4.
1120 Words
The bond should not have still existed.
That was the thought repeating in my head long after the stranger stopped speaking.
A rejected mate bond was supposed to disappear completely. Everyone knew that. The pain faded, the connection died, and eventually the wolves moved on.
So why could I still feel him?
Not emotions.
Not thoughts.
Just… presence.
Like somewhere in the distance, Alpha Kael Draven still existed inside the edges of my awareness no matter how hard I tried to force him out.
I hated it.
I hated him for it.
The stranger watched me carefully as I struggled to steady my breathing.
“You need control,” he said finally.
I looked up sharply. “You keep talking like you know me.”
“No,” he replied calmly. “I speak like I know what hunts you.”
The forest had become too quiet again.
Even the wind seemed slower around him.
I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the strange heat still moving beneath my skin.
“Who are you?”
For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer.
Then he stepped closer into the moonlight.
“My name is Theron.”
The name meant nothing to me, but something about him felt ancient in a way that made my instincts uneasy. Not weak. Dangerous.
Not because he wanted to hurt me.
Because he knew things he shouldn’t.
“You said I’m Moon-Blood,” I whispered. “What does that even mean?”
Theron’s gaze shifted briefly toward the trees above us.
“Long before packs divided themselves into ranks and territories, there were wolves born directly under the lunar line.”
I frowned slightly.
“The lunar line?”
“The first bloodline,” he corrected. “Wolves whose bond with the moon was stronger than their bond with ordinary pack law.”
A strange pressure built in my chest as he spoke.
“They were rare,” he continued. “Powerful. Difficult to control.”
The way he said the last part made my stomach tighten.
“What happened to them?”
Silence.
Then:
“They disappeared.”
A chill crawled down my spine.
“You mean they died?”
Theron looked back at me slowly.
“No,” he said quietly. “I mean they were erased.”
The forest suddenly felt smaller.
Closer.
“What are you talking about?”
“The packs feared them. Especially the Alphas.” His expression darkened slightly. “Moon-Blood wolves were never meant to submit naturally.”
My heartbeat stuttered.
Not submit.
That was impossible.
Every wolf submitted to stronger Alpha energy eventually. Even resisting it came with pain.
But when Kael rejected me…
I remembered the exact moment something changed.
My wolf had stopped bowing entirely.
Like she no longer recognized dominance the same way.
Theron noticed the realization on my face immediately.
“You feel it now, don’t you?” he asked quietly.
I didn’t answer.
Because I did.
And that terrified me.
A gust of wind moved through the trees.
Suddenly my senses sharpened again.
Too sharply.
I could hear branches creaking far away.
Water moving somewhere behind us.
A heartbeat.
Not mine.
My head snapped toward the forest instantly.
“There’s someone out there.”
Theron’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You’re learning faster than expected.”
The heartbeat moved again.
Closer.
Every muscle in my body tightened.
A rogue burst through the trees without warning.
Large.
Scarred.
Its jaws opened in a snarl the second it saw me.
I barely had time to react before it lunged.
But this time—
I moved first.
My body twisted sideways instinctively, faster than human reflexes should have allowed. The rogue crashed past me, claws tearing into the dirt where I had been standing seconds earlier.
The wolf turned sharply with another growl.
And I felt it again.
That strange silver heat beneath my skin.
Hungry.
My veins flashed faintly.
The rogue hesitated.
Fear flickered across its face.
Fear.
Of me.
“What is happening to me?” I whispered.
Theron’s voice remained calm behind me.
“Your bloodline is waking up.”
The rogue attacked again.
This time, I didn’t stumble backward.
Didn’t panic.
Something inside me surged forward violently.
Pressure exploded outward from my body.
The rogue stopped mid-charge.
Its entire body trembled.
My breathing slowed.
And slowly—slowly—it lowered itself toward the ground.
Submitting.
My eyes widened in shock.
“No…” I whispered.
Rogues didn’t submit willingly.
Not to strangers.
Not to omegas.
But the wolf couldn’t even look at me anymore.
Its body shook violently beneath invisible pressure.
Theron watched silently.
Then he said the words that made fear crawl through my chest.
“You’re not forcing submission,” he said.
I looked at him.
“What?”
His expression remained unreadable.
“It recognizes you instinctively.”
The silver light beneath my skin flared harder.
The rogue whimpered.
And suddenly—
Images hit me.
Not memories.
Instincts.
Blood.
Moonlight.
Wolves kneeling.
A silver-eyed creature standing above them all.
Power flooded my chest so violently I staggered backward.
The rogue immediately fled into the forest.
Gone within seconds.
I gasped for air as the pressure finally loosened around me.
“What was that?” I breathed.
Theron looked more concerned now than before.
“That,” he said carefully, “is exactly why your bloodline was hunted.”
My pulse pounded painfully.
“No,” I whispered. “No, I don’t want this.”
“You don’t have a choice anymore.”
Anger suddenly rose through me.
Sharp. Burning.
“You think I asked for this?” I snapped. “I lost everything tonight!”
The bond reacted instantly.
A pulse hit my chest again.
Kael.
The connection flickered so strongly this time that my knees nearly buckled.
And somewhere far away—
I felt anger.
Not mine.
His.
Theron noticed immediately.
“He’s searching for the bond now,” he said quietly.
Fear curled through me.
“He rejected me.”
“Yes,” Theron replied. “And now he’s realizing rejection didn’t free him.”
My breathing became uneven again.
“That’s impossible…”
“No,” Theron said softly. “What’s impossible is surviving a fractured Moon-Blood bond.”
The forest fell silent.
Then he looked directly into my eyes and said:
“You should have died that night.”
Cold spread through my body instantly.
“But you didn’t,” he continued.
“And that means something far worse has begun.”
A sudden howl echoed through the mountains.
Not rogue.
Pack.
Blackridge.
My chest tightened painfully again.
Because this time…
I could feel Kael clearly.
Awake.
Furious.
And coming closer.
- Writer
