lip stain out in the snow and came back.
While my back was turned, she shoved me into an ice crevice.
“Keep competing with me, Elena,” she whispered, her face full of pure malice. “Let’s see how you win when you’re frozen at the bottom of the sea.”
The freezing water filled my lungs. I screamed Damon’s name, scrabbling against the ice until my knuckles were raw and mangled.
But he didn’t look back.
He held her hand and walked toward the warm cave without a second glance.
That was the moment I heard our bond snap.
“Since you’re letting Sarah stay,” Damon said carefully, “you can tell my parents yourself. You know they really like you.”
The Alpha and Luna of Blackwood Pack had chosen me to be his mate.
In pack politics, they called it “suitable.”
The more they liked me, the more Damon resented me.
Our bond had been forced from the very beginning.
I stayed quiet.
He sighed and peeled a banana, holding it out to me. “…Elena.”
Before I could take it, Sarah leaned weakly against him. “Damon, I’m starving. I think I’m going to pass out.”
Her eyes locked onto the banana.
Damon hesitated for only a second before handing it straight to her.
“That’s the last one, Elena. Sarah needs it. I’ll get you something to eat when we reach pack grounds.”
I just stared at them.
According to pack law, an Alpha’s attention was a resource.
And right now, his time, his focus, his affection—all of it belonged to her.
Later, when Damon fell asleep in the truck, Sarah leaned close to me and hissed out in a low, wolf-only register.
“You’re tougher than I gave you credit for,” she said. “Falling off an ice cliff like that and still surviving? Impressive.”
Her mouth curled into a smile. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m moving into the pack house.”
“I’ve won.”
She had shown up at Blackwood Pack six months ago.
Before her, I had been Damon’s whole world.
If I wanted cookies, he would put on an apron and bake them himself.
If I got hurt on patrol, he would hold me all night, using his body warmth to calm my inner she-wolf.
Now, he barely looked at me.
The passenger seat in his truck belonged to Sarah.
Every time I opened my mouth, he snapped, “Quit your petty jealousy, Elena! She’s got no one in this world!”
I looked at him, a hollow nothingness settled in my chest.
The spirit under the ice had taken everything.
