Chapter 6: The Bond
973 Words
Kade's POV
I pace outside the medical wing like a caged animal.
The mate bond pulls at my chest, a constant ache that gets worse the longer I'm separated from Seren. My wolf claws at my control, demanding I go back inside, that I stay close to our mate.
Our mate.
The Surrogate.
The impossible girl who's turning my entire world upside down.
"You look like hell," Cipher says, appearing from around the corner with two cups of coffee. He offers me one. "Thought you might need this."
I take it gratefully, the bitter liquid doing nothing to settle my nerves. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to watch you wear a path on the floor." He leans against the wall, studying me with those calculating eyes. "Want to tell me what's really going on? Because the rumor mill is working overtime, and the stories are getting wild."
"Like what?"
"Like you carried Seren Ashfall through the academy like she was made of glass. Like you've been sitting vigil outside her room for three hours. Like you threatened to rip Marcus's throat out when he suggested leaving her in the forest."
I don't remember that last part, but it sounds like something my wolf would do. The bond makes me irrational, protective in ways that make no tactical sense.
"She's my mate," I say quietly.
The coffee cup freezes halfway to Cipher's mouth. "What?"
"The bond snapped into place in the forest. Right after she took down the rogue."
"You're joking."
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
Cipher sets his cup down carefully, his expression shifting from shock to calculation. I've seen that look before. He's already thinking three steps ahead, analyzing how this development affects pack politics and power structures.
"Does she know?" he asks.
"She was unconscious when it happened."
"Are you going to tell her?"
I should. The honorable thing would be to explain the bond, give her the choice to accept or reject it. But the thought of rejection, of Seren looking at me with disgust and severing the connection, makes my wolf howl in anguish.
"I don't know," I admit.
"Your father will lose his mind."
"I'm aware."
Alpha Ravaryn expects me to mate with someone from a powerful family, someone who will strengthen our pack's alliances and produce strong heirs. A Surrogate Beta, even one with mysterious powers, doesn't fit that vision.
Especially not one I've spent three years publicly tormenting.
"You could reject the bond," Cipher says carefully. "It's allowed if done within the first forty eight hours."
"I know the law."
"But you're not going to do it."
I look at him, this friend who knows me better than anyone. "Would you? If you felt this?"
The bond is agony and ecstasy all at once. It makes me want to protect and possess in equal measure. Every instinct I have screams that Seren belongs to me, that I'd burn the world down before letting anyone harm her.
Three hours ago, I dumped her breakfast on the floor.
The shame of that hits me fresh, sharp and devastating. Every cruel word, every humiliation, every moment I made her feel small comes rushing back with new context.
I hurt my mate.
For three years, I systematically broke the one person fate designed for me.
"What are you going to do?" Cipher asks.
"I don't know."
The medical wing door opens. Professor Thane emerges, his expression grave. He sees me and stops, those silver eyes assessing me in a way that makes me want to squirm like a guilty child.
"Mr. Ravaryn," he says. "I thought you might still be here."
"Is she okay?"
"Physically, yes. Emotionally, she's processing some difficult truths." He glances at Cipher. "This conversation should be private."
Cipher raises his hands in surrender. "I'll spread rumors that you're actually human and capable of caring about something. Should really shake up the social order."
He leaves with a smirk. Thane waits until he's out of earshot before speaking again.
"You feel it, don't you? The mate bond."
No point in lying. "Yes."
"And Seren doesn't know yet."
"I haven't told her."
"Why not?"
The question shouldn't be hard to answer, but the truth is complicated. "Because she'll reject it. Reject me. After everything I've done to her, she has every right to."
Thane's expression softens slightly. "Perhaps. Or perhaps she deserves the choice, regardless of what you think the outcome will be."
"What did you tell her in there?"
"The truth about her heritage. About what she is." He studies me carefully. "Did you know, Kade, that Primes and Alphas were meant to rule together? Not one above the other, but as equals. Partners in every sense."
"Primes are extinct."
"Are they?" He gestures toward the closed door. "What you saw in the forest, that was just a fraction of what she's capable of. When her seal breaks completely, when she comes into her full power, she will be extraordinary."
"That doesn't change what I've done."
"No, it doesn't. But it might change what you do next." Thane turns to leave, then pauses. "A word of advice, Alpha heir. The mate bond is sacred, but it's not slavery. Seren will need time to understand what she is, what she can become. If you truly care for her, give her that time. Don't let the bond make you selfish."
He walks away, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the constant pull of the connection tying me to the girl behind that door.
The girl I broke.
The girl I can't live without.
The girl who might just destroy me, and I'd probably deserve it.
I sit back down in the chair, settling in for another long night. Because my wolf won't let me leave, and honestly, I don't want to.
Not anymore.
- Writer
