The bite between us

The pain

chapter 11

Rowan pov

The pack sleeps.

I don’t.

I stand at the edge of the cliffs where the wind howls loud enough to tear thoughts apart. The moon is high, merciless, its light carving silver into my skin. I let it burn. I deserve the discomfort.

Inside me, Vargan prowls.

Not pacing.

Circling.

He is too close to her, Vargan growls. The beta is replacing us.

“He’s protecting her,” I say quietly.

He is interfering.

I close my eyes. The bond aches—dull, constant, like pressure behind my ribs. I feel it when she leans toward Kael. When her fear settles because someone else is holding the line I should be holding.

“She’s calmer,” I say. “She sleeps.”

Vargan snarls, the sound vibrating through bone.

Because she thinks she is safe.

“She is safe,” I snap. “That’s the point.”

Silence.

Then, softer—dangerously so—

You don’t trust yourself.

The truth lands harder than any blow.

I clench my fists. “I trust myself too much. That’s the problem.”

Images flash unbidden—her pulse, her warmth, the way the bond tightens every time I’m near her. The way control slips not all at once, but in small, terrifying increments.

If you take her, Vargan says, voice low, you will not stop.

“And if I don’t,” I answer, “she survives.”

Vargan huffs, a sound almost like dark laughter.

You are choosing pain.

“I’m choosing her life.”

The wind screams between us. Below, the forest stretches endless and waiting.

The beta smells like shield, Vargan says grudgingly. He stands like a wall.

“He always has.”

Another pause.

Then, the admission—sharp and reluctant.

I do not like it.

“I know.”

But… Vargan hesitates, the massive presence within me shifting. If she leans on him, the elders hesitate. If she is guarded, they wait.

I exhale slowly. “Exactly.”

And when the bond demands more? Vargan asks. When she starts reaching for you instead?

My chest tightens.

“Then I endure it,” I say. “Or I break away before I break her.”

Vargan growls, furious and proud all at once. You are still a king.

“A king who doesn’t get everything he wants.”

The wolf settles then—not content, but accepting.

Kael keeps her breathing, Vargan says. We keep our distance.

“For now.”

The bond pulses faintly, stubborn, alive.

I look up at the moon, jaw tight.

“Protect her,” I murmur. “Even if it means she never understands why I stayed away.”

Vargan’s presence presses closer, fierce and absolute.

She will live, he vows. Even if it costs us.

And for the first time since the bond awakened—

I let myself believe that might be enough