Luna Burn

Chapter Five — Ronan

“The bond might claim her. But I will burn the world before I let it keep her.”

The forest didn’t feel like home anymore.

Not since she came back.

Aria.

The second her scent hit the wind, something inside me cracked open—a fracture that never really healed, only hardened. I told myself I didn’t care. I told myself I wouldn’t look back.

But lies don’t last long around her.

And fate has a twisted sense of humor.

I moved through the trees like shadow, boots silent on moss. My wolf paced just beneath my skin, teeth bared, ears tuned to every sound. The Blackfang patrols were getting cocky—too reliant on territory magic and pride.

They didn’t sense me.

But she would.

She always did.

The last time I saw her, we were seventeen. She had blood on her hands and fire in her eyes. I told her to run. She did. She disappeared. And for six years, I kept her secret and let the world think she was dead.

And now she was back.

Sleeping in the arms of the Alpha who swore he’d never lay a hand on her.

Kade f*****g Draven.

I should’ve killed him years ago.

I crouched at the edge of the ridge, just outside the Blackfang estate. My body was humming—tension and instinct and rage all coiled into one violent, familiar burn.

I could smell him on her.

The mate bond wasn’t just a rumor. It was alive, blooming, raw.

But bonds don’t erase history. And they sure as hell don’t erase me.

My hand gripped the leather charm I wore around my wrist—the one she made. The one she forgot when she left me behind.

She thought I was just a rogue now. A threat.

She had no idea.

What she was… what we were—it wasn’t some moon-chosen fairy tale. It was older. Deeper. A blood oath buried in things this pack had tried to erase.

And she was walking right into it.

I moved again, faster this time, scenting the guards on the east tower. One sniff told me everything: Kade was distracted. His blood was still fresh in the air. Tension high. Desire higher.

Perfect.

I shifted mid-air, fur ripping through flesh, paws landing silently on the roof tiles above his wing of the estate. The night cloaked me in silver and silence.

And that’s when I saw her.

Through the glass.

Aria.

Standing near the balcony, wrapped in a blanket, her hair wild, her lips swollen from a kiss I didn’t give her. Her hands were shaking.

She felt me.

Her eyes flicked toward the window.

Straight into mine.

The bond didn’t exist between us, but something deeper did. And it pulled her just the same.

I wanted to crash through the glass and drag her out. Away from him. Away from the pack. Away from everything she was about to lose.

But I didn’t.

Because timing is everything.

And if I was going to save her, I needed her to remember who she really was.

Not the Omega.

Not the Luna.

Not the mate.

The weapon.

And I was the one who helped make her.

⸻

Somewhere below, a Blackfang guard barked a warning. Too late.

I disappeared into the shadows.

But I’d seen enough.

She was alive. She was bonded.

And she was in more danger than she knew.

Because what’s coming?

The mate bond won’t save her from that.

But maybe I will.