FATED TO BURN: DESTINED TO HEAL

Chapter 14 (Forbidden Bond)

Kael remarked in a strained, low voice, "Raven, you don't know the whole story."

Raven stopped.

Her eyes narrowed as she slowly turned to face him. Once, her heart pounded in her chest. "What do you mean?"

Kael was standing close to the damaged window of the house they had taken refuge in. He tried to conceal a tempest of emotions, but the moonlight flooded on his face.

He said, "I never wanted to reject you."

Raven's throat constricted as she blinked. "You claimed not to desire me. I was weak. that to you, I was *nothing*.

He tightened his hands at his sides.

He snarled, "I had to say those things." "Because if I hadn't, the Council would have killed you."

Her skin felt cold and icy.

She stepped forward and demanded to know what she was talking about. "What makes the Council interested in us?"

Kael turned to her and whispered, "Because of who you are, Raven." "And due to my identity."

He had shame burning in his golden eyes.

"There is an old law," he added in a strained voice. Bonding with fire-born wolves is prohibited for Silverfang Alphas. People view our union as a danger.

Raven's heart fell.

Although she had heard about prohibited bonds, she had never thought that they extended to her. She said, "But I never told anyone about my fire." "How were they aware?"

Darkly, Kael remarked, "They always knew." "The red moon was present when you were born. The night you transformed, you were marked by the Council's spies.

Her thoughts whirled.

She had always believed that Kael had abandoned her because he didn't love her. as she wasn't sufficient. But he was now claiming that everything had been false?

Her voice trembled as she said, "You should have told me."

"I couldn't," he murmured, taking a step forward. They were observing me. observing *us*. They threatened to exterminate our entire pack if I choose you.

Raven felt sick to his stomach.

He had previously been threatened once by the Council. And now they were back, observing and asking questions. Like fog, the tension from their previous encounter was still present.

Kael extended his hand to grasp hers.

He declared, "I never stopped loving you."

She wished to have faith in him.

But she was held back by years of suffering and betrayal.

The air altered before she could respond.

The chamber echoed with a crackling of power. Raven whirled around.

With panic in his eyes and blood on his palms, Dax rushed through the door.

"They've located us," he exclaimed, gasping. "And the Council isn't the only one."

Kael tensed. "What?"

Dax remarked, "There's something else coming." "Something more sinister."

Raven sensed it, too.

A throb under her skin. The bond gave a tug.

Not from Kael. but another thing.

An alternative pull. It was an old one. I'm hungry.

"Where are the others?" Kael inquired.

Dax had a somber expression. Dispersed. Some of the pack's remaining members were abducted.

"Who took it?" Raven moved forward to ask.

Dax paused.

Then, "Elias," he said.

Kael's expression darkened. "He should be dead by now."

"He isn't," Dax answered. He's also constructing something. A different kind of pack. Not outlaws. Not members of the Council. Something more detrimental.

Kael looked across at Raven.

He said, "I was attempting to shield you from this." "Elias is aware of your true nature. Concerning *us*. And he will put it to use.

There was a huge crash outside before Raven could say anything.

All of them looked out the window.

In the trees, shapes shifted. Quick. Quiet.

Raven's heart was pounding.

"It's too late," Dax whispered. "They're present."

Kael took hold of Raven's arm.

"This time, stay with me no matter what," he urged.

She gave a nod.

However, her gut told her that something was seriously wrong.

A howl shattered the night as the cottage was surrounded by dark shadows.

It was not a call from a rogue.

It was more profound. colder.

The boom caused Raven's neck hair to stand on end.

The door exploded.

Elias was standing in the frame.

However, he had changed from the person they knew.

He had a searing ice-like glare in his eyes. Tendrils of gloom wrapped about him like living smoke.

Like a guy who already knew he had won, he smiled slowly.

"You ought to have kept your distance," he continued.

Raven's claws were half-shifted as she moved ahead of Kael.

"What are you looking for?" She made a demand.

Elias's head c****d.

He whispered, "I want what was stolen from me."

"And I'm here to reclaim it."

He held up one hand.

The darkness rushed ahead.

Of course! This is the **continuation of Chapter 14: Forbidden Bonds**, which picks up just where we left off. It has a compelling cliffhanger finish, good pacing, and emotional weight.

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Raven didn't think twice.

With her claws cutting through the darkness, she bounded onward. However, the blackness came too quickly—too *alive*. Like vapor, it glided by her and struck Kael, flinging him across the room.

"Kael!" She let out a scream.

Elias, however, was already on the move.

He was at the door one minute, composed and at ease. The next moment, he was in front of her, within touching distance. His speech faded to a whisper that brushed over her skin as his eyes glowed with an odd blue light.

"Raven, you were never meant to be his."

He grasped her wrist in midair as she swiped at him. Something ancient pulsed through his icy hold. Something malevolent.

With his teeth exposed and blood streaming from his temple, Kael attempted to stand up. “Elias, let her go!”

Elias, however, did not recoil. He extended his other hand to Raven's chest.

"You have been concealing something... Have you not? He whispered.

Raven felt it all at once—the power she had struggled so hard to suppress, the fire scorching beneath her flesh. Like a magnet, it rushed in the direction of Elias's hand. She gasped.

She cried out, "No!"

Elias was blasted backward through the cabin wall by a surge of heat that burst from her chest. The earth trembled. The smell of burnt wood filled the air.

Wide-eyed, Dax ran to her side. "You just—what the hell *was* that, Raven?"

She didn't respond.

Because something had broken open inside her. She was unable to describe it. She wasn't the only source of the fire; Elias caused it to *respond*.

Kael hobbled over and stared at the wall hole. He was aware of who you were. The thing was *feeding* him.

Elias emerged slowly from the rubble outside.

With that uncanny serenity remaining on his face, he picked himself up. He never flinched.

With a thunderous voice, he declared, "You've just proven everything the Council feared." Raven, you're more than just a fire-born person. The key is you.

Raven's heart raced.

"Which key?"

Elias, however, merely laughed.

Then the trees parted behind him. Decades of figures appeared. bright eyes. Fangs shining. Not outlaws. Not warriors of the Council.

Another stuff.

Dax stepped back. "What on earth is that?"

Kael's jaw tightened. "He is constructing a Shadow Pack."

Elias held up his arms in front of the orchestra like a conductor.

He told Kael and Raven, "Your bond is a curse." However, for me? It is a weapon.

A fresh shriek tore through the woodland before they could respond.

However, this one wasn't Elias's.

It was more profound. Wilder.

Raven could feel it pulsing through her bones.

Kael's face lost its color. "No, that isn't possible."

Raven faced him. "What is it?"

He gave her a stern look.

"It is Fire's Alpha."

Raven's blood froze.

"What?!"

Flames erupted far away, towering over the trees, before he could respond.

And from the fire... something stepped out.

A wolf—tall as a tree, made of molten heat and shadow.

It fixed Raven with its gaze.

Then it said something—in *her voice*.

“Daughter, come home.”