CURSED BOND

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Break

The white light faded.

When I opened my eyes, the hallway was empty except for us.

Elder Mara was gone.

The dagger was gone.

And the bond between me and Kade… was quiet.

Not broken. Not gone.

Just quiet.

“Kade?” My voice sounded too loud in the silence.

He pulled back, just enough to look at me.

“Lyra,” he said.

That was all.

The door to the Conclave chamber creaked open behind us.

Selene stood there, pale, her hands trembling at her sides.

“What did you do?” she whispered.

I didn’t know what to say.

From down the hall, horns sounded again.

Vale horns.

Low, mournful and closer than before.

Selene’s eyes flicked past us. “They’re here.”

Kade stepped in front of me instinctive.“If they touch her—”

“They won’t,” Selene said quickly. “Not if I can help it.”

My father stepped into the hallway, sword in hand, flanked by twenty Vale warriors.

He stopped when he saw us.

His eyes went to Kade first, assessing threat. Then to me.

“Lyra,” he said.

“It’s time to go home.”

Behind him, the Vale army waited. Silver banners. Steel.

And they weren’t alone.

Behind the Vale line stood another group.

Wolves.

Blackwood wolves.

Led by Selene.

Two armies.

Facing each other over me.

---

“Stand down,” Selene said. Her voice carried through the hallway.

My father didn’t move.

“This is a Vale matter now,” he said. “The bond is broken. The girl comes with us.”

“She’s not an object, Alistair,” Selene said. “She’s my niece.”

My father’s jaw tightened. “She’s Vale.”

“And Blackwood,” Selene said.

Kade’s hand found mine behind his back. His fingers were cold.

“Stop,” I said.

Both armies went quiet.

I stepped out from behind Kade.

Every sword, every claw, every eye turned to me.

“Stop,” I said again. “Before someone dies for nothing.”

My father looked at me. “Lyra, we came to bring you home.”

“Home?” I laughed, short and sharp. “I don’t even know what that means anymore.”

“Home is where your blood is,” he said.

“And my blood is here too,” I said, nodding to Kade.

Kade didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Just watched me.

Selene stepped forward. “Lyra, the Conclave vote was against you. If you stay here, they’ll arrest you. They’ll take the dagger—”

“There is no dagger,” I said.

Selene stopped.

“What?”

“I broke it,” I said. “When I drove it into the ground. It’s gone.”

My father cursed.

Selene’s face went carefully blank.

Kade’s grip on my hand tightened.

“The dagger was the only thing keeping the other packs from coming for you,” Selene said. “Without it—”

“Without it, I’m just me,” I said. “And that’s enough.”

My father shook his head. “You don’t understand. The packs will tear you apart. You need the Vale behind you.”

“And you need to stop deciding for me,” I said.

“Choose, Lyra,” he said. “Us, or him.”

Kade went still.

I felt it like a blade between my ribs.

“Don’t make me choose,” I said.

“You already have,” my father said. “By breaking the bond, you chose him over us.”

“That’s not true,” I said.

“It is,” he said. “And now you’ll pay for it.”

He raised his sword.

---

Kade moved before I could blink.

He was between me and my father in an instant.

“Don’t,” he said. His voice was low. Dangerous.

My father didn’t lower the sword.

“Step aside, alpha,” he said. “This doesn’t concern you anymore.”

Kade bared his teeth. “She concerns me.”

“Enough,” Selene said. She stepped between them, hands up. “Both of you, stand down.

I looked at Kade.

His eyes met mine.

I saw everything there. Fear. Anger. Love.

The same thing I felt.

I stepped between them.

“Put the sword down, Dad,” I said.

My father’s eyes flicked to me.

“Lyra—”

“Put it down,” I said again.

For a second, I thought he wouldn’t.

Then his shoulders dropped.

The sword lowered, but only an inch.

“Come home, Lyra,” he said. “Before it’s too late.”

“And then what?” I asked. “Lock me in another coffin? Decide who I can love? Who I can be?”

“That’s not—”

“It is,” I said. “It always has been.”

Kade’s hand brushed mine.

I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t.

If I did, I’d break.

“Lyra,” my mother said from behind my father. She’d been quiet until now.

I turned to her.

Her eyes were wet.

“Please,” she said. “Come home. We’ve waited twenty years for you."

Twenty years of waiting, of hoping, of being kept in a coffin by the sect.

I wanted to go to her.

Gods, I wanted to.

But I looked at Kade.

And I knew.

“I can’t,” I said.

My mother flinched like I’d hit her.

My father’s face went cold.

“Then you’re no daughter of mine,” he said.

The words hit harder than any blade.

Kade made a sound low in his throat.

I didn’t look at him.

I looked at my father.

“Maybe I’m not,” I said. “Maybe I never was.”

---

The hallway exploded.

Vale warriors moved forward. Blackwood wolves shifted, claws out.

Selene shouted for order.

Kade grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“Run,” he said.

