A tear slipped from Jade's eyes, then another, and another until it became a downpour.
She sobbed, her body trembling violently under the weight of her grief. The world blurred around her, swallowed by the pain that gnawed at her chest.
Caden was gone.
Her mate, her only source of joy was gone. He left, just like every other important person in her life.
She curled up at the doorway of their little home, waiting and hoping that maybe, just maybe this was all a cruel dream that any moment now, Caden would step through the door, hug her and kiss her temple just like he always did.
But he never did, he never would at least not anymore. He was gone, dead and there was no hope of ever seeing him, hugging him, or hearing his boisterous laughter
Her eyes ran out of tears but the heavy feeling in her chest never left.
She sat motionless, her eyes unfocused, lost in her world of grief, self-blame and self-loathing.
"Why did the moon Goddess hate her so much? What did she do to deserve such misfortune?"
She was an orphan with no wolf. Her guardian and the only family she had ever known had died and now her mate?
Jade had never asked for much. All she ever wanted was a family's love, a wolf of her own, and a mate who would cherish her. But fate had denied her the most vital part of her identity—her wolf. Without it, she couldn't sense or properly bond with a mate, a cruel reality that left her feeling incomplete in a world where wolves thrived on connection.
Caden had been her light source in her dark world and the vibrant colours in her dull grey world. Just when she thought she had it all, a mate of her own, love, warmth and a home and her own little family, fate snatched it away cruelly leaving her with endless pain and grief.
Her guardian, grandma Edna had left her pack to raise a wolfless wolf showering her with all the love she could give. Despite Grandma Edna's efforts, Jade grew up keenly aware that she was different from the people around her, the speed, super strength, the agility, fast healing, sensitive hearing and smell, or the heightened vision? These weren't normal with humans then she got to know she was a werewolf but one born without a wolf.
Her visits to Grandma Edna's pack was a constant reminder that she was different neither fitting in with humans nor with werewolves.
The constant derisive stares, the finger pointing and the whispers did not go unnoticed by Jade.
"She's broken."
"A pup without a wolf is no better than a human."
"She'll never have a mate."
Jade told herself she didn't care. She had Granny Edna, and that was enough.
Then, at fifteen, she lost her.
With Edna gone, Jade had no pack, no family, no place to return to. The pack had tolerated her presence only because of the old woman, and now they turned their backs without hesitation.
So Jade learned to survive.
She drifted through towns, taking whatever jobs she could find, constantly moving, never staying long enough to grow roots. Nights were the hardest—when the loneliness weighed on her chest like a stone, when she longed for the warmth of a bond she would never have.
She craved what had always been denied to her—a family, a wolf of her own, a mate to share her soul with.
Her once colorful life faded into dull grays.
Until Caden walked into it.
He was everything she had ever wanted—kind, strong, unwavering. He saw her in a way no one else had, not as a girl without a wolf, but as someone worthy of love.
"You're mine," he had told her, his grey eyes burning with certainty. "Even if you can't feel the bond, I can."
And she believed him.
With Caden, the world became vibrant again. He filled her empty spaces, painted over her loneliness with colors she never knew existed. He made her believe that perhaps fate hadn't been so unkind after all.
When he marked her, sealing their bond, she thought she had finally found her forever.
Then he took her home to Shadowfang.
The pack did not welcome her, but she convinced herself they would, with time. She had Caden, and that was all that mattered.
Two weeks later, he was dead.
She was again left alone in this uncaring world.
Preparation for his funeral was underway. Caden was one of the best warriors in the pack, favoured by men and women young and old. He would be sent off by the entire pack. A date had be chosen.
The entire pack would gather at the clearing behind the pack house and bury him according to the funeral rites of the pack.
The day for his final rites finally arrived. The entire pack was gathered at the clearing behind the pack. Jade slowly made her way there wanting to bid Caden his final farewell, but she was stopped by some of the pack guards.
"You are not allowed to be here" One of the guards said, his jaw tight.
"Why can't I?" jade responded softly.
"Alpha's orders"
"But that is my mate we are talking about" She responded with tears in her eyes.
"Your mate?" The guard sneered.
"You know as well as we do that he wasn't yours, you killed him. You. It's all your fault and now you want to strut in here acting like the victim" He continued, the malice in words enough to suffocate Jade.
"I didn't, no I, I, I didn't" jade muttered shaking her head hysterically.
"Get out of here and keep your drama with you" Another guard chimed in.
"Get her out of here and see to it that she is locked up and unable to cause any more trouble" The leading guard ordered impatiently.
Two guards went forward and roughly grabbed her by the arms dragging her away despite her tears and struggles.
They threw her into the cold, damp dungeon under the packhouse, locking her behind heavy iron bars.
Jade cried and begged, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
No one pitied her.
No one cared.
They believed she had gotten exactly what she deserved.