The Other Bond
1010 Words
Maya's Pov
The mark is still glowing when I step into the shower.
I strip off my hoodie, twist out of my jeans with shaking fingers, and catch my reflection in the steamed-up mirror.
Left shoulder blade.
Crescent moon. Crowned tip. Branded like a warning.
It hums with power I don’t understand. Like something alive under my skin, pulsing to a rhythm that doesn’t belong to me.
I drag a hand over my face. The heat from Marcus’s prison cell still lingers in my bones, but it’s the cold that’s sinking in now.
He knew.
Marcus could feel the scent of another wolf on me. Rhain’s scent.
And worse, he was right.
Rhain hasn’t touched me. Not directly. But there’s something about him, his gaze, the way the air shifts when he’s near, that leaves a stain on my skin. A claim.
And the terrifying part is, my wolf doesn’t reject it.
She responds to him.
I close my eyes under the spray of hot water and press my forehead to the tile. I don’t cry. I can’t. My body feels too wired, too full of tremors to release anything properly.
Instead, I think of Vincent.
Of blood.
Of fire.
Of the night he died, and the phone call that came after. A blocked number. A voice I hadn’t heard in nearly a year.
"You thought you were done with me, little wolf?"
I never told Marcus.
I couldn’t.
Because the truth would shatter him. And if I’m honest… it would shatter me too.
The water runs cold before I move again. I towel off and throw on a sweatshirt, pacing the kitchen in bare feet, chewing at my thumbnail.
I should go to the Council.
Tell them about the mark. About Marcus. About the scent of something old following me through the trees.
But I don’t.
Instead, I do the one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t.
I text him.
> Meet me. One hour. Pack House. Come alone.
---
The Pack House looms at the edge of the woods, modern glass fused with ancient stone. It’s quiet tonight, which makes me suspicious. Rhain’s pack never sleeps. Not really.
But when I knock, the door opens instantly.
He’s already waiting.
Alpha Rhain. Tall, calm, coiled like a predator pretending not to hunt. His eyes flicker gold as they meet mine, and for a moment, neither of us speaks.
He steps aside. “You came.”
“You called first.”
He smirks faintly, then gestures toward the fireplace-lit den. “Drink?”
“No.”
We sit on opposite ends of a long leather couch, like strangers in a courtroom. My arms stay crossed.
“Marcus knows,” I say flatly. “About your scent on me.”
“I’d be worried if he didn’t.” Rhain studies me. “He’s still bonded to you.”
“Yes.”
“But that’s not the only bond you carry now, is it?”
Silence stretches between us like a blade.
I don’t answer.
Instead, I reach behind me, pull down the collar of my sweatshirt, and turn just enough to show him.
The mark.
Glowing faintly. Reacting to him.
Rhain’s expression shifts. It’s not shock—it’s something older. He rises, slowly, circles around me like a wolf inspecting a rival. Or a prize.
I tense. “What the hell did you do to me?”
“I didn’t mark you,” he says quietly. “The blood did.”
I spin to face him. “What blood?”
“Royal blood,” he replies. “Ancient magic. Buried magic. Magic that hasn’t chosen anyone in over a century.” His jaw flexes. “Until now.”
I can’t breathe. “Why me?”
“I don’t know.” His eyes flash, unreadable. “But I have theories.”
“Spare me.”
“Maya…” He crouches in front of me, tone lowered. “You’re not an ordinary wolf. You never have been.”
“Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Talk like you know me.”
“I don’t need to know you,” he says, “to feel what’s tethering us. That bond doesn’t lie. And neither does your body. You feel it too.”
And I do. That’s the problem. My wolf howls for Marcus, but she shudders for Rhain. It’s not the same kind of love, it’s something rawer. Wilder. Older than language.
He reaches out and touches my wrist, only a brush, and the bond flares.
I yank back like I’ve been burned. “You don’t get to touch me.”
His jaw tightens. “You’re already marked. That makes you Pack property.”
I shoot to my feet. “I’m not anyone’s property.”
But his next words make my blood run cold.
“The Council has seen the mark.”
I freeze.
“What?”
“They called me. Asked if I knew of any she-wolf who might have triggered a dormant bloodline. You’ve been flagged. Watched. Your visits to Marcus aren’t as secret as you thought.”
I stagger back. “No…”
“They’ll come for you soon,” he says. “Unless I claim you first.”
“What?”
“Make you mine. On record. Protect you as Alpha.”
My breath catches. “You’re insane.”
“I’m offering you safety, Maya. No one else will. Not Marcus. Not the Council. Not even your wolf.”
“Why are you doing this?”
He hesitates, and that pause tells me everything.
Because it’s not just duty.
It’s desire.
He wants me. Not just as a political pawn, but as something his.
I should scream. Should slap him. Should run.
Instead, I whisper the words that will change everything.
“What happens if I don’t choose you?”
He stands, looming over me.
“Then the mark chooses for you.”
And I don’t know what terrifies me more.
That I might lose Marcus.
Or that a part of me is starting to want Rhain, too.
- Writer
