CURSED BOND

CHAPTER THREE: Taken

Mara’s scream echoed through the infirmary.

My wolf surged forward, snarling, ready to tear through anyone who’d touched her.

“They’re here,” Darian repeated, “In the east wing. They took her from her room.”

Kade was already moving. He grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet before I could argue. “Can you walk?”

“I can run,” I snapped, shaking him off. My legs were shaky, but the adrenaline and his blood were keeping the silver at bay.

Darian blocked the door. “You can’t go alone. It’s a trap.”

“Then come with us,” Kade said, not slowing. “Unless you want her dead.”

That shut Darian up. The academy was in chaos alarms blaring, enforcers shouting, the smell of smoke and blood thick in the air.

Mara’s scent was everywhere. Fear. Pain. Blood.

“Lyra!”

Her voice came from somewhere down the hall, muffled, desperate.

I broke into a sprint, ignoring Darian’s shout to wait. Kade kept pace beside me.

We found her in the old storage room.

She was tied to a chair, gagged, blood dripping from a cut above her eye. Across from her stood a man I’d never seen before. Tall, lean, with a scar running down his cheek. His eyes were too calm, too empty.

“Step back,” Kade growled the moment we entered.

The man didn’t move. He smiled at Mara, then at me. “Ah. The fated mate. Right on time.”

“Let her go,” I said. My voice shook, from rage.

He tilted his head. “And if I don’t?”

Kade moved.

The man was fast. He dodged Kade’s lunge and pulled a silver dagger to Mara’s throat.

“Stop,” he said. “Or she dies.”

Kade froze, chest heaving. His eyes flicked to me, asking without words: What do we do?

I stepped forward, hands raised. “Let her go. Take me instead.”

“Lyra, no!” Mara shouted around the gag.

The man laughed. “See? She understands. Your blood is worth more than hers, little wolf.”

“What do you want?” I asked. My voice was steady now.

“I want the curse broken,” he said simply. “And I want you dead before it happens.”

He lunged.

Kade was faster. He hit the man mid-air, driving him into the wall with a bone-cracking thud. The dagger clattered to the floor.

I was at Mara’s side in an instant, cutting her bonds with shaking hands.

“Are you okay?” I asked, pulling the gag off.

She coughed, tears in her eyes. “I’m fine. Get out of here. He’s not alone.”

As if on cue, the door burst open.

Six enforcers rushed in, all wearing the academy’s insignia. But their eyes… their eyes were wrong. Blank. Controlled.

Mara gasped. “They’re mind-bound.”

Mind-bound. Wolves forced to obey through blood magic,and that ment someone inside the academy has betray us.

Kade cursed under his breath. “Get her out of here, Lyra. Now.”

We didn’t make it three steps.

A wave of heat slammed into me, knocking me off my feet.

The man with the scar stood over me, smiling.

“You’re stronger than I expected,” he said. “Good. It’ll make it hurt more.”

He raised his hand, and a ball of fire formed in his palm.

Blood magic.

“Lyra!” Kade shouted.

I rolled, barely avoiding the fireball as it hit the floor where I’d been lying.

Mara screamed and dragged me to my feet. “Run!”

We ran.

The hall was a maze of fire and fighting. Enforcers were everywhere, their movements jerky, unnatural. Kade was behind us, fighting a rearguard action, buying us time.

“Where are we going?” Mara shouted.

“The roof!” I said. “It’s the only way out.”

We reached the stairs just as the ceiling collapsed behind us.

“Keep moving!” Kade’s voice was hoarse, desperate.

We burst onto the roof just as the Blood Moon reached its zenith.

The air was thick with power.

And waiting for us was the man with the scar, flanked by four mind-bound enforcers.

“End of the line, little wolf,” he said.

Kade landed beside me, breathing hard, blood dripping from a dozen cuts. He positioned himself in front of me and Mara, a wall of muscle and fury.

“You have no idea what you’ve started,” Kade said quietly.

The man laughed. “Oh, I know exactly what I’ve started. The end of your bloodline, Kade Blackwood. Starting with her.”

He pointed at me.

Kade’s eyes went black.

“No one touches her,” he said.

The bond between us flared, hot and violent. Power surged through me, raw and untamed. It felt like standing in a lightning storm.

“Lyra,” Kade said, not taking his eyes off the man. “Don’t fight it.”

“What?”

“Let the bond in. Trust me.”

I didn’t have time to think. The man raised his hand, fire gathering again.

I reached for the bond.

It was like opening a dam.

Power flooded through me, cold and sharp and utterly Kade. My vision sharpened. My senses expanded. I could smell the man’s fear, hear his heartbeat stutter.

My wolf rose, and for the first time, she didn’t feel like a stranger.

“Move,” I said to Mara.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me back as Kade launched himself at the man.

The fight was brutal. Fast.

Kade was a force of nature, but the man was skilled. Every strike he made was aimed to kill, every movement calculated.

