"This is my den too. Your parents are my pack elders too. You're my bonded mate. What gives you the right to cast me out?"
Ronan's jaw tightened. He raked a hand through his dark hair, as if steeling himself for what came next.
"Everything you said is true. But you make people uncomfortable. Your scent upsets Ruth. So you have to go."
His tone was iron. Absolute. No room for argument. The voice of an Alpha giving a command.
It felt like a nightmare—but the ache in my chest told me it was all too real. The mate-bond between us twisted painfully, even as he rejected me.
I couldn't stop my voice from shaking. "You mean it?"
I rose to my feet, my eyes locked on his. I refused to submit, refused to look away first.
Ronan hesitated for three seconds. Then his resolve hardened, and I watched something in his golden eyes go cold. "I mean it. Every word."
A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it. I swiped it away with the back of my hand.
My hands clenched into fists at my sides. I gave myself a moment to breathe, to steady the trembling in my limbs.
Then I spoke, my voice steady despite everything. "Fine. If you've already chosen another to claim, I won't stay where I'm not wanted."