---- assassination of my parents- before they could challenge his throne. The truth shattered me. I didn't sleep that night. And by morning, I had made the most painful decision of my life- I would break the bond with Shawn. When I told him, he was devastated. He had pursued me for a year. He had claimed me when I finally opened my heart. Our bond was deep, unshakable-fated mates drawn together by destiny. He couldn't understand. He begged me not to do it. Promised to change anything I disliked. ---- Swore he would become the Lycan King-not for power, but to make me the Luna of all the packs. But he didn't know the truth. And I couldn't tell him. Because some wounds- go too deep for love to heal. However, he wouldn't let me go. He hovered around me constantly, refusing to give up. His presence haunted me, tearing me apart - caught between the mate I once loved, and the blood of my dead parents. To completely destroy his last shred of hope, I did something cruel. lasked one of my friends to pretend to be my mate. Then I looked Shawn in the eyes... and told him I had finally found my fated one. ---- He broke. He collapsed to his knees, clinging to my legs like a drowning man. "Kendra, no... You can't have found your mate so soon," he whispered, voice trembling. "T know what I feel. You're my destined mate- I'm sure you feel it too." His eyes searched mine, desperate, shattered. But I forced myself to look away. I wrapped my arms around my friend's and walked past him-heart aching, but face calm. I didn't return to school after that. When I finally came back, I heard he had left... Gone back to his grandfather's pack. And after that day- I never saw him again.