Chapter 22: The Ritual
They drag Justin down.
Force him to his knees across from her.
Tristana fights until her throat is raw. "Stop! You're hurting him—please!"
Her father's voice is merciless.
"This is for the good of the pack."
Justin's gaze locks onto hers.
"It's okay," he says, even now. "I'm right here."
The lie nearly destroys her.
A blade is placed in Shea's hand—ancient, carved with runes.
"Two souls bound by fate," he intones, "can be severed… if one is made to reject the other."
Tristana freezes.
"No…" she whispers.
Justin's expression shifts—panic, real panic, finally breaking through.
"Shea, don't you dare—"
The blade cuts into Justin's chest—not deep enough to kill.
Deep enough to anchor the bond.
He gasps, body arching in pain.
"Tristana," her father says, stepping toward her, voice low and lethal, "reject him."
Her world stops.
"I can't," she sobs.
"You will," Cristoff says softly behind her, gripping her hair, forcing her head back. "Or I start with him."
Justin grits his teeth through the pain. "Don't do it. Don't let them take this from us."
Her heart shatters.
"They'll kill you," she cries.
"I'd rather die as yours," he says, voice breaking, "than live as nothing to you."
The bond pulses violently between them—desperate, terrified.
Alive.
She feels every beat of his heart.
Every breath.
Every ounce of love.
And she is about to destroy it.