CURSED BOND

The pain hit like a blade to the ribs. One second I was asleep in my dorm bed at Blackridge Academy. The next, my chest split open with fire. “Mine.” The word wasn’t spoken out loud. It slammed into my skull, rough and possessive. I stumbled out of bed, my legs shaking. My wolf clawed at the surface, panicked, terrified, and desperate all at once. Outside, the sky bled red. The Blood Moon. It only happened once every seven years. And on this night, fate decided to ruin my life. I ran to the window. Below, the academy grounds were silent. No one else seemed awake. No one else seemed to feel it. But I did. Every nerve, every cell, screamed that my fated mate was close. And I knew exactly who it was. Kade Blackwood. The Rogue Alpha. The man with my father’s blood on his hands. Now the bond had snapped into place between me and the monster who orphaned me. I staggered back from the window as the door to my room burst open. “Lyra!” Mara, my best friend, stood in the doorway, her eyes wide, her wolf trembling under her skin. “The whole east wing is locked down. The elders are screaming about a breach. Something’s here. Something bad.” “I know,” I said. My voice sounded foreign. Hollow. “Your eyes...” She stopped. “They’re glowing.” Of course they were. My wolf was front and center, clawing to get out, clawing to run to him. “No,” I whispered. “No, no, no.” Mara grabbed my shoulders. “Lyra, talk to me. What’s happening?” “My fated mate,” I said. The words tasted like ash. “It’s him. It’s Kade Blackwood.” Her face drained of color. “The Rogue Alpha? Lyra, that’s impossible. He’s dead. The council killed him.” “They lied.” I pulled away from her and grabbed my jacket. My heart hammered against my ribs, fighting the bond, fighting the pull that wanted to drag me out of this room and into his arms. If I went to him, I was dead. If I didn’t, the bond would tear me apart. Mara blocked the door. “You’re not thinking straight. The Blood Moon makes it worse. It makes the bond feel real, feel right. It’s not. He killed your dad. He cursed your bloodline. If you go out there...” “I don’t have a choice!” I shouted. Then I lowered my voice, because if the elders heard, it would be over. “The bond is already choosing for me, Mara. I can feel him. He’s close. And he knows I’m here.” Her hands dropped. “Then we run. Now. Before he finds you.” We didn’t make it three steps. The lights died. A cold wind howled through the hallway, even though every window was closed. The temperature dropped twenty degrees in seconds. And then he was there. Kade Blackwood stood at the end of the hall like a nightmare given flesh, blood still stained in his knuckles, and his eyes were silver with the wolf barely leached. He was tall, over six-four, broad shoulders straining against a black shirt that looked like it had seen a fight. Scars cut across his jaw, his neck, disappearing under his collar. His eyes were silver in the moonlight, predator eyes. Alpha eyes. But it was his expression that froze me. Hunger and something worse recognition. “Lyra,” he said. My name on his lips sounded like a curse and a promise. Mara stepped in front of me instantly, teeth bared. “Stay back.” Kade didn’t even look at her. His gaze never left me. “Move, little wolf. She’s mine.” The bond flared. Pain shot through me, sharp enough to make me cry out. My knees buckled. Mara caught me before I hit the floor. “Don’t you dare,” she growled at him. “Don’t you dare touch her.” Kade took one step forward. The air in the hallway grew heavy, thick with his aura. Even Mara’s wolf whimpered. “I don’t need to touch her,” he said quietly. “The bond already has.” He was right. I could feel it now, a red-hot chain wrapped around my chest, pulling me toward him no matter how much I fought it. Every instinct screamed to run. Every instinct screamed to surrender. “Why?” I forced out. “Why me? Why now?” Kade’s jaw tightened. For a second, something like guilt flickered across his face. Then it was gone, replaced by that cold, dangerous mask. “Because your bloodline is the key to my curse, Lyra. And the curse is killing me.” Mara laughed, but it was brittle. “Right. And I’m the Moon Goddess. You killed her father. You expect her to just...” “I don’t expect anything,” Kade cut in. “I’m telling you what will happen if she doesn’t come with me. The Blood Moon won’t hold. The curse will activate. She’ll die before dawn.” My blood ran cold. It was true. I’d felt it in my bones in