Bound to the Silvermoon Goddess

Chapter 13

Asher – The West (Forest Guardian)

Zane and I sit in the diner across town while Lucy speaks enthusiastically about something trivial, something about dresses or colours or which pack member said what at the last gathering. Her voice moves continuously, rising and falling with animated emphasis, yet the meaning behind her words fades long before they reach my thoughts. The noise of the diner blends with the low hum of conversations around us, clinking glasses and distant laughter creating a dull background rhythm that holds no importance.

The moment Kael's voice reaches through the bond, everything inside me stills.

"She's here."

The words move through me like roots spreading deep beneath the soil, quiet but unstoppable. Recognition settles instantly, certainty taking shape before logic has time to question it. The bond hums faintly beneath my skin, something ancient stirring awake after years of silence.

Hawthorne lifts his head within my consciousness, his presence calm yet deeply alert. He is not a wolf of panic or urgency. He is deliberate, grounded, shaped by the ancient lineage of the Western Kingdom, where wolves learned to protect what mattered through patience rather than impulse. His coat is dark earthen brown layered with tones of shadow and moss, allowing him to move unseen through forest terrain. His amber eyes see everything, missing nothing, always calculating the balance between action and restraint.

Hawthorne does not react without reason. His instincts spread through me steadily, like the slow growth of ancient roots breaking through rock over centuries. The awareness of our mate's existence settles into place with quiet inevitability, an understanding that does not require proof because instinct itself recognises truth before the mind can comprehend it.

"She lives," Hawthorne murmurs within me, his voice deep and certain. "She is close."

The knowledge settles heavily in my chest, both grounding and unsettling. The forest does not rush. It surrounds. It adapts. It protects. My response through the bond remains calm despite the tightening rhythm of my pulse as anticipation begins to replace years of unanswered questions.

"We're coming," I tell my brothers.

Lucy's voice rises sharply as Zane and I stand from the table without explanation, her tone demanding attention that no longer exists within my focus. Her irritation fades into insignificance as the bond strengthens with every passing second. Nothing in this moment holds importance beyond the awakening of something that has been waiting patiently beneath the surface of our lives.

The forest within me has recognised something rare and sacred, something that cannot be ignored once discovered.

The bond has awakened, and once awakened, it does not release its hold.