K!LL ME, MY MATE

Candice's POV

I learned the taste of betrayal before I learned the sound of my child's cry.

It sat on my tongue like..iron and bile, sharp and unmistakable and no amount of swallowing could make it go away.

The Rufflewood Pack's medical wing was quiet that afternoon. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that jabbed into my sensitive ears and made my wolf uneasy. The walls smelled of antiseptic and pine and linen, meant to calm expecting mothers, meant to reassure us that we were 'safe and cherished'.

I was neither. Nuh-uh.

My belly was heavy, tight with life, the child shifting restlessly beneath my ribs. "Just a few more days", the healer said with a smile. Just a few more days before I would give the pack its future alpha. Before I would finally be secure.

The bond with my mate tugged at me so wrong. Thin and uneven. Like a frayed thread pulled too far.

That was why I went looking for Jaden while full-bellied and at risk..

I told myself I only wanted reassurance. A touch. His voice. Something to anchor me. I did not expect what waited behind the east wing's private doors.

Jennifer Longhorn's laugh reached me first.

It was soft and low, suggestive and airy like a moan, not meant for hallways or shared spaces. It slipped through the narrow crack of the half-closed door like a secret that wanted to be discovered...

Their scents tangled and it was unmistakable.

My feet stopped moving.

My wolf went still.

Through the opening, I saw them.

Jaden sat on the edge of the bed, relaxed, his alpha heir crest catching the light. Jennifer stood between his knees, her fingers tangled in his hair as if they belonged there. As if this was familiar. As if it had been happening for a long time.

He leaned into her touch.

I waited for him to look ashamed. To stiffen. To pull away.

He did none of those things.

How desperate was I to pray this was just a mistake of his...? If i could, I would have laughed at myself.

"This changes nothing," he was saying, his voice calm, assured as he grooved inside her. "She'll give birth a-and then it's done. The elders will understand."

Jennifer smiled, tilting her head as she took him whole. "They always do."

Something cracked in my chest.

I do not remember leaving. I don't remember the hallway stretching so long and unending. My hands were shaking against my belly, my breath coming in shallow breaths that burned my throat. I remember thinking that the bond did not scream because it had already died.

My wolf was heartbroken to say the least. And it impacted me the worst. My physical body.

Labour began that night.

Pain tore through me that felt endless. I screamed and wailed in pain until my voice broke. I begged until there was nothing left but an animalistic sound. The healer nurses weren't the best at it. Didn't assure me. Not. One. Bit.

Through it all, I waited for Jaden to come.

He did not.

When my child was born, the room was filled with cries that were not my own. I turned my head, tears blurring my vision, desperate for even one glimpse. A healer came out of nowhere and moved between my newborn and me. She whispered something urgently to someone behind the curtain. I could not see who.

They took my baby away.

"Just for now," a nurse said. I could tell her smile was fake. My heart was beating fast...

I never saw my child.

And by next morning, the elders were gathered at the foot of my bed. Their faces were solemn. Controlled. Already decided.

But I had to ask, "W-where's my baby?"

I never got an answer. I thought they were healing him...or her for complications. But nothing could have prepared me for the next moments of my life.

They spoke of weakness. Of emotional instability. Of how a 'betrayed omega could not be trusted to bear future heirs'. They spoke of the pack's image. Of necessity. Of sacrifice.

Jaden stood behind them.

He would not meet my eyes.

"I told Jaden this would be a mistake...a rogue omega like her would never make a good mother, nor a good mate. Fated or not...she's unstable and has to go..." That was it. Elders have spoken. I never got any information on whatever the f*ck I did to trigger my own ostracisation.

When they declared me unfit, when they stripped my title and severed my ties, the bond with Jaden did not resist. It went slack, like a rope cut clean through.

They did not kill me.

That mercy felt worse.

They escorted me to the forest edge while I was still bleeding, my legs shaking beneath me, my body hollow and aching. They were throwing me back to where they picked me up, 4 years ago. No supplies. No cloak. No explanation beyond the sentence that rang in my skull long after.

"You are no longer Rufflewood..."

They shoved me forward. They took away the rag around my head. At least that rag could've given me some company, but they snatched that away, too.

The trees swallowed me whole.

I do not know how long I walked. Time lost meaning in these dark, dark woods. Pain blurred into hunger. Hunger into dizziness. I followed instinct more than my logic, clutching my stomach as cramps twisted low and vicious.

When I saw the cabin, I really thought I was hallucinating. I cried for the birds to sing with me. I was so grateful...

It sat deep in the forest, not abandoned. It was well maintained, like someone was living there.

I broke in through the back door.

Inside, I found water. Canned food. A blanket. I ate like an animal, hands shaking, tears dripping onto the floor. I drank until my stomach ached. Then I hid.

For three days, I stayed silent.

I stole. I survived.

On the third day, I heard footsteps that changed my life forever.

They were heavy. Unhurried. Confident. I flinched so badly. When I haven't seen anyone for three whole days, the sudden presence alerted my wolf and me.

I pressed myself into the closet just as the front door opened.

The man who entered was tall and broad shouldered. He moved with the ease of someone who feared nothing in these woods. He dragged something behind him.

A body.

My hand flew to my mouth as nausea surged. I swallowed down my own vomit, biting my lip until I tasted blood. Through the narrow slats of the closet door, I watched.

He laid the corpse on a large table in the center of the room.

He rolled up his sleeves.

What followed was not frenzy. Not rage.

It was methodical.

Precise.

He cut with care, separating flesh the way a butcher separates meat, the way a craftsman works toward a familiar outcome. Organs were removed, cleaned, and arranged. He treated the body with a reverence that made my skin crawl.

Not a single wasted movement.

My knees trembled. My breath came shallow. I counted heartbeats to keep from sobbing.

This was not madness.

This was ritual...

At some point, the man paused. And very slowly, he turned.

His gaze lifted...Straight to the closet.

My heart slammed so hard I was certain he could hear it.

Goddess...pleaseno...PLEASE!

His eyes were dark. Knowing. Curious.

And then he smiled at me behind the closet...

I heard the closet door open before I saw him.

The sound was slow. Wood scraping against the floor. A steady pull, not rushed, not curious, just absolutely dreadful. My hands clamped over my mouth before I realized I was doing it. My body hurt everywhere. My stomach cramped sharply, reminding me that I had given birth only days ago. My legs trembled so badly that the thin shelf behind me rattled.

His footsteps moved across the cabin floor.

Heavy. Measured. Each step landed with intention, heel first, then weight settling fully. Not the careless walking of someone surprised. He already knew I was here! Goddess...I am so scared!

I tried to stay still. Oh gosh, I tried.

I failed miserably.

A small breath escaped me, broken and uneven. The footsteps stopped so, so close to the closet. I could see his shadow lingering outside the rigged closet doors.

Silence filled the room so completely that I could hear my own heartbeat pounding inside my ears.