Chapter Five: Mira
1117 Words
His golden eyes glowed like twin moons in that room, pinning me in place. I couldn't move.
Then he moved. Faster than I could blink.
His hand shot out, closing around my wrist and yanking me forward. I screamed as I landed chest-first against his body.
His other arm wrapped around me, locking me in place with strength that made me wonder if he'd truly been that weak at all, or if this whole thing was some horrifying performance.
"Mate," he rasped again, voice deep and rough, like he hadn't spoken a word in years.
I thrashed against him, shoving at his chest, trying to pull free. It was like fighting a mountain that had decided to move.
"Let go of me!" I cried. "What are you?"
He only held tighter, burying his face against the curve of my neck, breathing me in like I was the first clean air he'd had after drowning for months.
That's when I broke. A scream tore out of me, echoing off the walls.
The door burst open almost instantly, cracking against the wall with the force of it. Bastian and two guards rushed in, weapons raised, eyes wide with disbelief.
"My lady!" Bastian gasped, taking in the sight of me pinned against the Alpha King's chest.
"He's awake!" I shrieked, still struggling.
Bastian froze for half a second. Then he snapped into command. "Secure the King. Now!"
The guards rushed forward, but Ronan let out a low, guttural growl that rattled the floor beneath us.
Bastian turned sharply toward one of them. "You. Get the pack doctor. Now."
The guard bolted from the room. Bastian and the remaining man approached carefully, silver restraints in hand.
"Please don't hurt me," I whispered.
Ronan snarled again, his whole body coiling tight as they closed in.
"Easy, Your Majesty," Bastian murmured, the exact tone you'd use with a wild animal about to bolt.
Ronan wasn't listening to any of it.
In one blur of motion, he swung his free arm out, sending the closest guard flying across the room. The man slammed into the wall and slid to the floor, groaning.
Bastian lunged in, trying to pull me free of Ronan's grip. It didn't matter. I wasn't going anywhere.
Then Ronan's nose brushed against my skin, his lips grazing the tender curve just beneath my jaw.
His mouth opened.
He was going to bite me.
"No!" I screamed, but it was already too late.
His teeth sank into my skin.
A blinding flash of pain and power ripped through me all at once, wiping every thought clean.
He marked me without my consent, was the last thing I remember thinking before everything went black.
---
When I stirred again, it was to the low murmur of voices somewhere nearby.
Everything was hazy at first, but the burning ache at my neck, where he'd bitten me, snapped me back into focus fast.
"She's stable," a calm voice said close by. "Vitals are steady. No internal damage. Just the mark."
I turned my head slightly and found a man in white standing over me, clearly the pack doctor. He noticed me stir and gave a brief nod.
"Good. You're awake."
My mouth felt like sand. "What... happened?"
"You fainted. The shock of the marking overwhelmed your system," he said gently. "Rest now. You're safe."
The room was dim but full of people. Bastian stood rigid at the foot of the bed, arms crossed. Three Elders stood beside him, voices hushed but not quiet enough.
"The King hasn't stirred again," one Elder said. "It had to be the girl. Her presence must have triggered his wolf."
"She's not an ordinary girl," another muttered. "No wolf reacts like that without real power behind it."
Bastian shook his head. "He's been comatose for two years. Not even the moonstone rites moved him."
The third Elder's voice went clipped. "That wasn't conscious action. His wolf reacted purely on instinct. Which tells us exactly one thing, her aura is far more than what we were told it was."
I stayed still, listening, my throat tight.
I'd struggled for years to keep my aura suppressed, ever since the bracelet went missing. Or stolen, more accurately.
I looked down at the raw mark on my neck, disgust and fury tangled together in my chest.
"Easy," the doctor said, resting a hand on my shoulder.
"I need to leave," I whispered.
"You need rest," he corrected gently. "Your body is still adjusting to the bond."
Bond.
My head spun.
"Bond?" I echoed, the word scraping out of me like rusted metal. "What bond?"
Nobody answered.
A bitter laugh bubbled up out of my chest, wild, almost unhinged.
"Oh. I understand now," I said, something reckless glinting in my eyes that I barely recognized as my own. "You think because he marked me, I'm bound to him."
They all stared at me, confused.
"Well, here's the thing," I said, dragging myself upright despite the dizziness clawing at my skull. "I know the old ways too. And I reject this cursed bond."
I tipped my head back and began the sacred words.
"I, Mira of the—"
"Enough!" a voice roared.
I froze. A silver blade hovered inches from my throat. One of the guards stood there, expression carved from stone.
"Try that incantation again, and I will spill your blood right where you sit," he said, unflinching. "Severing the bond kills the Alpha. And if the Alpha King dies, you die with him."
My heart slammed against my ribs. "What?"
Bastian stepped forward. "His soul is bound to yours now. The bond wasn't complete when he marked you, but it's strong enough to keep him tethered here. Sever it now, while he's unconscious, and he won't survive it."
I stared at him, horror crawling up my spine like ice.
"You're saying I'm his life support."
"In every sense of the word," one Elder said gravely. "His wolf stirred because of you. You are the only thing tying him to this realm right now."
My fists clenched, trembling. "I never asked for any of this."
"No one's saying you did," Bastian said, his voice gentling slightly. "But if you want any real chance of rejecting the bond once he wakes, you have to help him survive first."
I looked down at the mark searing red against my neck, like a brand.
"If I keep him alive," I said through clenched teeth, "you'll let me reject the bond the moment he opens his eyes."
"You have our word," Bastian said.
So if he dies, I die too.
"Then so be it," I whispered. "I'll keep him alive. But the second he wakes, this bond ends."
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