Moonbound Silence

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I didn’t sleep.

I tried. I lay on my side on the thin bedroll in Aunt Mina’s tent, staring at a seam in the canvas like if I stared hard enough it would turn into an answer. I counted breaths. I counted the thuds of boots outside. I counted the seconds between crackles in the fire.

None of it mattered.

The bond kept pulsing under my skin like a second heartbeat.

Sometimes it was a dull pull in my chest. Sometimes it spiked so sharp I sat up with my hand pressed to my sternum, sure I’d been stabbed.

I knew why.

Kael was out there.

And my body wouldn’t let me forget it.

Every time I closed my eyes, I heard Liora’s voice again, soft and poisonous at the tent wall.

He’ll reject you.

I didn’t know if she’d meant it as a threat or a promise.

Maybe both.

Outside, the camp shifted restlessly. Ridgebacks never fully relaxed near Ironclaws. The summit wasn’t a party. It was a truce with teeth.

Aunt Mina hadn’t come back. That was the only thing that scared me more than the bond.

She’d said she was going to speak to the representative.

She hadn’t returned.

I listened harder, trying to separate voices. Ridgeback. Ironclaw. Elder.

All of it blurred.

Then the tent flap moved.

I sat up so fast the bedroll snagged at my knees. My hand went to the small knife tucked under Aunt Mina’s spare blanket. I wasn’t good with it, but I wasn’t helpless.

Aunt Mina stepped inside, pulling the flap shut behind her.

Relief hit first.

Then I saw her face.

She wasn’t panicked. She wasn’t angry.

She was controlled.

That meant something had happened.

“Don’t speak,” she said before I could. Her voice was flat.

I froze with my mouth half open.

Aunt Mina crouched and started packing without looking at me. She moved quickly and quietly: cloak folded, travel satchel opened, supplies shoved in by muscle memory.

My stomach dropped. “We’re leaving,” I whispered.

Aunt Mina didn’t answer.

That was an answer.

I swung my legs off the bedroll. My feet hit cold ground. “Now?”

Aunt Mina’s eyes finally snapped to mine. “Before dawn.”

My pulse jumped. “What happened?”

Her jaw tightened. “The elders are asking questions.”

“Because of me.”

Aunt Mina’s gaze flicked away, like she didn’t want to give that sentence life. “Because of the scene. Because Ironclaw likes to pretend they don’t play dirty while they do it.”

I swallowed. “And Ridgeback?”

“We look stupid,” she said bluntly.

The words stung. Not because they weren’t true. Because they were.

I’d stepped out.

I’d spoken.

I’d lied.

And everybody saw.

Aunt Mina shoved a bundle of clothes into the satchel and stood. “Get your boots. Get your cloak. No jewelry. No scent oils. Nothing that trails.”

I stared at her. “Are we running?”

“We’re leaving,” she corrected. “Like guests who have the right to leave.”

But her hands were moving like we were running.

I forced my fingers to work and pulled on my boots, lacing them too tight because my hands were shaking.

Aunt Mina noticed and slapped my hands away. “Stop.”

“I can do it.”

“No, you can’t,” she said, and it wasn’t an insult. It was reality.

She knelt and laced the boots fast, firm.

I hated how humiliating it felt.

I hated how grateful I was.

When she finished, she grabbed my chin and made me look at her.

“Riva,” she said.

My throat tightened.

Her voice dropped. “They’re going to push for an answer.”

“What answer?”

“The only one that matters,” she said. “Whether you’re bonded.”

I went cold.

I swallowed hard. “I already said I wasn’t his.”

Aunt Mina’s expression didn’t soften. “That’s not how this works. A bond isn’t a rumor you can talk away. Wolves can smell it. Healers can sense it. And the elders…” She exhaled. “The elders decide what story keeps everyone alive.”

My chest hurt.

Not just from fear.

From the bond reacting to the word elders like it knew they were dangerous too.

“What did they decide?” I asked.

Aunt Mina looked at the tent wall like she didn’t want to see my face when she said it.

“They’re leaning toward forcing him to reject,” she said.

The air left my lungs.

It wasn’t like Liora’s whisper anymore. It wasn’t a threat.

It was an option on a table.

My voice came out thin. “Can they force him?”

Aunt Mina’s gaze snapped back to mine. “They can force the situation.”

I pressed a hand to my sternum. The bond pulsed once, hard.

Like it heard the word reject and reacted before I could.

Aunt Mina’s eyes flicked to my hand. “You feel it right now.”

I didn’t deny it.

