Chapter 2: A Forced Bond That Burns Deep
1146 Words
The air in the council hall was cold, a cruel chill that matched Kael's mood as he paced the stone floor. He couldn't help but pace the room, his mind racing with thoughts and a back-of-the-neck feeling of unease. The pack stirred up something with Liana’s return, something dangerous. Whispers had already started. But her presence seemed to only add more fuel to the flames of the council’s growing doubts of him for a leader.
Her voice was sharp; she leaned on her cane. “You can’t let this divide us further.” “The pack needs unity, Kael. Unity begins with loyalty.”
She stopped pacing and turned to face her. “I’m aware of that, Mora. What’s your suggestion? Should I exile her again and risk losing the one person who knows how the rogues think?”
Mora’s gaze didn’t waver. “No. You claim her.”
The words were like a lead weight in the air. His jaw tightened as he stared at her. “A mating bond?”
"Only this way she can be loyal to you," Mora replied stubbornly. The pack will see it as a sign of strength.” It will silence the whispers.”
The storm Kael was trying to steady swelled inside him. He hated the idea. Liana was a pawn to the council, and now they wanted to use her to tie her to him, like a leash for their doubts. He knew deep down that Mora was right. It was a fragile pack, and any c***k would cause it to crumble.
Finally, he said, his voice low and cold, “Fine.” “Don’t mistake this for anything more than necessity.”
The noises of their murmured voices filled the hall of ceremony, where the pack had collected. They lined the walls like wolves but of human form, and their eyes flicked back and forth between Kael and Liana. Near the center, she stood, stiff in posture, her face an immaculate blank. Kael could see her hands clenched at her sides, which revealed her tension.
His boots thudded on the stone floor, and he stepped forward. The room fell silent. All eyes were on him.
He said calmly and clearly, “Liana Elrend.” You have been called back to this pack for one reason: to help us survive. I am invoking the right of the Alpha to ensure that I survive. 'You will be bound to me through the law of this pack,”' she said.
The crowd reacted with a ripple of shock. Liana’s gray eyes locked onto his as her head snapped up. He saw fear, anger, betrayal, raw and unguarded, in her gaze for a long moment. She then masked it, changing the expression to one of stone.
She cut through the silence with her voice. “Is this your solution?” To make me into a bond that I never wanted to be?
But Kael kept his expression as impassive as he could while his chest tightened. It’s not about what you or I want. It’s about the pack.”
Liana’s laugh was bitter. “The pack. Of course. It’s always about the pack.”
He ignored the sting in her words and turned to face the gathered wolves. This is a bond symbol of unity. In these uncertain times, it will strengthen the pack. Let it be done.”
Mora held the ceremonial blade as he stepped forward. They clasped hands as their blood mingled from shallow cuts taken in both their palms, the ritual quick and without ceremony. The room had become almost unbearably tense, the silence so deathly quiet the air seemed to crackle as it welled from person to person.
Kael released her hand when it was done and turned to the pack. His voice was hard and unyielding, and he announced, ‘It is done.’ Neither is this a bond of love, 'but let me be clear.' It is a bond of duty. Nothing more.”
The words tasted like ash, but he said them. Liana’s eyes flickered in pain before she blanked them out again. Their curiosity changed to whispers of doubt and speculation, and as the crowd murmured.
Without another word, Kael turned on his heel and left the hall. He couldn’t stand to see the look on her face, couldn’t stand to see what he had done.
Kael stood alone later that night in his quarters, staring out the window as the expanse of Shadow’s Vale disappeared into the dark. It was the guilt he had been trying to bury clawing its way to the surface. He had humiliated her and took away the bit of dignity she had left. And for what? To silence the whispers of the council?
He pulled himself from his thoughts with a knock at the door. He didn’t need to ask who it was. She was present, and she felt him as though in the shadow at the edge of his senses.
He said, his voice low, “Come in.”
Stepping inside, Liana moved stiffly and guarded. She shut the door behind her but didn’t go any further into the room. She sounded calm, but her voice was sharp. “Was that necessary?”
His expression was unreadable, and he turned to face her. “It was.”
There was a quirk in her narrowed eyes. “For you or for the pack?”
He didn’t answer, and the silence cleaved them apart like a chasm. He said finally, “I did what I had to.”
She shot back, “You mean what they told you to do?” “You don’t care about me. ‘You care about keeping your position.’”
Kael’s jaw tightened. “You’re right. I don’t care about you. But I care about this pack. If tying you to me is what it takes to make sure they’re safe, then so be it.”
Her laugh was bitter and full of pain. “You’re a coward, Kael.”
He didn’t let it show, but the words hit harder than he expected. “Survival never comes on the back of a sacrifice, but you’re naïve to believe that.”
She looked at him for a long moment, her eyes searching his face for something he couldn’t provide. The door slammed shut behind her, then she turned and left without another word.
Kael shakily took in a breath and ran a hand over his hair. Binding her to him should have calmed the pack, but it had only made things worse. Now, he couldn’t stop thinking that he had made a mistake that he couldn’t undo.
The wind howled through the cliffs outside his window. A wolf’s mournful cry echoed in the distance somewhere. A single question circulating his mind, Kael stared into the darkness.
Had he just doomed them all?
- Writer
