Bonds

Chapter One

~Four years ago~

~Maya’s POV~

It rained on the day I died.

People die in different ways, mine was one of the most painful kinds. My heart was ripped out and shredded into a million pieces right in front of me.

“Alex, please don’t do this to me,” I begged running after him, “Please I am begging you. I have nowhere to go.”

He turned to me, his blue eyes now as cold as ice stared at me. Gone was the warmth that made me feel safe whenever he held me to his chest, whispering just how much he loved me.

“Alex,” I whispered his name again.

“You are starting to irritate me. Do not make me throw you out, Maya.”

Maya.

The sound of my name on his lips was another painful stab to my heart. He hadn’t called me by my real name in the three years we had been married.

My begging was getting me nowhere I realized. Standing to my feet, I wiped the tears from my cheeks.

“You are really going to do this to me after everything we have been through together? After everything I gave up just to be with you?”

He didn’t say anything. He simply stared through me like I didn’t exist. Like I was nothing.

I stared at him. He looked the same. The same man I had fallen in love with. The same man I had turned my back on my entire pack for just to be with yet he was so different.

There had been so much whispers after the announcement of our engagement but the center of it all was that I was a gold digging stripper that had dug her claws into one of the most eligible billionaires in the city but neither Alex nor I had cared.

He kissed me two months after that and claimed me as his.

“You and I against the world silver.. Always and forever,” he had whispered just before he entered me for the first time.

We had both made sacrifices for love and I was not going to let him destroy it.

“You cannot just discard me like I am nothing to you,” I said finally, hoping to get a reaction from him but there was nothing.

“Do you have nothing else to say?”

Silence hung between us, almost suffocating me then finally he walked towards the table, grabbing a brown envelope and in that cold and detached voice, “My signature is already on it. Sign it and don’t let me see you ever again.”

“We can fix whatever is wrong. Tell me what happened. You can’t just leave then return only to tell me you are ending our marriage and then throw divorce papers in my face. Please let me fix it. Whatever it is.” I tried to step forward but halted in my step when I saw the flash of black in his eyes.

reminded me of the most important detail of our relationship,

making me wish I hadn’t said that because the next words that

you Amaya Stone and from this moment,

back on my knees gasping for air. I had

howling in pain as I struggled to

her out of my

two strong hands pick me from

gasped

see her again.” Those were the last words that echoed in my head and that was the last time I saw Alex

That night… It rained.

night.. I

***************

back home. I have found a man

when my father’s hard tone sounded through the phone again, “Amaya

Yes father

have known immediately I saw Daniel Stones’ name on my phone. My father hardly ever called and when

will the wedding take place? Who is he?”

I will send a car to fetch you before the week runs out. Be prepared and do not keep me

Like a

father. Am I

before ending the call and I let out a

to fight. To say no. That I wouldn’t be part of an arranged marriage to a man that I did not know but there was no fire left in

Ivy and Nathan. I knew my father wouldn’t approve of me bringing them to his house. The

my brain, I quickly scrolled through the limited number

miss you so, so much! Oh my goodness, are you at my doorstep right now? Please tell me you’re here! Wait, no, wait a sec, I’m not even home.

down my ever-excited best friend, “Could you maybe give me a chance

am—I just can’t help it. I

I interjected again, gently teasing her, “You’re doing

ears now. You have the

felt like she could fill an empty room with her energy, and I couldn’t help

a long, deep sigh, picturing Natalia’s face in my mind. I knew her

voice flowed through the

hesitating as I felt the weight of his demand settling over me, “he wants me… he wants me to

silence spoke volumes before she finally broke it, her voice

sinking into my heart like heavy stones. “Make the same mistake again,” I whispered, feeling the sting of resentment, “get married, but

name like a

words. It felt like Natalia and I had honed this psychic connection from the very first day we

feeling her understanding seep through the line. “After everything I did… I turned my back on my entire pack, and he still

you away to live in isolation isn’t exactly an act of reconciliation,” Natalia retorted, her voice a mix of frustration and empathy. “Your parents left you to raise the

cut in, her words gentle yet firm, “You did it for love. You loved

his name for a new wave of pain to wash through

the weight of my decision heavy in my chest. “He

it

have laughed if the situation had

know I wouldn’t bother you if I had any other

yourself? Please, please say yes. I’ve been dying to see you for ages. It’s been over a year and I really want to hug you and you don’t even have to stress about Nate. You know how much he loves you. Sometimes, I’m convinced it’s even more than he loves me,