She stood and shoved the satchel strap over her shoulder. “We’re going to the Ridgeback elder tent. You will keep your head down. You will not react. You will not look toward Ironclaw. Do you understand?”

I nodded because if I spoke, I might scream.

We slipped out into the pre-dawn dark.

The sky wasn’t light yet, but it was lighter than before. The moon had sunk lower, still bright but less oppressive. Fires burned low. Wolves moved like shadows between tents.

Ridgeback guards watched us pass.

Their eyes went to me.

Then away.

Like I was contagious.

Aunt Mina walked fast, one hand at my elbow the way she had in the clearing. Only now it wasn’t for appearances. It was because she didn’t trust me not to bolt.

We reached the Ridgeback elder tent—larger than the others, guarded by two men with gray at their temples. They nodded to Aunt Mina and let us through.

Inside, the air was thick with smoke and old herbs.

Three Ridgeback elders sat around a low table.

I recognized one of them: Elder Soren, my father’s friend, the man who’d taught me when I was little that a pack wasn’t a family. It was a weapon that learned to move together.

His eyes landed on me and held.

“Riva,” he said.

I forced myself to bow my head. “Elder.”

Aunt Mina spoke before he could. “We’re leaving.”

Elder Soren’s mouth tightened. “We can’t.”

My stomach dropped.

Aunt Mina’s eyes narrowed. “We can. We’re guests.”

“We are still under summit rules until sunrise,” another elder said. “No one leaves without permission.

I felt the bond tighten in my chest.

Permission.

Like Kael’s voice again.

Aunt Mina’s voice sharpened. “Permission from who?”

Elder Soren held up a hand. “From the elders council. Joint decision.”

Of course.

The summit wasn’t just Ridgeback and Ironclaw. It was every pack that benefitted from the feud staying contained.

Aunt Mina looked like she wanted to flip the table.

Instead, she breathed out slowly. “Then we request it.”

Elder Soren’s gaze stayed on me. “You understand what’s happening, child?”

I hated being called child. I hated that it was accurate.

“Yes,” I lied.

Elder Soren’s expression didn’t change. “Do you?”

My mouth went dry.

Aunt Mina’s hand pressed harder at my elbow.

I swallowed. “They think I’m bonded to Ironclaw.”

Elder Soren’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Do you deny it?”

My heart slammed.

I had denied it.

Out loud.

In front of everyone.

But denying it here, in this tent, with elders who could smell fear like blood, felt different.

I forced my voice steady. “Yes.”

The lie tasted bitter.

The bond pulsed like it hated me.

Elder Soren watched me for a long beat.

Then he said quietly, “Your scent is wrong.”

My stomach turned.

Aunt Mina’s posture went rigid.

Elder Soren leaned back, fingers steepled. “You can deny all you want. But the closer the moon gets to setting, the closer wolves get to truth.”

I felt my face heat. Shame, anger, fear—everything.

Aunt Mina stepped forward. “Elder, she is under my protection. She did nothing wrong.”

“No,” the elder beside Soren said. “But she became a problem.”

The words hit like a slap.

I opened my mouth.

Aunt Mina squeezed my arm hard enough to stop me.

Elder Soren’s gaze stayed on mine. “Ironclaw is pushing.”

“For what?” My voice came out before I could stop it.

Elder Soren didn’t look surprised. “For a public rejection.”

My chest clenched.

Aunt Mina’s voice went low. “That’s insane. They started this. They cornered her.”

“They want the bond dead,” Soren said bluntly. “They want the feud clean. They want their Alpha free to marry the woman they chose.

My stomach twisted.

Liora.

Elder Soren continued, “If Kael rejects her under elder witness, the bond breaks. It becomes a wound, yes. But it becomes a closed story. No claim. No leverage.”

Aunt Mina’s hands clenched. “And what happens to her?”

Elder Soren’s expression softened, just slightly. “She survives.”

I stared at him.

Survives.

Like that was the best anyone could offer.

Aunt Mina’s voice shook. “She survives broken.”

Elder Soren’s gaze flicked to Aunt Mina, then back to me. “Better broken than dead.”

The words landed like cold water.

Then the tent flap lifted.

Every Ridgeback inside tensed.

A cold scent rolled in with the air.

Cedar and smoke.

My body reacted before my brain did.

The bond flared so hard I swayed.

Kael stepped into the elder tent.

He didn’t look like he’d slept either. His coat was on. His hair was messy like he’d run a hand through it too many times. His eyes looked darker in the low light.

