CHAPTER SIX
1130 Words
WHEN THE BOND SCREAMS
Elara did not wait for permission.
The moment the shouting reached her ears, she ran. Her feet moved before her thoughts could catch up. The hallway blurred around her as guards rushed past, some toward the east tower, others toward the gates. No one stopped her at first. No one noticed her fear was different from theirs.
This was not fear of danger.
This was fear of loss.
Her chest burned. Each step felt heavier than the last. She held the wall once to steady herself, then pushed forward again. The pull inside her grew stronger with every breath she took.
Kael.
She did not know how she knew. She just did.
Guards finally noticed her near the stairwell.
“My lady,” one said sharply. “You can’t be here.”
“Move,” she said.
Her voice surprised even her. It was firm. Not loud, but clear.
“There is danger,” the guard insisted.
“I know,” she replied. “That’s why I’m going.”
Another guard stepped in front of her.
“Alpha’s orders—”
Something twisted hard inside her chest.
She gasped and bent forward, clutching at her dress.
Kael was in pain.
Not distant. Not small.
Real. Sharp. Immediate.
“Please,” she said, breathless. “He needs help.”
The guards exchanged looks. One of them cursed under his breath.
“She’s his wife,” the other muttered.
“Get her out of here,” the first snapped.
But before they could touch her, the pain flared again.
Stronger this time.
Elara cried out.
It felt like something tearing through her ribs. Like fear and anger mixed together and pushed straight into her heart. Her knees buckled. She would have fallen if the wall had not been there.
The guards froze.
“What is that?” one whispered.
Elara did not answer.
She pushed past them and ran.
At the east tower, chaos had already broken loose. Torches burned high. Wolves shouted orders. Blood stained the stone near the steps. Elara slowed, dread crawling up her spine.
No.
No, no, no.
She scanned the area wildly.
Then she felt it.
A sudden drop.
Like the ground vanishing beneath her feet.
“Kaaaaeeeeelllllll!!!!!!!!!.”
The bond screamed.
Elara screamed with it.
Her legs gave out completely this time. She hit the stone hard, breath leaving her lungs. The pain in her body barely registered compared to the empty, hollow shock spreading through her chest.
It felt wrong.
Too quiet.
Too still.
“Kael,” she whispered.
Someone grabbed her arms and hauled her upright.
“My lady, you must leave,” a voice said urgently.
“Where is he?” she demanded.
No one answered her.
That was worse than any lie.
Across the courtyard, Kael lay on the ground.
He did not feel the stone beneath him anymore. He barely felt anything at all. His vision blurred in and out, light and shadow blending together. His wolf raged inside him, furious and desperate.
Get up.
Protect her.
He tried to move.
His body did not respond.
The attack had been fast. Clean. Too clean. Red Fang wolves knew how to strike without warning. One moment he had been issuing orders, the next he had felt claws tear into his side. Poison followed soon after. Not lethal. Not meant to kill.
Meant to weaken.
Meant to send a message.
His wolf snarled.
They dared touch us.
Kael tried to shift. The poison fought him. His muscles locked, refusing to obey. He ground his teeth together and forced himself to stay conscious.
Then something else hit him.
Fear.
Not his own.
Elara.
The bond flared bright and sharp, cutting through the fog in his head.
She knows.
The thought made his chest tighten painfully.
No.
She should not feel this.
She should not be here.
“Alpha!” a voice shouted nearby.
Kael tried to speak. His throat burned. He tasted blood.
“Protect… her,” he managed.
The commander knelt beside him. “We have her secured,” he said quickly.
Kael did not believe him.
The bond pulsed again.
Elara’s fear washed over him like a wave.
Too close.
She was too close.
“Get her away,” Kael said, louder this time. “Now.”
The commander hesitated.
“I said now,” Kael snapped, forcing his eyes open.
The wolf inside him howled in protest.
She is ours. We should pull her close.
Kael shut it down with the last of his strength.
Not like this.
Not here.
Back near the stairs, Elara fought against the guards holding her.
“Let me go!” she cried.
“You cannot see this,” one of them said firmly.
“I can feel it!” she shouted back. “He’s hurt. He’s……..”
Her voice broke.
“He’s dying,” she finished softly.
The guards went still.
“No,” one said. “The Alpha is strong.”
Elara shook her head.
“You don’t understand,” she whispered. “Something is wrong.”
She pressed a hand to her chest, right over her heart.
“It hurts,” she said. “Like it’s tearing.”
The guards did not know what to do with that.
They had never seen a bond like this.
They had never felt it scream.
Inside the keep, the healers rushed toward the east tower. Orders were shouted. Wolves took positions along the walls. The Red Fang scouts had already vanished back into the trees.
They had gotten what they came for.
Kael was carried inside, unconscious now. His blood stained the blankets beneath him. The poison worked fast, slowing his breathing, weakening his heart.
The healers worked in silence.
“This is not normal,” one whispered.
“It’s designed to break an Alpha,” another replied.
Elara was finally forced back to her rooms.
She did not fight anymore.
She sat on the edge of her bed, numb, staring at nothing.
The bond still pulsed faintly.
Not gone.
Not broken.
Just quiet.
Too quiet.
Hours passed.
No one came to speak to her.
No one told her if Kael lived or died.
Night fell again.
Elara lay down fully dressed and stared at the ceiling. Her hands trembled when she closed them. Every small sound made her flinch.
Then it happened.
The bond surged.
Sudden.
Violent.
Pain tore through her chest so sharply that she screamed.
Her body arched off the bed as something hot and heavy crashed into her heart.
Kael.
Alive.
Barely.
But slipping.
Elara gasped for breath, tears pouring down her face.
“Hold on,” she whispered desperately. “Please. Just hold on.”
The bond answered her with one final, terrible pull.
And then……….
Silence.
- Writer