“No,” I said.

“Lyra, they’ll kill you!”

“Let them try,” I said.

I stepped forward.

The Vale line hesitated.

“Stop,” I said. My voice didn’t shake.

It carried.

“I’m not your weapon,” I said. “I’m not your bargaining chip. I’m not your daughter if that’s all I am to you.”

My father stopped.

“Then what are you?” he asked.

I looked at Kade.

Then I looked back at my father.

“I’m free,” I said.

My father stared at me.

Then he lowered his sword completely.

“Fine,” he said. “Be free.”

He stepped aside.

The Vale army parted.

“Go,” he said. “But don’t come crawling back when it all falls apart.”

I didn’t answer.

I turned to Kade.

His eyes were wet. He didn’t try to hide it.

“Lyra,” he said.

I reached up and touched his face.

His skin was warm. Real.

“You’re an i***t,” I said.

He smiled, crooked and broken.

“I know.”

“Good,” I said.

I kissed him.

---

It wasn’t gentle.

It was desperate and angry and terrified and real.

The hallway went silent.

When I pulled back, Kade’s forehead rested against mine.

“Don’t leave me,” he whispered.

“I’m not,” I said.

Behind us, Selene exhaled like she’d been holding her breath for years.

My father said nothing.

My mother was crying quietly.

“Take your people and leave,” Selene said to my father. “Before this gets worse.”

My father looked at me one last time.

Then he nodded.

“Come on,” he said to the Vale warriors.

They left.

The hallway emptied, except for us, Selene, and the Blackwood wolves.

---

For a long time, no one spoke.

Then Selene sighed.

“Well,” she said. “That could have gone worse.”

Kade pulled me against his side, like he was afraid I’d disappear if he let go.

“What now?” I asked her.

“Now,” Selene said, “we deal with the fallout. The Conclave won’t let this stand. Elder Blackwood will call for your arrest. The other packs will follow.”

“So we run,” Kade said.

“No,” Selene said. “Running makes you guilty. You stay. You face them.”

Kade looked at me.

I nodded.

“We stay,” I said.

“You’re sure?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said.

She nodded once.

“Then get some rest,” she said. “Because tomorrow, the Conclave reconvenes.”

“And they’re not going to be happy,” Kade said.

“No,” Selene said. “They’re not.”

---

Selene gave us a room.

Small. Stone. One bed, one table.

Kade shut the door and locked it.

He didn’t speak.

He just pulled me into his arms and held me like he was afraid I’d vanish.

I let him.

For a long time, we just stood there.

Finally, I pulled back.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He laughed, bitter and quiet.

“Are you?”

I thought about it.

“No,” I said. “But I will be.”

Kade touched my face, thumb brushing my cheekbone.

“Lyra,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t ever choose them over me,” he said.

It wasn’t a demand. It was a plea.

“I won’t,” I said.

He nodded, like that was all he needed to hear.

For the first time in weeks, there was no fight. No running. No blood.

Just silence.

And it was almost peaceful.

Almost.

---

A knock at the door shattered it.

Kade was on his feet instantly, putting himself between me and the door.

“Who is it?” he called.

“Selene,” came the reply.

Kade didn’t relax. He opened the door a crack.

Selene stood there, face grim.

“They’re coming,” she said.

Kade’s jaw tightened. “Who?”

“The Conclave,” Selene said. “All of them. They’re voting to declare you both enemies of the packs.”

I stood up.

“Now?” I asked.

“Now,” Selene said.

Kade swore.

“What do we do?” I asked.

Selene looked at me.

“You run,” she said.

Kade stepped in front of me. “No.”

“You can’t win this,” Selene said. “Not here. Not now.”

I looked at Kade.

He looked back at me.

“Where do we go?” I asked.

Selene hesitated.

“North,” she said. “To the old Vale territories. No one goes there anymore. It’s dead land."

Kade cursed.

“It’s a trap,” he said.

“Maybe,” Selene said. “But it’s the only place they won’t follow.”

I looked at Kade.

He looked back at me.

“Do we trust her?” I asked.

Kade didn’t answer right away.

Then he nodded once.

“Yes,” he said.

Selene exhaled.

“Good,” she said. “Pack what you need. You leave in ten minutes.”

She turned to go.

“Selene,” I said.

She stopped.

“Why are you helping us?” I asked.

She looked back at me.

“Because you’re family,” she said.

And then she left.

---

We moved fast.

Kade grabbed what little we had. I didn’t have anything except the clothes on my back.

At the door, Kade paused.

“Ready?” he asked.

I took his hand.

“Yeah,” I said.

We opened the door.

The hallway was empty.

Kade went still.

“Lyra,” he said.

I saw it too.

Footsteps.

Dozens of them.

Coming from the end of the hall.

And at their head was Elder Blackwood.

He wasn’t alone.

Beside him walked Elder Mara.

Alive.

Smiling.

And holding the dagger.

---