Chapter 233

Chapter 233:

“You…” I couldn’t find the words. “You used me. For what? To become stronger? To have more power p>

She didn’t even flinch. She didn’t even look sorry.

“Jasmine, you’ve never understood what was at stake. You were always blinded by that foolish belief in love,” she sneered. “Love doesn’t matter. What matters is power. What matters is loyalty to the pack. And you were always meant to be part of this p>

The world collapsed around me. Every word, every syllable, drove the knife deeper. She had never loved me. Not the way a mother should.

She had always seen me as a tool.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. But what was the point?

Nothing mattered anymore. Not my past, not the future I had dreamed of with Ryder. None of it mattered.

This was my reality now. And it was worse than anything I could’ve ever feared.

RYDER POV

The pain hit me out of nowhere.

One moment, I was standing outside the gates of Silverclaw, strategizing our next move, and the next, it felt like someone had ripped my heart out with their bare hands. A sharp, burning ache spread through my chest, searing me from the inside out. I gasped, my knees almost buckling under the weight of it.

No. No. This isn’t right.

I clutched my chest, my fingers digging into the fabric of my shirt as if that could stop the agony tearing through me.

Then I felt it—the bond. The precious thread connecting me to Jasmine, the one thing that kept us together no matter how far apart we were, was… gone. It was like a rope snapped inside my soul, leaving me grasping at frayed edges that no longer existed.

Ace roared so loudly inside my head I thought my skull would split in two. His fury was volcanic, hot and blistering, surging through me like wildfire.

“YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!” Ace’s voice was a snarl of pure rage, his words echoing through my mind, each one hitting harder than the last. “You let her slip away! Our mate! Our everything p>

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My vision blurred, red creeping into the edges. The pain in my chest throbbed in sync with my heartbeat, every pulse a brutal reminder of what I was losing.

Jasmine.

I tried to focus on the bond, to feel even a hint of her presence, but there was nothing. Just cold, hollow emptiness where her warmth should be. I felt like I was drowning in the emptiness she left behind.

Why? Why the hell did this happen? What have they done to her?

How did this happen?

“Ryder!” My Beta, Kade, shouted, grabbing my arm to steady me. His eyes were wide with panic. “What’s wrong p>

I could barely form the words. My jaw clenched so hard I thought my teeth would shatter. “She’s… gone p>

Kade’s face paled. “What do you mean ‘gone p>

I shook my head, trying to clear the fog of agony. “The bond… it’s broken. She’s been blood tied p>

A vicious growl tore from my throat, raw and desperate. Ace howled within me, a sound of anguish and fury that rattled my bones. He was clawing to get out, to take control and destroy whoever dared to take Jasmine from us. But I couldn’t let him. Not yet.

“You failed her,” Ace spat, his voice dripping with venom. “You thought you had time. You thought you could outsmart them. And now she’s gone p>