“I won’t be here anymore, Cedar,” Lavender continued. “I won’t stand by and watch you tear me apart."
A heavy silence fell over the room. Cedar’s lips parted, as if he were about to say something, but the words never came. Instead, his eyes flashed with not just surprise but a flicker of panic.
For some reason, he felt the solid pain of the rejection even though he wasn't yet accepting it. He felt as if his soul was taken away in an instant. He didn't even see this one coming.
"H-How?" was the only question he managed to stammer out.
"You don't remember, do you?" Lavender chuckled bitterly. "I am a lunar wolf. I can reject my mate without their consent, and I have chosen to do so."
“Don’t do this." Cedar stood up slowly, unwrapping his arms around Fern. "We can work through it. I can fix this.”
“No.” Lavender shook her head. “I don’t need you to fix it. I don’t need you to make it better. I need to be free.”
Cedar’s mouth opened to counter, but then howls echoed through the forest. It was a sound of pure terror, and Lavender’s wolf growled dangerously in her mind.
“They are coming,” she whispered with closed eyes.