One of the mind-bound enforcers broke away and charged me.

I didn’t think. I moved.

My claws extended without my command. I ducked under his swing and drove my fist into his gut. He dropped like a stone.

Shock ran through me. I’d never fought like that before.

“Focus, Lyra!” Kade shouted.

The man with the scar had Kade pinned, a blade at his throat.

“Any last words, Rogue?” he sneered.

Kade smiled. It was feral, terrifying. “She’s awake.”

The man frowned. “What?”

I stepped forward.

The bond roared to life, a tidal wave of power that made the ground tremble. My eyes burned silver.

“Let him go,” I said. My voice wasn’t entirely mine anymore.

The man hesitated, just for a second.

It was enough.

Kade drove his knee into the man’s gut and rolled, throwing him off. He was on his feet in an instant, between me and the threat.

The remaining enforcers hesitated, sensing the shift in power.

“Run,” I said. My voice echoed strangely, layered with Kade’s. “Now.”

They ran.

The man with the scar stayed. He looked at me, and fear finally flickered in his eyes.

“You’re not supposed to be awake,” he whispered.

“Who sent you?” I asked.

He smiled, bloody and defiant. “He’ll finish what I started.”

Before I could move, he bit down on something in his mouth.

Poison.

He collapsed, dead before he hit the ground.

The Blood Moon hung directly overhead, bathing everything in crimson light.

Kade exhaled, the tension draining from his shoulders. He turned to me, and the feral look in his eyes softened.

“You did good,” he said quietly.

I looked down at my hands. They were shaking. Covered in blood,not all of it mine.

“I killed him,” I said.

“You defended yourself,” Kade corrected. “And Mara.”

Mara was behind me, pale but alive. She gave me a shaky smile. “Thanks, Lyra. I owe you one.”

I nodded, unable to speak. The bond was still thrumming between me and Kade.

Darian arrived with a team of enforcers, taking in the scene with wide eyes.

“What happened?” he asked.

“He’s dead,” I said, nodding at the body. “He won’t talk.”

Darian knelt beside the body, checking for identification. “He’s not in the system. No records.”

“Of course not,” Kade said. “He was a ghost. Sent to tie up loose ends.”

“Who sent him?” Darian asked.

Kade looked at me, then back at Darian. “Someone who knows about the curse. Someone who wants us both dead.”

“And they’re still out there,” I added.

Darian stood, jaw tight. “We’ll sweep the academy. But you two need to get off the grounds. Now. It’s not safe.”

Kade nodded. “Where do we go?”

“There’s an old safehouse,” Darian said. “In the northern woods. It’s warded. They won’t find you there.”

“And Mara?” I asked.

“She stays here,” Darian said firmly. “With me. I can protect her.”

Mara grabbed my hand. “Go, Lyra. I’ll be fine.”

I squeezed her hand back, hating to leave her. But she was right. I couldn’t protect her and fight whatever was coming.

Kade pulled me away before I could argue.

We didn’t speak as we ran.

We reached the edge of the woods just as the first light of dawn broke.

Kade stopped, pulling me against him.

“The Blood Moon is over,” he said quietly. “But the curse isn’t.”

I looked up at him. His face was tired, worn, but there was something else there now. Hope.

“What happens now?” I asked.

“Now,” he said, brushing a strand of hair from my face, “we find out who wants us dead. And we end it.”

Before I could respond, he leaned down and kissed me.

It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t careful.

It was desperate, possessive, and it sent fire through every inch of my body.

The bond flared, and for a moment, I forgot everything else.

When he pulled back, I was breathless.

“Don’t hate me for that,” he said quietly.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

I should have pushed him away I couldn't, the bond didn't let me.

The safehouse was a small cabin deep in the woods.

Kade pushed the door open and ushered me inside.

“It’s safe here,” he said. “For now.”

I looked around. It wasone bed, a fireplace, a small kitchen area.

“Where will you sleep?” I asked.

“On the floor,” he said simply.

I frowned. “You don’t have to”

“Yes, I do,” he cut me off. “Until I know you’re safe.”

I sat on the edge of the bed, exhausted.

Kade knelt in front of me, taking my injured hand in his.

“Let me see,” he said.

I let him.

He unwrapped the bandage slowly, examining the wound. The silver burn was angry and red, but healing.

“It’s better,” he said. “But it’ll scar.”

“So will I,” I said quietly.

He looked up at me, his eyes searching mine. “You don’t have to go through this alone, Lyra."

“I don’t trust you,” I said honestly.

“I know,” he said. “But you trust the bond.”

“I don’t know what to do,” I admitted.

“Then don’t do anything,” Kade said. “Just rest. Let me handle it for now.”

I wanted to argue. I wanted to push him away.

But I was too tired.

“Okay,” I whispered.

Kade nodded and stood, moving to the fireplace to start a fire.

I watched him, my eyes heavy.

The last thing I saw before sleep claimed me was his frame against the flames, watching over me like a sentinel.