Her Blood, Their Bond

Chapter Ten- Brothers And Bonds

The prophecy echoed in my head long after I left the Elder Hall.

Half wolf, half vampire. Green eyes. Mate of more than one.

Rhea.

The night air was sharp as I cut back through the woods, but even the cold couldn’t chase away the weight in my chest. I’d thought bringing her to the elders would bring answers, maybe even hope. Instead, all I had was dread.

And a decision I couldn’t put off.

I had to talk to Darius.

He was my Alpha. My brother in all but blood. We’d fought together, bled together, grown up side by side. But when it came to Rhea… I didn’t trust how he’d act. His instincts had flared just like mine. The prophecy made that clear.

The Alpha shall know her.

He’d felt it. I’d seen it in his eyes, heard it in his voice. The way he’d looked at her wasn’t just Alpha suspicion—it was something deeper. Something my wolf hated to its core.

Still, I couldn’t keep this from him. Not forever. If I did, someone else would tell him, or worse—the prophecy would play out right under his nose, and he’d see my silence as betrayal.

I clenched my fists, jaw tight. I’d have to be careful. Tell him enough to keep his trust, but not enough to put Rhea in danger.

Because prophecy or not, she was mine to protect.

And nothing—not even my Alpha—was going to take her from me.

Darius POV

I’d been awake for hours, though dawn had barely crested. Sleep was impossible with her scent still clawing at my chest—cedar and clean laundry couldn’t drown it out, no matter how deep I buried myself in it.

Mate.

I hated the word. Hated how it echoed inside me when I’d spent half the night convincing myself it wasn’t true. Couldn’t be true.

The door opened without a knock, and I didn’t need to look up to know who it was. Only one man in this pack would dare.

Caleb.

He carried tension with him like a storm, shoulders tight, eyes hard. He shut the door behind him and stood there for a long moment, like he was trying to find the right way to start.

I leaned back in my chair, folding my arms. “Spit it out, brother. I can feel your wolf pacing from here.”

His jaw flexed. “We need to talk. About her.”

I stilled, though I didn’t let it show. Her. Rhea. The girl with green fire in her eyes and a bond that should never have existed.

I forced my voice even. “What about her?”

He hesitated—Caleb never hesitated with me. That alone set my teeth on edge. Finally, he stepped closer, lowering his voice like the walls might be listening.

“She’s not just wolf.”

The words hit harder than I expected, though they only confirmed the itch I’d already felt in my bones.

“Explain,” I said, my tone sharper than intended.

His eyes met mine, steady, but beneath them I saw something I’d never seen in Caleb before. Fear.

And I didn’t know if it was for her… or for what she meant to all of us.

Caleb’s silence stretched long enough to make my wolf restless. Finally, he drew in a sharp breath.

“Do you remember the prophecy we heard as pups?” he asked quietly.

The question stopped me cold.

Of all the things I expected him to bring into this room, that wasn’t it. I hadn’t thought about those words in years—not since we whispered them under our breath in the dark, daring each other to believe.

“The one the elders used to scare us with?” I said, my tone flat.

Caleb’s gaze didn’t waver. “It wasn’t just a story.”

Heat prickled at the back of my neck. My wolf stiffened, recognizing the weight behind his voice. “Why bring this up now?”

“Because she’s real,” Caleb said. “The half-blood. Wolf and vampire. Green eyes.”

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. The memory of her gaze burned behind my eyes, unnatural and alive. I’d told myself it was a trick of the light. A fluke. But hearing it spoken aloud—hearing Caleb put a name to it—made my stomach twist.

I slammed my hands on the desk, rising to my feet. “Do you know what you’re saying?”

“Yes.” His voice was steady, even as his wolf pressed at the edges of his control. “And you know it too. You felt her, same as I did.”

Mate. The word echoed again, unbidden, and I ground my teeth against it.

“Prophecy or not,” I growled, “she’s dangerous.”

Caleb stepped forward, closer than I wanted him. “She’s mine.”

My wolf snarled at his claim, my chest burning with the truth I refused to accept.

She wasn’t just his. She was mine too.

And that was the problem.

The silence between us stretched, thick with things neither of us wanted to say. My wolf prowled just beneath my skin, restless, demanding I claim what Caleb had already spoken aloud.

I couldn’t. Not yet.

Instead, I forced steel into my voice. “She can’t stay in that apartment. Alone. Untrained. Every wolf in this territory felt her shift, Caleb. If we don’t control the story, someone else will.”

Caleb’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t argue. That was almost worse.

“We bring her to the pack house,” I continued. “She’ll be under protection. Safe. And we’ll figure out exactly what she is.”

His eyes narrowed. “Protection. That’s all?”

I met his gaze without flinching. “You want to leave her exposed, with rogues sniffing around? With hunters?”

His nostrils flared, and I knew I’d struck the right nerve. He growled low, but finally gave a sharp nod. “Fine. But she stays in my wing. With me.”

My wolf snarled at the claim, claws raking at my insides, but I forced it down. For now.

“Agreed,” I said. The word tasted like ash.

Because while Caleb thought this was protection, I knew the truth.

This was containment.

And if the prophecy was real, if she was truly what I feared she was… then keeping her close was the only way to make sure she didn’t destroy us all.