Mated To The Vengeful Wolf King

The Pull Of The Bond

Alaric's POV:

I sat on the highest branch of an ancient oak, its gnarled arms stretching above the sea of green below. A cigarette hung loosely between my fingers, smoke curling lazily into the twilight sky. The forest was quiet, almost too quiet, and it only made the emptiness inside me feel all the more hollow.

Seven hundred years.

I had slept for seven hundred years, and I had thought that was the worst of it—until I woke up. Now, awake, I felt nothing but the disgust of an existence that shouldn't have been.

But this feeling, this emptiness, this... irritation, it wasn’t the same. It was worse.

Damn Liana.

I took a long drag from the cigarette, feeling the burn settle in my lungs. Ever since she’d been out of my sight, it felt as if there was a hole inside of me, something clawing at the edges of my sanity.

“You know why you feel this way.” Hades, my wolf, growled in the back of my mind. He was restless, always pacing, always urging, demanding what I refused to acknowledge.

“I don’t need your lectures, Hades.” I muttered aloud, flicking the cigarette butt into the wind. The ember spiraled down into the dark, disappearing just like the sense of control I thought I had.

“She’s your Mate, Alaric. It’s not just a feeling—it’s a bond, and you’re trying to sever it. But you can’t.” Hades’s voice was low, filled with a warning that made my jaw tighten. “You can’t pretend she doesn’t matter.”

“She doesn’t.” I snapped, the words tasting like ash on my tongue. “She’s just... another distraction.”

“Liar.” Hades hissed, and I could feel his fury simmering beneath my skin, threatening to break free. “You feel it, don’t you? That ache? That emptiness that grows worse with every minute she’s away?”

I ignored him, grinding my teeth against the truth of his words. I’d thought that hunting down Cassia Zubin would give me the satisfaction I craved—the revenge that had burned in my veins for centuries. But she’d slipped away, just like all the rest.

The descendants of those who had cursed me were slippery and cunning, and they’d always found a way to escape my grasp.

Sitting here, the thrill of the hunt had evaporated, leaving only the dull ache in my chest. I crushed another cigarette beneath my hand and moved to light another when suddenly, a sharp, twisting pain cut through me. I doubled over, nearly falling from the tree, the agony stealing my breath.

“What... the hell...?” I gasped, my vision blurring as I tried to steady myself.

“Liana.” Hades whispered, his voice trembling. “She’s in pain. You are feeling it because of the bond.”

“Damn it.” I groaned, sliding down from the tree and landing heavily on the ground below. Every step I took sent another wave of pain through me, searing my insides as if my very soul was being shredded. “This is her fault.” I ground out, even as the pain intensified, nearly sending me to my knees.

“She’s hurting, Alaric.” Hades growled. “Go to her. Now.”

“No!” I snarled, refusing to let him sway me. “I don’t need to—”

Another wave of pain hit me, harder this time, and I fell to the ground, writhing in agony. My breaths came in ragged gasps as I tried to focus, to regain control, but the pain only grew worse, slicing through me like a thousand blades.

“Go to her!” Hades roared, his fury shaking my mind, making my vision blur. “You’re killing her! You’re killing us!”

“I can’t.” I whispered, my voice hoarse and weak. “I won’t be a slave to this... this bond.”

The pain intensified, and I rolled onto my back, feeling the cold earth beneath me. I tried to stand, but my legs ached, sending me crashing back down to the forest floor. Hades’s presence swelled within me, his anger, his desperation, his rage clawing at my mind, urging me to move—to go to her.

But I was still in control. I had to be.

“She’s dying!” Hades howled, his voice echoing in my skull as I lay there, motionless. “Can’t you feel it? The bond is breaking!”

“I don’t care.” I lied, forcing myself to breathe through the pain. “Let it break.”

But then, all at once, the pain stopped. The air around me was suddenly still, and a cold emptiness settled deep in my chest. A darkness, as if something essential had been snuffed out. My body went still, and I stared up at the sky above, my breaths coming in short, shallow gasps. I was free of the pain... but something was wrong.

Something was terribly wrong.

“The bond.” Hades whispered, his voice barely audible, filled with a sadness I hadn’t thought him capable of. “It’s dying. She’s dying.”

“No!” I said, my voice breaking as I sat up, suddenly aware of the emptiness that felt like a gaping wound inside of me.

I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t think.

Without another word, I was on my feet, running—running faster than I ever had before. The forest blurred around me, the trees turning into a dark haze as my feet pounded the ground.

Hades was silent, no longer urging me forward, and I realized that he was afraid too—afraid of what we would find when we reached her. The thought only made me run faster, my legs burning with the effort, my breath coming in ragged gasps.

I had to get to her.

I had to find her.

The pain in my chest grew weaker. The land shifted, the forest giving way to open fields, and then, finally, the hill overlooking the city came into view.

My feet slowed, and I came to a stop at the top, my chest heaving as I looked down at Ronan’s territory sprawled out below.

I was back.

I was here, standing on the edge of my enemy’s domain, staring down at the city that held my Mate captive.

Why am I here? I asked myself, but I knew the answer, even if I didn’t want to admit it.

My hands clenched into fists, and I felt Hades stirring restlessly within me, waiting for my command.

“She’s there.” He said softly. “We need her.”

“No.” I said, but my voice was weak, even to my own ears. I should have left. I should have turned around and walked away. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the city below.

I took a deep breath, feeling the wind against my face, and then, without a second thought, I spoke the words that sealed my fate. “I’ll launch an attack.” I said quietly. “And I’ll bring my Mate back.”

For the first time since I woke from my cursed slumber, I was afraid—truly afraid. The Wolf King feared nothing, but the thought of losing Liana was enough to make me tremble.

How pathetic.

But there was no turning back now. I would take back what was mine.

No matter the cost.