KAEL POV
The darkness was eating me alive from the inside.
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. The bond—the cursed, unwanted bond—was being ripped apart, and it felt like someone was tearing my soul in half with their bare hands.
Through the agony, I heard Zara screaming. Felt her terror flooding through our connection. She was trying to reach me, but Ryder held her back.
Good. Let her watch. Let her see what her accident had cost us both.
The leopard woman—Lysandra, my wolf whispered her name—stepped closer, her dark magic wrapping around the marks on my chest like thorny vines. Each pulse sent lightning through my veins.
"Stop fighting it, Alpha," Lysandra purred. "Your bond isn't even a day old. It'll snap like a twig, and you'll both die quickly. Well, relatively quickly."
"No!" Zara's voice cut through my pain. "Please! I'll do anything! Just stop hurting him!"
Through the bond, I felt something shift inside her. Power—raw and ancient—stirring awake like a sleeping dragon.
Lysandra felt it too. Her smile faltered.
Then Zara's marks exploded with golden light, so bright it filled the entire cave. The dark magic attacking our bond shattered like glass, and Lysandra flew backward, slamming into the stone wall.
The pain stopped.
I gasped, dragging air into my lungs, my heart hammering against my ribs. The marks on my chest were still there, still glowing, but the burning had stopped.
Zara collapsed beside me, her whole body shaking. "Did I... did I do that?"
Lysandra pulled herself up, blood dripping from her lip. Her jade eyes blazed with fury. "Impossible. You shouldn't have that much power yet. The bond isn't complete!"
"Get out of my den," I growled, forcing myself to stand even though my legs felt like water. "Now."
"The Council will hear about this, Kael." Lysandra's voice turned cold. "A forced bond. A human Tamer. Dark magic activation. They'll execute her at dawn, and you'll die with her."
She vanished in a swirl of purple smoke, leaving only the smell of rotting flowers behind.
Silence filled the cave.
Ryder stared at me, then at Zara, his face pale. "Kael, what just happened?"
"I don't know." I looked down at the girl still trembling on the ground. Through the bond, I felt her confusion, her fear, her guilt eating her alive.
She'd just saved my life. The same person who'd ruined it hours ago had saved it.
My wolf purred with satisfaction. Mate protected us. Good mate.
I wanted to argue, but I was too exhausted.
"Everyone out," I ordered. "Now."
Ryder hesitated. "But—"
"Out!"
He left, shooting Zara one last suspicious look before disappearing down the tunnel.
Finally, we were alone.
Zara hugged her knees to her chest, making herself small. "I'm sorry. I keep making everything worse."
"You saved me." The words tasted strange in my mouth.
"After I almost got you killed in the first place." She looked up at me with those honey-colored eyes, and I saw tears streaming down her face. "You should hate me. I hate me."
Through the bond, I felt the truth of that statement. She really did hate herself. Hated what she'd done. Hated being here. Hated that she couldn't fix any of it.
Something in my chest twisted painfully.
I sat down across from her, keeping distance between us even though the bond pulled us together like magnets. "You want to know about bonds?"
She nodded, wiping her eyes.
"Bonds are sacred. They're the most important thing in our world." I touched the marks on my chest—her marks. "When two people decide to bond, they perform rituals. Exchange vows. Ask permission from their families and the spirits. It takes weeks, sometimes months, to prepare."
"I didn't know," she whispered.
"I know." And through the bond, I knew she was telling the truth. "But that doesn't change what happened. You marked me. Your blood touched mine, and your Tamer magic activated. Now we're bonded whether we chose it or not."
"What does that mean exactly?"
"It means I feel what you feel. Your emotions are my emotions. Your pain is my pain. When you're scared, I want to protect you. When you're sad, I want to comfort you." I clenched my fists. "Even when I hate you for trapping me, I can't hurt you. My wolf won't let me. The bond won't let me. You're my mate now."
Her face crumbled. "I'm so sorry."
"Sorry doesn't change it." I stood up, pacing like a caged animal. "My pack wants you dead. The Council wants you dead. That leopard witch definitely wants you dead. And I'm the only thing standing between you and execution because killing you kills me."
"Then let me go." Her voice was small but determined. "Let me run. Maybe if I'm far enough away, the bond will break and—"
"It won't." I stopped pacing and looked at her. Really looked at her. She was tiny, barely reaching my chest. Covered in dirt and blood and strange tattoos that glowed with ancient power. Terrified out of her mind but still trying to protect me by offering to leave.
My dead mate had been brave like that too.
The memory stabbed through me like a knife, and Zara gasped—she'd felt it through the bond.
"You lost someone," she said quietly. "Someone you loved."
"Stay out of my memories."
"I'm not trying to! It just... happens." She stood up slowly, carefully, like approaching a wild animal. "I can feel a hole in your heart. Like something was torn away."
"My mate died two years ago." The words came out harsh. "Feral attack. I held her while she bled out, and I couldn't save her. I swore I'd never bond again. Never let anyone that close. And then you came along and forced it."
Understanding flooded her face. Then guilt so deep it made the bond ache. "No wonder you hate me."
"I should hate you." I stepped closer, drawn by the bond even as my mind screamed to keep distance. "I should let the Council execute you and end this nightmare."
"Then why don't you?" she challenged, lifting her chin.
"Because—" I stopped, the truth catching in my throat.
Through the bond, I felt her waiting. Hoping. Desperate for something, anything, that said she wasn't completely alone in this nightmare.
"Because my wolf has already claimed you," I finally admitted. "And wolves mate for life. Even when they don't want to. Even when it's forced. Even when it ruins everything."
She searched my face, and I felt her emotions shifting through the bond—fear giving way to something else. Determination. Hope. Gratitude.
"Then teach me," she said. "Teach me how to survive this world. Teach me how to control this power. Teach me how to be the mate you're stuck with so I'm not completely useless."
I wanted to say no. Wanted to throw her out and let fate take her.
But my wolf growled its refusal, and the bond pulsed with warmth at her words.
Before I could answer, footsteps thundered down the tunnel. Finn burst into the chamber, his eyes wild.
"Kael! The Council's coming now. They're not waiting until dawn." His voice cracked with panic. "They're bringing chains and execution blades, and they're demanding the human immediately."
Zara's fear exploded through the bond so violently it made me stagger.
"How long?" I demanded.
"Minutes. Maybe less." Finn looked at Zara with something like pity. "I'm sorry. I tried to argue but—"
The ground beneath us started glowing with purple symbols. The same dark magic Lysandra had used.
Zara grabbed my arm. "What's happening?"
"Teleportation circle." Ice flooded my veins. "They're bringing the execution here."
The symbols grew brighter, and figures started materializing in the light—Council members in ceremonial robes, guards with silver chains, and in the center, Lysandra with a smile that promised death.
"No running this time, Alpha," she announced. "The Council has voted. The human dies. Tonight."
I stepped in front of Zara, my wolf rising inside me ready to fight.
But then I felt it—more teleportation circles activating all around my den. Dozens of them. They were surrounding us, cutting off every escape route.
Through the bond, Zara's thought whispered clear as day: We're going to die, aren't we?
And I realized with horror that I didn't have an answer.
The Council guard stepped forward with execution chains that glowed with magic designed to kill Tamers.
And somewhere in the darkness outside, something roared—something that made even the Council members go pale.
Whatever was coming was worse than execution.
It was hunting us.