Contract Marriage With Alpha Snow - Chapter 408

Chapter 408: What Matters
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CHAPTER 407

~Zara’s POV~

Snow’s face hardened. “She is not my mate in the way you think, Zara.”

I scoffed. “Oh? Then what is she, Snow? How exactly is she now your mate, especially when you two have consummated the mate bond?”

He hesitated. And that hesitation said everything.

I shook my head. “That’s what I thought.”

Snow’s grip tightened, desperate now. “Zara, be reasonable.” He was about to say something else when realisation dawned on him. “Your… your necklace, Zara. Your protective necklace I gifted you for Valentine’s Day?”

Does it matter if I am wearing it or not? After all, witches had attacked me since then, and nothing stopped them.” Hurt flashed in his eyes.

“But what if that was your protective charm? Since you didn’t wear it, maybe that was why you were attacked?”

“I highly doubt that.”

“Really?” He bridged the gap between us, taking my hand in his. “Zara, listen to reason.”

I lifted my chin. “I am listening to reasoning,” I snapped more than I had planned. “That’s why I’m here. There’s one last thing left to do.”

Snow’s blue eyes darkened. He knew. Still, he played dumb. “What?”

I inhaled sharply. “I am here to break the mate bond, Snow. Let’s move on for good.”

The air in the room shifted.

Snow’s entire body went rigid, his eyes widening slightly in shock.

“Zara…”

“Face it, Snow.” I took a step back, watching the way panic flickered in his gaze. “Even the Moon Goddess never wanted me to be yours. That’s why—”

“That’s why I want to prove her wrong.” His voice was low and fierce.

I froze. “Really? How were you planning on doing so? By divorcing me?”

Snow’s gaze locked onto mine, unwavering. “I never wanted to divorce you,” he said quietly. “You wanted it. You pushed for it. And besides…” He hesitated, something flashing in his blue depths.

“Besides what?” I pressed.

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

But it did. He was hiding something from me and I really needed to know what it was. So, instead, I pulled my wrist from his grasp. “Fine. Then let’s end it now.”

His eyes burned into mine, but I held my ground. My voice came out calm and steady as I proceeded with the much-awaited plan I had.

“I, Zara Gold-Zephyr, reject you, Alpha Snow Zephyr, as my chosen mate.”

The second the words left my lips, pain seared through me. It was instantly painful like a dagger slicing through my chest, tearing apart something unseen, something binding.

Snow winced.

I saw the pain flash across his face. He felt it. We were still connected. It wasn’t just my suffering. He was feeling it, too.

“Zara…” His voice was almost pleading.

I clenched my fists, pushing past the burning agony in my chest. “Snow, do it.”

He stood frozen, staring at me like he wanted to say something. Like he wanted to stop this.

I lifted my chin higher, my voice dropping into something cold. “Do it, Snow.”

Silence, and then he did it. His jaw tightened. His body straightened as his blue eyes locked onto mine, void of hesitation now.

“I, Snow Zephyr, accept your rejection.”

The final snap of the bond shattered through me, a sharp, tearing sensation deep in my core. What’s more, the mark on my neck burned intensely as it began to fade until it disappeared.

I didn’t move. Didn’t dare breathe. And neither did Snow. We just stood there. Two people who once belonged to each other.

Now? Strangers.

I exhaled, turned on my heel, and walked out of his study without looking back. And just as I left, I heard him call my name one last time in the sweetest way possible and it hurt even more. Hurt that I had broken away from this man.

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~Snow’s POV~

I sat in my study, gripping the edge of my desk so tightly that my knuckles turned white. The moment Zara left me in the living room, I wanted nothing more than to go after her.

I wanted to storm into her room, grab her, throw her over my shoulder, and drive off—somewhere far, somewhere only the two of us existed—another one of my secret houses.

I would lock us inside. I would kiss her until she forgot why she wanted to leave.

I would make love to her—desperate, angry, passionate love—until she realised that no matter what she said, no matter what the Moon Goddess planned, she was mine.

But I held myself back because I was afraid, not of her. But of her rejection. Of the way she had looked at me—cold, determined and done.

Glacier was restless inside me, pacing, his growls low and sharp. “Go after her. Claim her again.”

“She rejected me,” I said through gritted teeth. “What the hell do you want me to do?”

“Fix it.”

I clenched my jaw. I didn’t need my wolf to tell me that. I already knew. I needed to get her back.

But how? How do I undo the damage I had done? How do I erase the pain I had caused her?

How did I make her mine again? I barely had time to gather my thoughts when I felt her presence outside my study.

My breath hitched as she knocked.

For a second, I didn’t move. I wanted to run to the door. But I forced myself to stay calm.

“Come in,” I said, my voice rougher than I intended.

The door creaked open. And then—there she was. Her blonde hair framed her face in soft waves, her blue eyes piercing but guarded.

The moment she stepped inside, I felt it. The mate bond between us was still there, lingering. Even though our actions had torn it apart, my soul still ached for her.

I took a step forward, my chest tightening. “Zara.”

She stood firm, but I could see the flicker of hesitation in her eyes. Good. She still felt something.

“I’m leaving,” she announced.

My jaw clenched. No. Not like this.

“It’s late,” I tried to reason with her.

“It doesn’t matter.”

It damn well did.