Chained by Bond

Chapter 10

Days passed, and there was still no sign of Drogo; the uneasiness was palpable across the pack, and everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Silver was with her father when a guard came to inform her about Arthur requesting her presence. Her father nodded, signalling for her to go.

“I will be back father,” she said as she closed the door on her way out.

There was no sound except their boots crunching on the gravel beneath them at the training ground. Arthur had called her to train her for self-defence. They were quiet the entire time, until he circled her slowly. His gaze was sharp while she was trying to steady her stance.

“I can see your guard dropping; it should not be dropping,” he said, curtly. He closed the distance between them, his hands brushing slightly over hers as he fixed her arm, guiding her stance. His touch lingered a little beat, and Silver felt herself stiffen.

She brushed it off, trying to play it cool, as her pulse quickened at the contact. “Since when are you so civil?”

Arthur rubbed his chin, the veins of his hands popping with each movement. He squinted his eyes and said. “Since keeping you safe and alive is more important than my pride.”

Silver’s breath caught. His words struck deeper than they should have. She caught his gaze, storm-grey and strangely unguarded, like thunderclouds holding back rain. “You’ve changed,” she whispered, unsure if she wanted him to hear.

Arthur’s lips parted, but no words came. He looked at her like he was standing on a ledge, one step away from something he couldn’t take back. Finally, he muttered, “Or maybe I’ve just stopped lying to myself.”

Silver’s heartbeat stuttered. Her throat went dry. She searched his face, desperately wanting to ask what he meant, but before she could, he turned sharply away, his voice rough.

“Again,” he ordered, slipping the mask back into place. “Guard up.”

Later that evening, the tension followed her like a shadow. She had barely stepped out of the training grounds when Ronan found her leaning against the fence, catching her breath. His golden-brown eyes swept over her, instantly narrowing when he spotted the faint bruises on her arms.

“He’s pushing you too hard again,” Ronan said, striding to her side. He reached out, his fingers brushing the mark on her wrist with a gentleness that made her want to crumble. “I told you, Silver. You don’t need him. You have me.”

She let out a tired laugh, but it came out hollow. “It’s not that simple.”

Ronan’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t let go of her wrist. “It is. He rejected you. Whatever guilt he suddenly feels, it doesn’t erase what he did. I was here when you broke, Silver. I’m still here. Always.

And yet, Arthur’s voice still echoed in her mind. Since it matters more if you survive…

The Alpha’s quarters were suffocating. Stone walls, heavy doors, guards stationed outside, it was less of a home and more of a cage. Silver paced by the window, staring at the forest beyond the boundary line. Freedom stretched just beyond her reach.

Arthur’s voice broke the silence. “You’re wearing a hole in the floor.”

She spun, frustration flashing. “Maybe if you let me step outside like a normal wolf, I wouldn’t need to.”

His expression didn’t shift, but his arms crossed over his chest, the authority in his stance unyielding. “You know why you can’t.”

Silver’s throat tightened. “Because Drogo wants me.” Her voice cracked on the name. She hated how it made her sound weak. “But hiding me here doesn’t change what I am, or what I’m not.”

Arthur’s gaze sharpened, though his tone was low, steady. “And what do you think you’re not?”

She swallowed hard, forcing the words out. “A wolf. At least, not a whole one. I don’t shift. I don’t fight like the others. I’m… a wolf without a wolf. Easy prey.”

Arthur stepped forward, closing the distance between them until she had to tilt her chin up. “Don’t ever call yourself prey.”

Her laugh was brittle. “Then what am I? A possession you lock away?”

The muscle in his jaw twitched, but he didn’t flinch from her challenge. “You’re not a possession. You’re…” He stopped himself, breaking eye contact for the first time. “…you’re under my protection. There’s a difference.”

Silver shook her head, anger and fear tangling inside her. “Protection feels a lot like prison when I can’t even breathe without your permission.”

Later that night, she caught him outside her door, posted like a sentinel.

“You don’t trust me to step outside for air?” she demanded.

Arthur’s reply was clipped. “I don’t trust the world not to take you from me.”

