Chapter 3: The Mate Bond Awakens
1073 Words
It started with a dream.
The kind of dream that wrapped itself around Aria’s throat like silk and heat—until she woke gasping, tangled in her blanket, slick with sweat. Her wolf paced beneath her skin, wild and confused, teeth bared in warning but also in want.
The scent lingered in the air. Musk and storm and heat.
Kade.
She bolted upright.
The moon was high outside their dorm window, casting silver shadows across the floor. On the opposite bed, Kade slept shirtless, his chest rising and falling in steady rhythm, face turned toward her.
She could still feel the echo of his touch from the dream. His fingers sliding down her spine. His breath at her neck. His voice—mine—like a growl in the back of her mind.
Aria pressed her palms to her face, trying to breathe.
“No. No, no, no,” she whispered.
This wasn’t happening.
This couldn’t be happening.
Her body had betrayed her. Or her wolf had. Or both.
A mate bond—with him?
Kade stirred in his sleep, brow furrowing. She froze, heart hammering. But he only rolled to his side, muttering something incoherent, then stilled again.
She slipped off the bed silently and padded to the window, opening it just enough to gulp in the cold air.
A mate bond wasn’t supposed to be possible—not like this. She’d masked her scent for days. She’d kept distance. She’d buried every stir of emotion, every pull of instinct. Her wolf was locked down so tightly it should’ve suffocated any connection.
But still—still—the bond had found a way.
And he hadn’t even fully scented her yet.
Aria leaned her forehead against the windowpane, fingers trembling. The risk was no longer just about being discovered as a girl.
Now it was about being discovered as his.
***
The next morning, she avoided him.
Skipped breakfast. Stayed late in conditioning. Paired with anyone else during weapons training. She kept her face neutral, her eyes forward, her scent masked with a double dose of herbs that made her feel half-numb.
And yet... she still felt him.
Kade watched her with the quiet intensity of a predator that had finally sensed the change in the wind.
When she sparred with another trainee and took a hard hit to the shoulder, Kade was across the field in seconds, yanking the boy back by the collar.
“She’s my partner this round,” he growled.
The other boy paled and stepped aside.
Kade turned to her.
Aria stared up at him, breathing hard, shoulder aching. “I had it handled.”
His jaw tensed. “You’re off today.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re masking your scent stronger than usual.”
Panic spiked through her. “So?”
“So whatever you’re hiding is getting louder.”
Aria swallowed, backing up a step. “Drop it, Kade.”
His eyes narrowed. “Tell me why I smell heat on you.”
Time stopped.
She couldn’t breathe. The world tilted.
He smelled what?
No. The herbs should’ve masked that too. She doubled the dose. She was sure—
But then again, the mate bond had a will of its own.
Kade moved closer, slow and careful like he was approaching something fragile—or volatile. “It started last night, didn’t it? You woke up shaken. I could hear your breathing.”
“You were asleep,” she rasped.
“I was listening.”
His gaze bore into her, intense and searching.
“Is it me?” he asked quietly.
Aria’s throat closed.
She wanted to lie. Needed to lie.
But the bond pulsed between them like a current, undeniable now. The tension had shifted, thickened. He was close enough to smell everything—the fear, the longing, the confusion.
She turned her back to him. “I don’t know what you think this is, but it’s not that.”
“Your heartbeat says otherwise.”
“Stop.”
“I won’t.”
Kade’s voice dropped, low and rough with something that made her stomach twist.
“Because the way my wolf reacts to you—it’s not normal. It’s not coincidence. It’s instinct.”
“Instinct can be wrong,” she whispered.
“Not about this.”
Silence.
He exhaled, a slow drag of breath behind her. “You’re not who you say you are, Ari. I don’t know what you’re running from, or what secret you’re protecting—but I will find out.”
Her voice cracked. “Then what? You’ll turn me in?”
Kade didn’t answer right away.
When he did, it was barely a whisper.
“No. I’ll protect you.”
Her breath caught.
“I don’t know why,” he said. “But I’d kill for you. And that scares the hell out of me.”
Aria stood frozen, staring at the training ring ahead, heart slamming against her ribs. Her wolf paced wildly inside her, caught between warning and yearning.
She couldn’t let this happen.
She couldn’t.
But the bond had already begun to burn.
***
That night, she left again.
Not far. Just enough distance from the academy walls to think without his scent crowding her senses. She found a quiet ridge near the treeline and sat there, arms wrapped around her knees, watching the moon rise.
She hated how much she wanted to go back.
Not because it was safe.
Because he was there.
Because her wolf—stupid, traitorous creature—had already started to bond. Already whispered mine every time she looked at him.
She heard the crunch of leaves behind her and didn’t need to turn to know it was Kade.
Of course he’d followed her.
“Why do you keep running?” he asked, voice soft.
“Because if I stay,” she said, not looking at him, “I’ll lose everything.”
“You’ll lose it anyway if you keep hiding.”
She finally turned.
“I’m not who you think I am.”
He nodded. “Then tell me who you are.”
She hesitated.
His expression was open. Not demanding. Not accusing. Just... waiting.
“I’m not ready.”
Kade crouched beside her, close enough for their knees to touch. “Then I’ll wait.”
“Why?” she asked.
His answer came without hesitation.
“Because my wolf already chose you.”
- Writer