Behind him, two elders in neutral sashes followed—summit elders. And Liora.

Always Liora.

She hovered at Kael’s shoulder like she belonged there, face calm, eyes bright.

Kael’s gaze landed on me.

The bond tightened.

Mine.

No.

Not now.

Aunt Mina stepped between us instantly.

Kael didn’t acknowledge her.

His eyes stayed on me like the tent was empty of everyone else.

Elder Soren stood, formal. “Alpha Kael.”

Kael’s voice was flat. “Elder.”

One of the summit elders spoke, voice like stone. “We need to resolve this before sunrise.”

Kael’s jaw ticked.

Liora’s hand slid to his forearm.

He didn’t move it.

The summit elder looked at me. “State your name.”

My throat tightened. “Riva.”

“State your pack,” the elder continued.

“Ridgeback.”

The elder nodded once. “Do you acknowledge a mate bond to Alpha Kael of Ironclaw?”

My vision blurred at the edges.

The question was a blade.

Say yes and become a weapon.

Say no and become a liar in front of elders.

Aunt Mina’s hand tightened on my arm.

Kael’s gaze didn’t leave mine.

I felt his restraint through the bond, tight and angry.

Like he was holding himself back from saying something first.

My mouth went dry.

“I—”

Liora’s voice cut in, soft. “She already denied him publicly.”

The summit elder’s gaze flicked to her, unimpressed. “We are not asking you.”

Liora’s smile stayed in place.

Kael finally looked at her.

It wasn’t a warning.

It was something colder.

She withdrew her hand like she’d touched heat.

My stomach twisted.

The elder looked back to me. “Answer.”

I swallowed.

Then Kael spoke.

“Stop.”

Every head turned.

His voice stayed controlled, but the bond carried the edge of it straight into my chest.

“This isn’t a trial,” Kael said. “It’s a performance.”

The summit elder’s eyes narrowed. “Careful, Alpha.”

Kael’s jaw flexed. “I’m being careful. That’s the problem.”

Elder Soren’s gaze sharpened. “Kael.”

Kael didn’t look away from me. “If you want an answer, you already have it,” he said. “You can smell it. You can feel it. Don’t pretend you need her words to make your decision.”

The summit elder’s face went hard. “Then make it for us.”

My stomach dropped.

Kael’s gaze finally flicked to the elder.

“What decision?” he asked, like he didn’t know.

Like he hadn’t been thinking about it all night.

The summit elder said the word like a verdict.

“Reject her.”

The bond pulsed once, violently.

My breath caught.

Kael’s eyes came back to me.

And for the first time since I’d met him, I saw something unguarded there.

Not tenderness.

Not love.

Something worse.

Regret.

His mouth opened.

And I realized the next words out of his mouth could destroy me.

I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t move.

I could only stare at him and wait.

“Riva,” he said.

My name landed like a blow.

The bond tightened.

And Kael drew in a slow breath, like he was about to make a choice he’d hate.

Then he spoke.

“I reject—”

The word stopped in his throat.

Because outside the elder tent, a scream tore through the camp.

Not a human scream.

A wolf scream.

Panic.

Blood.

The sound hit the canvas like a fist.

Every guard outside shifted.

Elder Soren’s head snapped toward the flap.

Kael’s eyes flashed.

And the summit elder swore under their breath.

The scream came again, closer.

And I knew, with cold certainty, that whatever was happening outside was going to make this decision impossible to delay.

Because someone had spilled blood.

And now everyone would want a reason.

A story.

A blame.

Kael’s gaze locked onto mine.

And I realized he wasn’t just being asked to reject me.

He was being asked to sacrifice me.

And the choice was going to be made in minutes.

Not by me.

Not by Aunt Mina.

By the Alpha who still felt like a bruise in my chest.

The tent flap jerked open.

A Ridgeback guard stumbled in, eyes wide, hands red.

“Elder!” he shouted. “Ironclaw attacked—”

His gaze landed on Kael.

His voice broke with rage.

“It was his men.”

The room exploded into motion.

And Kael’s face went blank.

Not surprised.

Not confused.

Like he’d been expecting this.

Like he’d warned me.

Provocation.

Blame.

A reason.

The summit elder’s voice cut through the chaos.

“This is exactly why we end it now,” they said.

Kael’s eyes were still on me.

His jaw tightened.

And this time, when he spoke, his voice was quiet.

Deadly.

“I reject—”

My chest clenched so hard I thought I’d break in half.

And the word after that…

I didn’t know if I’d survive hearing it.