Her chest tightened. “From you,” she repeated softly. “Not the pack. Not the rogues. From you.”

For once, Arthur didn’t have a retort. His silence was louder than any words.

Ronan’s eyes softened, but there was steel beneath his words. “You’re not less for what you can’t do. You’re Silver. You’ve always been enough.”

Her breath caught. For a moment, she let herself lean into his warmth, into the steadiness that had always been there. “Then why does it feel like I’m waiting to be claimed, by Drogo, by Arthur, by everyone but me?”

Ronan’s hand brushed hers, tentative but deliberate. “Because you’ve been told you’re incomplete. But you’re not. You’ve never been.”

Her lips parted, but before she could respond, Arthur’s voice cut through the space like a blade.

“Enough.”

Both turned to find him at the edge of the courtyard, his eyes fixed on their joined hands. His voice was low, dangerous. “Silver doesn’t need empty reassurances. She needs safety.”

Ronan squared his shoulders. “And maybe she needs more than your chains to feel it.”

The corridors of the Alpha quarters were quiet, too quiet. Silver lay awake on her bed, staring at the carved ceiling beams, her chest tightening with every whisper that seemed to slither into her mind. At first, she thought it was just her imagination, her insecurities gnawing at her like they always did. A wolf without a wolf. A broken mate. A liability.

But tonight, the whispers felt… alive.

“You hear them too, don’t you?” she murmured to herself, curling her knees to her chest.

The door opened without warning. Arthur stepped in, arms folded, eyes narrowing at her restless movements.

“You’re pacing holes in the floor of my patience. What’s wrong with you now?”

She flinched. “Do you… do you hear anything?”

His expression hardened. “What kind of question is that?”

“I mean it, Arthur.” She sat up quickly, her voice sharp, almost desperate. “Whispers. Like someone’s trying to… to crawl inside my head. It’s not just me, is it?”

Arthur crossed the room in a few strides. His hand gripped her wrist, steady but firm. “Look at me.”

She met his gaze, her pulse racing.

“No one is in your head,” he said lowly, as if trying to will the words into her bones. “You’re exhausted. Doubting yourself. That’s all this is.”

But her eyes shimmered with panic. “What if it’s not? What if it’s him? Drogo.” The name alone sent a shiver across her skin. “You don’t understand, sometimes it feels like he’s calling me. Like he wants me broken.”

Arthur’s jaw tightened. For a moment, his grip on her wrist softened, thumb brushing against her skin in a way he probably didn’t even notice.

“That’s exactly why you’re not allowed outside the Alpha quarters. Do you think I keep you here because I enjoy playing warden?”

“You act like it!” she snapped, pulling her hand back. “You lock me away. You give orders like I’m a child. You don’t even let me breathe without your permission.”

Arthur’s eyes burned. “Because if Drogo is reaching for you, every step outside these walls is an invitation for him to take you.”

Her chest heaved. “So what am I then, Arthur? A prisoner in your house? Or bait in someone else’s game?”

For once, he didn’t answer immediately. His silence unsettled her more than his temper ever could. Finally, he muttered, almost to himself:

“You’re something I can’t afford to lose.”

Silver froze. The words didn’t sound like him, not the Arthur who rejected her, not the Alpha who barked orders like knives. She stared, searching his face. “Why do you sound like you mean that?”

But before he could answer, the whisper returned. A voice curling through her mind like smoke: Little wolf… fragile wolf… you will be mine.

Silver’s breath hitched. Her nails dug into her arms. “Arthur, he’s here.”

Arthur’s hand cupped her jaw, forcing her eyes back to his. His voice was a growl, grounding and furious all at once. “Then fight him. Fight it. He can’t take what you don’t give.”

Tears pricked her eyes. “What if I’m not strong enough?”

“You are,” he snapped, and for once there was no command in his voice, only certainty, raw and unshaken. “And until you believe it, I’ll stand between you and him. Always.”

The whispers faded, but the echo of Arthur’s words clung to her chest, confusing her even more than Drogo’s magic.