Chapter 15: The Chains That Bind Us
546 Words
The True Alpha finally moved.
His silence had been heavy, deliberate, but now he stepped forward, placing himself just slightly between me and the golden-eyed King. Not fully blocking me—just… there. A silent message. A line drawn in the dirt.
The King’s gaze flicked toward him, and for the first time, something shifted in his expression. Not anger. Not irritation.
Amusement.
“You’re protecting her?” The King’s voice was smooth, almost lazy. “That’s unexpected.”
The True Alpha didn’t react, didn’t break the cold, calculating mask on his face. “I protect what’s mine.”
A low chuckle rumbled from the King’s chest. “Yours? Interesting choice of words.”
I clenched my jaw. “I am not anyone’s.”
The King’s gaze snapped back to me, something sharp flashing through those golden depths. “No, little Luna,” he murmured. “You are everyone’s problem.”
My muscles coiled. My instincts screamed at me to strike, to prove myself, to fight—but I knew better. Not yet.
The King watched me for another long, drawn-out second before his smirk faded. “Come.”
One word.
And everything inside me screamed to obey.
Not because I wanted to.
Because he commanded it.
Power crashed into me like a tidal wave, a force so absolute, so suffocating, that my knees buckled. I gasped, fingers digging into the dirt as the weight of it crushed against my bones. My vision blurred. My wolf whimpered.
And still—I refused to kneel.
My breath came in sharp, ragged gulps as I forced myself to look up. My limbs trembled, my lungs burned, but I held his gaze.
I fought it.
I fought him.
The King’s expression didn’t change, but the air around us did. The weight pressing down on me didn’t lessen—it intensified. As if he was simply waiting to see how far I’d break before I shattered.
The True Alpha’s voice was low. Dangerous. “That’s enough.”
The power snapped away.
Like a sudden gust of wind gone still.
I collapsed forward, gasping for breath, my body trembling from the sheer force of not giving in. My muscles screamed in protest, but my mind was clear.
I hadn’t bowed.
I hadn’t submitted.
And that meant something.
The King tilted his head, studying me with something between irritation and interest. “You are the first to resist me in centuries.”
I wiped the blood from my mouth and smirked. “Must be losing your touch, then.”
The True Alpha let out a low growl. A warning.
The King’s golden gaze flickered with something dangerous.
But instead of striking me down, he did something worse.
He smiled.
“You’ll learn soon enough,” he said smoothly, stepping back. “Your power is only beginning to wake. And when it does—” His gaze darkened. “You will bow. One way or another.”
I forced myself to stand, my legs weak but steady. I had survived his test. I had faced his power and I was still here.
That meant he didn’t own me.
That meant I would never belong to him.
And that meant—no matter what happened next—
I would fight until the very end.
- Writer
