Chapter 5: The Bond Hurts
886 Words
The moment she stepped into the clearing, Lyra knew something was wrong.
Her wolf had been restless all day, gnawing at her insides. Twisting in her chest like claws scraping bone.
Every step toward the open forest made it worse. Every breath burned. Every heartbeat thrummed painfully in rhythm with something..someone…far beyond the trees.
Rowan.
The thought made her stomach lurch. She shoved it down. Tried to focus on the patrols. The sounds of the forest. The way the wind shifted.
But her chest betrayed her. The bond had teeth now. Sharp. Gnawing.
A low, bitter ache curled beneath her ribs. Not her own. Not fully. But not separate either.
She stumbled, catching herself on a low-hanging branch.
Her wolf hissed: get out, get out, get out!
But her feet refused.
Why can’t I leave?
She swallowed hard. Teeth grinding. She’d tried to ignore it. Tried to act normal. Tried to train. Tried to obey. Every time she felt Rowan or thought of him the ache surged. A tide she couldn’t fight.
Her hands flexed against her thighs. Fists curled, loosened, then curled again. The pain wasn’t just physical. Her mind spun: confusion, anger, panic, longing, frustration.
A storm that didn’t care she was Alpha’s daughter.
She pressed her palms to her chest. Tried to push it down. Tried to ignore it. Tried. God, she tried.
And then she heard it.
A faint snap. Twig. Distant. And impossibly close.
Her wolf jumped, screaming inside her mind: He’s here. He’s here!
Lyra froze.
Heart pounding.
Couldn’t move. Couldn’t shift. Couldn’t run. Her body was betraying her, part of her wanted to leap straight into the shadows. To find him. To see him. To-
Stop.
She shook her head violently. No. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. She shouldn’t.
Rowan didn’t have to be near. The thought. The bond. The pulse. The heat of the connection.
It clawed through her.
Every nerve screamed. Every muscle tensed. Every heartbeat hammered a rthym that wasn’t hers.
Stop feeling him.
Her hands flew to her head. Pressed against her temples. Her wolf was screaming. The bond hurt in ways she hadn’t expected.
Pain. Yes.
But worse: longing. Confusion. Fear.
She could feel him.
His injuries. His tension. His anger. His hesitation.
And it didn’t matter that he wasn’t there.
It was too much.
Lyra sank to her knees. The forest blurred around her. Branches scraped her skin. Leaves whispered in the wind. None of it mattered.
All she could hear, all she could feel.
Rowan.
The ache twisted through her chest. Shot down her arms. Burned in her stomach. Made her want to scream. Cry. Run. Fight. Hurt. Love. Hate.
And she didn’t know which was which.
A sudden shift in the air.
Lyra’s head snapped up.
The feeling of him: sharp. Close. Impossible, made her knees buckle.
The pull twisted tighter.
Her wolf growled.
Low. Warning. Angry.
He’s near. He’s near. And you can’t fight it.
She pressed her hands to the earth.
Tried to steady herself.
Tried to breathe.
But Rowan’s presence wasn’t nearby.
It was inside her.
Every muscle. Every heartbeat. Every thought.
Her vision blurred.
The ache twisted further. Sharp. Relentless.
Why is this happening?
She couldn’t stop it.
Couldn’t fight it.
Couldn’t control it.
And the worst part?
She didn’t want to.
Lyra stumbled backward, pressed against a tree.
Hands trembled. Fists clenched.
Tried to push the bond away. Tried to ignore it. Tried to act normal.
Her wolf hissed in frustration.
Stop lying. You feel him. You always feel him.
She shook her head violently.
Blinking tears away.
No. Stop.
This isn’t real.
But every time she thought it, the pain and pull came back.
Sharper. Hotter. Unbearable.
And then…
A jolt.
Sharp. Immediate. Racing through her chest.
She gasped. Hand to her heart. Stumbled.
Rowan had been injured.
Her wolf roared inside her.
Yes. Feel him. Feel him.
The truth hit like ice water.
Every scrape. Every cut. Every tense muscle.
Not just sensation. Emotional. Visceral.
Pain. Anger. Frustration. Confusion.
Beneath it all…desperation.
Lyra sank to the ground, curling in on herself.
Chest heaving.
Tears pricking her eyes.
Her wolf twisted, writhed, clawed, screamed.
Trying to make her move. Do something. Reach him.
And she couldn’t.
Because she didn’t know how.
Hands trembling on the earth. Teeth clenched.
The ache flared again.
Hot. Raw. Burning down her arms, legs, spine.
His pulse. His heartbeat. His hesitation.
Every second, fire.
She wanted to scream. Run. Fight. Cry. Hurt. Love. Hate.
She didn’t know which.
The bond didn’t care.
Rules. Orders. Her father. Nothing mattered.
It only cared about Rowan.
Her wolf pressed against her bones.
Do something. Move. Stop feeling helpless.
Lyra buried her face in her hands.
Shaking. Panting. Trembling.
The bond wasn’t just pain.
It was rewriting her instincts. Her senses. Everything she thought she knew.
She hated it.
She wanted it.
She feared it.
All at once.
Teeth clenched. Hands shaking. Knees pressed into dirt.
Wolf twisted. Howled. Clawed. Coiled.
Lyra gasped. Shaking. Panting. Trembling.
The bond hurt.
Like fire. Like ice. Like knives through her chest.
Like Rowan.
Like everything she couldn’t control.
And she, Alpha’s daughter, wolf-shifter, trained hunter of hunters, could do nothing but sit.
Let it consume her.
Because no matter how hard she tried…
The bond had already won.
- Writer