the bond “Prove it,” I said. My voice shook, but I made myself stand. I pushed past Mara. Kade’s eyes darkened. Possession. He held out his hand. “Come with me, and I’ll show you everything. Stay here, and you die. Your choice.” Mara grabbed my arm. “Don’t. Please. We can hide you. We can break the bond.” “No one breaks a fated bond, Mara,” I whispered. “You know that.” I looked at Kade. At the man who had taken everything from me. And I hated him for the way my body responded to him. Hated him for the way my wolf purred at the sound of his voice. Hated him for the way my chest ached to be closer. But more than that, I hated dying. I stepped forward. Mara’s grip tightened. “Lyra, don’t” “Get back,” Kade said. Not to me. To Mara. His voice was low, dangerous. She let go. My hand trembled as I reached for his. His skin was burning hot against mine. The moment we touched, the bond ignited. Fire raced through my veins, branding me from the inside out. I gasped. Kade caught me before I fell, his arm wrapping around my waist like he’d done it a hundred times before. “Mine,” he murmured again, and this time it wasn’t in my head. It was against my ear, low and possessive. I shoved at his chest. "Don’t say that.” He smiled. It wasn’t kind. “It’s true.” The floor beneath us trembled. Somewhere deep in the academy, alarms started blaring. “We have to go,” Kade said, pulling me toward the fire exit. “Now.” “What about Mara?” I asked, glancing back. Kade didn’t slow. “She stays. If she follows, she dies.” “Lyra!” Mara’s voice cracked. “Don’t do this! He’s using you!” Maybe he was. But he was the only one who could stop me from dying tonight. We hit the stairs. Kade moved fast, dragging me down two steps at a time. My legs barely kept up. The bond was a live wire between us, every brush of his hand sending sparks through me. We burst out into the courtyard. The Blood Moon hung low and massive, bathing everything in crimson light. And waiting for us were a dozen academy enforcers, silver blades drawn. “Stop!” Alpha Darian, the head of the academy, stepped forward. His face was grim. “Kade Blackwood. You’re under arrest.” Kade stopped. He didn’t let go of me. If anything, his grip tightened. “Stand down, Darian,” Kade said. “She’s coming with me.” “You killed her father,” Darian said. “You’ll not take his daughter.” Kade laughed. It was cold, humorless. “I didn’t kill him. I tried to warn him. He wouldn’t listen.” “Lies!” Darian lunged. Kade moved. One second he was beside me. The next, he was in front of Darian, fist connecting with the Alpha’s jaw hard enough to send him flying ten feet back. Chaos erupted. Enforcers rushed us. Kade shoved me behind him, his body shielding mine as he fought. He moved like smoke and violence, every strike precise, brutal. But there were too many. A silver blade sliced across his shoulder. He didn’t flinch. Another caught his side. Blood soaked through his shirt, black in the moonlight. “Run!” he growled at me. I couldn’t. The bond wouldn’t let me leave him. “Kade!” I shouted. He turned, just for a second, to look at me. That was all it took. Two enforcers grabbed me from behind, silver cuffs snapping around my wrists. The metal burned, suppressing my wolf, suppressing the bond. Pain. Agony. I screamed. Kade’s head snapped toward me. His eyes went feral. “Let. Her. Go.” He moved faster than I’d ever seen. Bones broke. Blood sprayed. In ten seconds, the enforcers holding me were on the ground, unconscious. But it was too late. Darian stood again, silver dagger in hand. He threw it. Time slowed. I saw the blade spinning through the air, aimed straight at Kade’s back. I saw Kade turning, too slow, too late. I saw my own body moving before my brain caught up. I jumped. The dagger sank into my shoulder instead of his. Pain exploded. Kade caught me as I fell, his face contorting with rage and something that looked like fear. “No,” he whispered. “No, no, no.” I looked down at the dagger in my shoulder. Silver. Poison for werewolves. I was going to die. And I had done it for him. “Why?” Kade asked. His voice broke. I smiled, even though it hurt. “Because if you die, I die too. Stupid bond.” He crushed me against him, his forehead pressed to mine. “Hold on, Lyra. Don’t you dare die on me.” The world went fuzzy. The last thing I heard before darkness took me was Kade’s voice, low and furious: “If you die, I burn this entire pack to the ground,he whispered against my lips and I felt the bond tighten. ---