Sarah POV
Sarah hasn't slept.
She's been in the clinic for eighteen hours straight. Her body is running on nothing but coffee and the desperate need to save her pack. Her white mating dress is destroyed. Blood stains everything. Her hands are shaking from exhaustion but she keeps working. She keeps moving. She keeps trying.
The sun is just coming up when she hears the footsteps.
Heavy footsteps. Multiple people. The sound of someone important approaching. Sarah looks up from the patient she's checking on and sees Mason walk through the clinic door.
He's not alone.
Derek Stone is right behind him. Derek has Mason's face dark and serious. Two enforcers stand at the door like guards. Like they're here to make sure nobody runs.
Sarah's stomach drops but she doesn't know why.
Mason looks at her like he's never seen her before in his life. Like she's a stranger. Like something between them broke overnight and he just realized it.
Derek steps forward and holds up a bottle.
Sarah's blood goes ice cold.
It's a bottle from her clinic. It has her label on it. It's filled with poison. The exact poison that's killing her pack right now. And it's in Derek's hands like it's evidence. Like it's proof of something.
Derek's voice is calm when he speaks. Too calm. He tells Mason that he found this bottle in Sarah's supply room. He says he searched it thoroughly during the night. He says he was looking for answers about the poison. He says he found Sarah's medicine storage area and discovered this.
Sarah tries to speak but the words don't come out. She opens her mouth and nothing happens. She can feel her heartbeat getting faster. She can feel something inside her starting to crack.
Mason stares at the bottle and then stares at Sarah. His eyes are cold. Colder than she's ever seen them. Like all the warmth that was there yesterday is gone. Like the man she was supposed to mate with last night doesn't exist anymore.
Sarah reaches toward him and says that's not hers. She says she doesn't know how that got there. She says Derek must have put it there. She says something is wrong. Something doesn't make sense.
Mason doesn't listen. He doesn't ask questions. He doesn't give her a chance to explain. His jaw gets tight and his eyes get harder and he looks at her like she's guilty of something unspeakable.
He tells her to come with him. His voice sounds like it's coming from far away. His voice sounds like it belongs to a stranger.
Sarah follows because she has no choice. Because she's in shock. Because her mind is screaming that this is wrong but her body is moving on autopilot. Derek and the enforcers surround her like she's dangerous. Like she might run. Like she might attack.
They walk through the pack house together and the pack members who are still healthy stare at them. Sarah sees the confusion in their faces. She sees them trying to understand why Sarah is surrounded by guards. She sees them putting pieces together in their heads.
They reach the courtyard and Sarah realizes where they're going. Where they're headed. The gathering place. The place where important pack announcements happen. The place where the Alpha stands in front of everyone and makes decisions that matter.
The entire pack is already assembled.
It's not organized. People are still sick or recovering. People are still mourning the ones they lost. But the word spread fast. Something is happening with the Alpha. Something is wrong. Everyone who can move has gathered to see what's going on.
Sarah sees Lily in the crowd. Lily's face goes white when she sees Sarah being brought forward in the center like she's a criminal. Sarah tries to find comfort in Lily's eyes but Lily looks scared. Lily looks like she's trying to understand something that doesn't make sense.
Mason walks to the front of the crowd and Sarah is forced to walk beside him. Derek stands on his other side holding the poison bottle up so everyone can see it. The gathered pack members go quiet. They're waiting to hear what their Alpha has to say.
Mason's voice is loud and clear and it cuts through the morning air like a knife.
He announces that Sarah poisoned the water supply. He says it like it's a fact. He says it like he investigated and found evidence. He says it like he's certain. He tells the pack that Sarah betrayed them. He tells them that three pack members died because of her. He tells them that Sarah is a traitor and a threat.
Sarah tries to say something. She opens her mouth and tries to defend herself. She tries to tell everyone that this is wrong. She tries to explain that someone set her up. But her voice doesn't work. Her voice comes out small and broken.
Nobody listens anyway.
Mason continues like she didn't speak. His voice gets harder. He tells the pack that Sarah is no longer his mate. He tells them that the mating bond is severed. He tells them that Sarah is being cast out of the territory. He gives her until sunrise to leave or he will kill her himself.
The pack gasps. Sarah feels like the ground is disappearing beneath her feet.
The mate bond severs.
It's not gentle. It's not slow. It's violent and sudden like something tearing inside her chest. Sarah drops to her knees because the pain is so intense she can't stand anymore. The connection that was supposed to bind her to Mason forever is being ripped apart from the inside. Every cell in her body is screaming in agony. Every part of her that was tied to him is being shredded.
She gasps for breath and can't find air.
Mason watches her fall to the ground and his face doesn't change. He looks at her like she's nothing. Like she's a stranger who means nothing to him. Like the girl he was going to spend his life with is already dead.
Derek comes forward and grabs Sarah's arm. He hauls her to her feet even though she's weak and broken. The two enforcers move to stand on either side of her like she's a prisoner. Like she's dangerous. Like she needs to be controlled.
The pack watches this happen.
Sarah sees their faces. Some look angry. Some look confused. Some look betrayed. The people she's been healing for years. The pack she was going to be mate to. The life she was going to build. All of them are looking at her like she's a monster.
Mason tells the crowd to clear the way. He tells them to watch. He tells them to understand what happens when someone betrays the pack. He tells them to see what happens to a traitor.
Derek drags Sarah toward the gate. Sarah tries to pull away but she's exhausted and broken and the mate bond severing has left her weak. The enforcers grab her other arm. They drag her through the courtyard while the entire pack watches.
People don't say anything. Nobody defends her. Nobody asks questions. Nobody wants to be associated with the woman who just got rejected by the Alpha. That's what rejection means. That means she's toxic. That means she's dangerous. That means nobody can associate with her without being suspicious themselves.
Sarah sees Lily in the crowd and their eyes meet for just a second. Lily looks like she's crying. Lily looks like she wants to help. But Lily does nothing. Lily just watches.
They reach the gate and Derek releases her arm. He shoves her forward hard enough that she falls. Sarah crashes onto the ground outside the territory. She feels the boundary line between pack land and wild forest burning against her skin.
Derek looks down at her and tells her that she has until sunrise to get far away from this territory. He tells her that if she's found on pack land after sunrise, she will be hunted. He tells her that she will be killed on sight.
Then he turns and walks back inside the gate. The gate closes behind him with a sound that feels like a coffin lid slamming shut.
Sarah lies on the ground covered in blood and dirt and the remains of her white mating dress. The sun is coming up. The forest around her is dark and cold. She's alone now. More alone than she's ever been in her life.
She tries to stand and her legs won't work. She tries to call out and no sound comes. She tries to think and her mind is blank. The mate bond is gone. The pack is gone. The life she planned is gone. Everything that mattered is gone.
Sarah drags herself up and starts walking into the forest with nothing but the clothes on her back and a broken heart that feels like it will never heal.
She doesn't know it yet but her worst nightmare is just beginning.
And in five years when she returns as someone completely different, Mason won't recognize the powerful woman walking through his doors.
But he will recognize her scent.
And the dormant mate bond will wake up like it never died at all.