Bound in Blood
585 Words
The storm broke at midnight.
Wind howled against the fortress walls, carrying with it whispers that crawled beneath Aria’s skin. She stood in the center of her chamber, a single candle flickering at her feet, the light casting long, trembling shadows.
The mark on her wrist throbbed again — not with pain, but with something worse: hunger. The Moonfire inside her wanted out.
Each heartbeat echoed like a drumbeat of warning:
You are changing.
A knock shattered the silence.
Kael entered without waiting. His hair was still damp from the rain, his cloak dripping trails across the stone. The scent of earth and steel clung to him — grounding, familiar.
“You called for me?” he asked quietly.
“I need your blood.”
The words fell between them like a blade.
⸻
Kael stilled. “You’ll have to explain that before I decide whether to bleed for you.”
“It’s the only way to find her.”
“Her?”
“The goddess,” Aria said, her voice shaking. “There’s a ritual — one older than the packs, older than the Moon’s laws. It’s forbidden because it uses the bond itself as a key. If I mix my power with yours, I can reach her.”
Kael’s expression hardened. “Or destroy us both.”
Aria met his gaze. “Wouldn’t you risk that if it meant breaking her hold?”
He stepped closer, the air between them sparking faintly where their marks aligned. “You don’t understand what you’re asking, Aria. The bond is blood and spirit. If you tear at it—”
“I’m not tearing it.” Her eyes glowed faintly, moonlight shimmering in her irises. “I’m testing it.”
Kael exhaled through his nose, pacing once before turning back to her. “You think the goddess will answer you?”
“She already does. I just want to make her listen.”
⸻
Silence stretched. Then, Kael drew the dagger from his belt — silver-edged, its hilt marked with the crest of his line. He turned it in his hand once, studying her.
“You’re certain?”
“No,” Aria said honestly. “But I have to try.”
He nodded once. Then he cut his palm.
The scent of Lycan blood filled the room — rich, powerful. Aria reached for his hand, her own trembling, and pressed her palm to his. The bond flared instantly, a surge of white-hot light filling the air between them.
The candle blew out.
Wind coiled around them, carrying whispers not of this world. Aria’s eyes turned silver-white, her voice rising above the storm.
“Moon above, hear me. I am your cursed child, your marked vessel. Show me the path that frees or ends us both.”
The light burst outward, the entire chamber vibrating. Kael’s grip tightened — anchoring her, pulling her back from the brink of whatever void she was touching.
He shouted her name, but his voice was distant, drowned by the roar of divine power.
Then everything stopped.
⸻
When the world steadied, they were both on the floor — breathing hard, palms still pressed together, blood mixing between their fingers.
“Aria,” Kael rasped. “What did you see?”
Her gaze lifted slowly, unfocused at first, then sharp with horror.
“The goddess,” she whispered. “She wasn’t alone.”
Kael’s jaw clenched. “Who was with her?”
Aria’s voice broke. “A man. With your face.”
- Writer
