Chapter Four
1248 Words
The rejection did not end in the grand hall, that was the cruelest part. It followed Gabrielle back
to the servant quarters, clung to her skin, wrapped around her lungs until breathing felt like work.
Every whisper she passed sliced deeper than claws ever could.
Rejected mate.
Human filth.
A mistake the moon should never have made. She locked herself inside the narrow servant room
and slid down the door, hugging her knees to her chest as the silence closed in. Her body shook
violently, not from cold but from something else.
The ache beneath her skin had returned, sharper now, more demanding. It pulsed in her chest,
low in her stomach, between her ribs, an insistent, unbearable pull that made her gasp and curl
inward.
She pressed her palm against her chest.
“Please,” she whispered to no one. “Make it stop.”
It didn’t,The bond screamed.
Every heartbeat felt wrong, incomplete, as if half of her had been torn away and was bleeding
somewhere she couldn’t reach. Heat flooded her veins, then receded, then surged again, each
wave stronger than the last.
Outside, the moon climbed higher, brighter, full..
Gabrielle staggered to her feet, nearly collapsing as dizziness hit her hard. Her reflection in the
cracked mirror startled her, her eyes were too bright and her skin glowed faintly, as if lit from
beneath. Her pendant burned against her chest.
Memories rose unsolicited. Her mother standing at the window during full moons, face pale with
fear. Her whispered warnings, the way she had clutched Gabrielle on nights like this, murmuring
prayers under her breath.
“Hide yourself”, her mother had said once. “Never let them see what you are.”
Tears streamed down Gabrielle’s face.
“I don’t know what I am,” she sobbed.
The air shifted. The door creaked open.
Gabrielle spun around, terror gripping her heart — and froze.
Caden Blackwood stood in the doorway. He looked nothing like the untouchable Alpha heir from
the hall, his hair was disheveled, his breathing uneven. His eyes no longer silver, but hazel,
glowing so brightly they illuminated the shadows around him.
He looked… feral.
“Caden,” she whispered, backing away instinctively.
The door shut behind him with a soft, final click.
“I tried not to come,” he said hoarsely. “I swear to the gods, I tried.”
Each word sounded torn from him. He took a step forward.
Gabrielle pressed herself against the wall, heart racing violently. The pull between them surged,
so intense it made her gasp.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said, though her voice trembled. “You made it clear how you feel.”
His jaw tightened.
“You think I don’t feel this?” he snapped, then immediately softened, pain flickering across his
face. “You think rejecting you stopped the bond?”
Another step. Another surge.
Her knees weakened.
“Please,” she whispered. “If you’re here to hurt me—”
“I would rather tear my own heart out,” he interrupted, fists clenched so tightly his hands shook.
“But the moon doesn’t care about what I want.”
A sharp ache flared inside Gabrielle. She cried out as pain exploded through her chest, sharp and
blinding.
Caden moved instantly, catching her as her legs gave way.
The moment she touched him…Everything shattered.
The bond roared to life, wild and uncontrollable. Heat surged through Gabrielle’s body like
lightning, making her arch against him with a sob. His arms tightened around her automatically,
instinct overriding reason.
“Don’t,” he groaned. “gods, don’t move like that.”
She clutched his shirt desperately, overwhelmed. “I don’t understand what’s happening to me.”
His voice broke. “Neither do I.”
Her pendant flared unbearably hot, Gabrielle screamed.
Pain ripped through her veins violently, forcing her body to convulse as silver light burst from
beneath her skin. The room trembled. The air thickened, charged with ancient power. Caden
staggered back, staring at her in horror.
“Moon above…” he whispered. “What are you?”
Before she could answer, the pain became unbearable. Her scream tore from her throat as she
collapsed to the floor, body wracked with violent spasms. It felt like her bones were burning, her
blood igniting, her very soul being pulled apart and remade.
“Stop,” she sobbed. “Please”
Caden dropped to his knees beside her.
“I can’t,” he said, anguish raw in his voice. “The moon is demanding you.”
His wolf surged forward, furious, desperate, possessive.
The bond snapped tight, Caden’s fangs descended.
The bite was agony.
White-hot pain exploded through Gabrielle’s neck as she screamed, the sound echoing through
the servant wing. Her body arched violently as the mark burned into her skin, carving scar nto
flesh.
She didn’t faint. She felt everything.
The pain… and then—
Warmth. Connection.
A flood of power so intense it stole her breath. The ache vanished, replaced by something heavy
and unbreakable, a bond deeper than blood, older than packs, older than kings.
Caden froze. His breath hitched sharply
Caden staggered back as the bond settled, his chest heaving violently.
He had marked her, not out of strategy, not out of duty, but out of desperation.
“This was not supposed to happen,” he muttered, running a shaking hand through his hair. His
wolf raged inside him, pacing, snarling, demanding more, demanding her. “I was supposed to
protect you from this.”
Gabrielle lay motionless for a moment, her body trembling faintly as silver light faded beneath
her skin. Her breathing slowly evened out, but her face remained pinched in pain, lashes damp
with tears that hadn’t yet dried.
Guilt slammed into him like a physical blow.
The pack would feel this.
Already, distant howls echoed through the night, alarmed, confused, furious. Wolves stirring,
elders waking, questions forming.
A rejected mate had been marked. That alone was treason.
And if they discovered what she was…Caden’s jaw clenched hard enough to ache.
“My father will kill you,” he whispered, staring down at her unconscious form. “And if he
can’t… he’ll use you.”
He knelt beside the bed, fists pressing into the mattress as he struggled to steady his breathing.
He had faced wars, rebellions, assassination attempts and none of them had terrified him like
this.
Because this time, the threat wasn’t to his throne.
It was to her life.
Gabrielle stirred, a soft sound slipping from her lips. Instinctively, Caden reached out, brushing
his thumb gently over her cheek. The bond responded instantly, warm and insistent, curling
around his heart like chains.
His touch lingered.
“I won’t let them touch you,” he vowed quietly. “Even if I have to tear this pack apart.”
Outside, the moon burned bright and merciless.
And somewhere deep within Gabrielle Stone, something ancient smiled.
The bond locked, fully , Irrevocably.
Gabrielle started to feel exhausted. As her eyes fluttered shut, she murmured, “You said you
would never accept me.”
Pain carved his face.
“I lied,” he whispered. “To everyone. Including myself.”
He carried her to the bed and laid her down gently, brushing damp hair from her face. For a
moment, he simply stared at her, chest tight, heart hammering.
“What have you done, Caden Blackwood?” he murmured.
The answer came swiftly.
Everything.
- Writer
