The Bond I refuse
1204 Words
Seraphina
When I woke, the first thing I noticed was the silence.
Not the terrifying, predator-lurking silence of last night, but the kind that pressed against my ears after too many hours of restless sleep. My body was sore, my throat dry, and every time I closed my eyes, I saw him. Storm-gray eyes. A vow whispered like a curse. His hand closing around my wrist as if it had been made to fit there.
Mine.
The word echoed, taunting me. I sat up too quickly, my breath hitching. Elara’s little cottage came into focus—sunlight spilling through the shutters, herbs hanging in bundles from the rafters, the faint smell of lavender and sage. The familiar warmth should have calmed me, but nothing could erase the way my pulse stuttered every time I remembered the sound of his voice.
“You’re awake,” a soft voice said.
Elara appeared from the kitchen alcove, her golden hair braided neatly over one shoulder. She carried a steaming mug in her hands, the scent of chamomile drifting toward me. Her amber eyes softened when she saw me, though worry lingered in their depths.
I took the mug with shaking hands. “Thanks.”
She studied me in silence as I sipped, the warmth sliding down my throat. Finally, she asked the question I had been dreading. “What happened in the woods, Sera?”
The mug nearly slipped from my fingers. For a moment, I considered lying. Telling her I’d seen nothing, that I’d run from shadows and wolves. But Elara had known me since we were children—she could read me as easily as one of her spell books.
“I saw him,” I whispered. My voice cracked on the word.
Elara’s lips parted. She didn’t need me to say his name. The fear in her eyes was enough to confirm she understood.
“Kael Draven.”
I closed my eyes, fighting the shiver that rolled through me at the sound of it. “He found me.”
The mug was tugged from my hands before I could spill it, set firmly on the table beside the bed. Elara sat on the edge, her hand closing over mine. “Tell me everything.”
So I did.
The silence of the forest. The silver eyes. The vow. Every word that had branded itself into my skin. When I finished, Elara’s expression was unreadable, but her grip on my hand was tight enough to hurt.
“You need to stay hidden,” she said finally. “The mate bond—”
“I don’t accept it.” My words came out sharp, too loud in the small room. “I won’t accept him.”
Elara’s gaze softened, pity bleeding through. “The bond doesn’t care if you accept it, Sera. Neither will he.”
I yanked my hand free and stood, pacing the narrow floorboards. “Then I’ll fight it. I’ll fight him. I won’t be chained to some Alpha just because the moon decided my fate.”
The door burst open before Elara could reply.
“Fight who?” Nyx strode in, her black braid swinging, eyes flashing green fire. Behind her came Lyra, Mira, and—gods help me—Aiden.
They filled the little cottage with noise, the comfort of familiarity, and yet even their presence couldn’t banish the suffocating weight pressing on my chest.
Nyx crossed her arms, glaring at me. “What did you do this time? Elara sent for us like the world was ending.”
“Maybe it is,” Lyra said with a smirk, though her eyes darted nervously to me. “Depends on Sera’s definition of disaster.”
Mira slipped past them quietly, setting her stack of books on the table. She adjusted her glasses, her dark braids falling over one shoulder. “Judging by her aura, I’d say this is worse than usual.”
Aiden lingered near the door, broad shoulders blocking the light. His brown eyes scanned me like I might crumble if he looked away. “Tell us what happened.”
I didn’t want to. Gods, I didn’t want to see the way they would all look at me once they knew. But the words burned in my throat, demanding release.
“I met him.”
“Met who?” Nyx demanded.
“Kael Draven.”
The silence that followed was heavier than the one in the forest.
Lyra whistled low. “Well. That explains the tension.”
Nyx swore violently, pacing like a caged animal. “Tell me you didn’t—tell me the bond didn’t snap.”
I said nothing. I didn’t have to. The look in my eyes gave me away.
Aiden’s growl filled the room, low and dangerous. “No. Absolutely not. You’re not his.”
“I’m not anyone’s,” I snapped, but my voice lacked conviction. “I won’t be.”
“You don’t understand,” Mira murmured, flipping open one of her books. Her fingers traced runes along the page. “The bond… it isn’t something you can sever. It’s ancient. It’s older than kingdoms, older than gods. Once it’s awakened—”
“Then I’ll smother it,” I cut in. My voice shook, but I forced it steady. “I’ll bury it, drown it, burn it out of me if I have to. I won’t belong to him.”
Nyx stopped pacing, her fists clenched. “Good. Because if he comes for you, he’ll have to get through us first.”
Elara shot her a sharp look, but didn’t contradict her.
Aiden stepped forward, his hand brushing mine, tentative but warm. “I won’t let him take you, Sera. Not while I’m breathing.”
Something twisted in my chest—guilt, fear, longing, I couldn’t tell. Aiden’s devotion had always been steady, a constant comfort. But now it felt like a cruel joke, because even as he spoke those words, my traitorous pulse beat Kael’s name.
A shadow crossed the window.
Every head snapped toward it. My heart stuttered.
Elara rose slowly, moving to the shutters. She pushed them open—nothing but forest beyond. But I smelled it. Smoke. Storm.
He was near.
The bond thrummed through me, alive and hungry, pulling me toward the trees. My breath hitched, my body leaning forward before I forced it still.
Lyra swore under her breath. “Well. That didn’t take long.”
Nyx grabbed her dagger. “Let him come. I’ll gut him myself.”
“No,” Elara said sharply. “If Kael Draven wants Sera, no blade will stop him. We need strategy, not blood.”
Aiden bristled. “Then we’ll move her. Keep her hidden.”
“Where?” Mira asked softly, eyes still on her book. “He’s the Alpha. His bond will pull him to her no matter where she runs.”
The silence after her words was suffocating. Because we all knew she was right.
My fingers curled into fists, nails biting my palms. I refused to cry, refused to show them the storm tearing through me. But inside, I was already unraveling.
Last night, he had vowed to burn the world for me.
And today, I believed him.
- Writer
