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.

surface reminded me of the most important

said that because the next words that came out from his

Stone and from

and painful, it had me falling back on my knees gasping for air. I had heard stories of rejection but

pain as I

out

strong hands pick

gasped out, “I’m..

ever let me see her again.” Those were the last words that echoed

That night… It rained.

night..

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

time for you to come back home. I have found a man for you

my father’s hard tone sounded

father I

on my phone. My father hardly ever called

Who is he?”

car to fetch you

Like a common

Am I

ending the call and I let

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 me. It had all burned out

I opened my eyes everyday were Ivy and Nathan. I knew my father wouldn’t approve of me bringing them to his house. The bastard children to your bastard husband

up solutions in my brain, I quickly scrolled through the

energy that could light up the whole city. “Amaya! I miss you so, so much! Oh my goodness, are you at my doorstep right now? Please tell me you’re

best friend, “Could

You know how I am—I just can’t help it. I get all hyper when you call, especially

gently teasing her,

all ears now. You

bubbling over with enthusiasm. It felt like she could fill an empty room with her energy, and I couldn’t help but smile

deep sigh, picturing Natalia’s face in my mind. I knew her eyes would have narrowed in

through the phone, laced

his demand settling over me, “he wants me… he wants

on the line felt heavy, the space between her breaths seemingly long. Her silence spoke volumes before she finally broke it, her voice gentle but laced

mind, the words sinking into my heart like heavy stones. “Make the same

name

and I had honed

the line. “After everything I did…

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 twins all

actions, but Natalia cut in, her words gentle yet firm, “You did it for love. You loved him, Amaya.

for a new wave of pain to wash through

decision heavy in my chest. “He said he would send a car to fetch me before the week

out a laugh but it sounded hollow, “Fetch

laughed if the situation had been

bother you if I had

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