HUNTED HEARTS
847 Words
The moon was still high when Aria stumbled back into campus.
Her heart raced, hands trembling, skin clammy with sweat. She kept looking over her shoulder, half-expecting Kaelen to burst through the trees in wolf form. Or worse—those other wolves, the ones who hunted her like prey.
But there was only silence behind her.
And she was still very much alone.
Safe... For Now
By the time she made it back to her dorm, her legs felt like they might give out.
She collapsed onto her bed, shoes still on, staring at the ceiling. Her mind refused to slow down—Kaelen’s kiss, his warning, the silver glint in his eyes before he shifted and attacked his own pack to protect her.
He was out there. Fighting them. Because of her.
Her phone buzzed.
She grabbed it with shaking fingers.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: They won’t stop until you’re gone.
She dropped it like it burned her.
Then another message followed seconds later.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: Run.
Kaelen’s Return
Morning came like a slap. The sun was too bright, the world too normal. Aria felt like someone had peeled her open and left her bleeding where no one could see.
She hadn’t heard from Kaelen.
She told no one.
Classes blurred past in a haze until her breath caught walking into the dining hall.
He was there.
Leaning against the back wall, hoodie up, silver eyes watching her like he hadn’t slept all night.
Their eyes met.
He didn’t smile. Just nodded once.
Aria walked straight to him, ignoring the looks from other students.
“I thought you were—”
“I handled it,” he said, voice low.
“You were bleeding—”
“I heal fast.”
She stepped closer. “What now?”
Kaelen glanced around, then bent close.
“They know you’re mine now.”
The words hit like a jolt.
“Yours?”
“Claimed. Spiritually. The bond’s already growing. It’s irreversible now.”
She swallowed hard.
“And what does that mean for me?”
His jaw tightened. “It means you’re marked. If another Alpha finds you before I can protect you fully... they’ll see you as a weakness. A way to get to me. Or worse—proof of my betrayal.”
Blood Ties and Shadow Deals
Later that evening, Kaelen took her somewhere different—the catacombs beneath the abandoned library. Few students even knew they existed, and most who did believed they were just legends.
He led her down, torch in hand, through a cracked stone corridor until they entered a hidden chamber.
Symbols lined the walls.
Wolves. Moons. Claws. Blood.
A circular stone altar sat in the center, ancient and stained.
“What is this place?” Aria whispered.
“Ancestral ground. Only Alphas know it exists.” Kaelen’s eyes glowed faintly. “I brought you here because the old ways still matter. And if we want to survive, we have to bind you stronger to me.”
“Bind me?”
“It’s not what it sounds like,” he said gently. “It’s not possession. It’s protection. Once the bond is fully sealed, no wolf can lay a claim on you or kill you without challenging me directly.”
“And if they do?”
“They die.”
The Ritual of Binding
Kaelen lit small candles around the circle. He pricked his palm with a silver dagger, blood dripping onto the stone.
Then he looked at her, eyes full of something ancient.
“You don’t have to say yes,” he said. “But if you don’t, I can’t shield you from what’s coming.”
She stepped into the circle. “You don’t scare me, Kaelen.”
He held her hand over his.
Her blood mingled with his.
The moment they touched—a rush of heat flooded her chest.
A blinding pulse of energy erupted, knocking them both to their knees. For a second, she saw flashes of something beyond time—wolves in armor, roaring fire, and a single word etched across a burning sky:
“Temptation.”
When the light faded, Kaelen was staring at her like he’d seen a ghost.
“What... what was that?”
“I think,” he said hoarsely, “we just woke something.”
Backlash
They barely made it to the surface before the first tremor hit.
The ground shook. The windows of the old library shattered above them. Aria screamed as Kaelen pulled her to cover.
And then—
A deafening howl echoed through the night sky.
Not Kaelen’s.
Something older. Deeper. Angrier.
Kaelen stood, chest rising hard. “They felt it. Every pack within a hundred miles felt it.”
“What did we do?” Aria asked, breath catching.
“We didn’t just bind ourselves,” Kaelen said, voice filled with awe and dread. “We triggered an old power. One that’s been dormant for centuries.”
Her hand found his.
“What now?”
Kaelen looked into her eyes.
“Now we run. And then we fight.”
- Writer
