Episode 9_The Mate Bond Awakens
986 Words
The days following the combat exhibition were tense.
Too tense.
Every wolf in Silver Ridge Pack could feel it.
The growing conflict between Kael and Morris.
The whispers surrounding Lila.
The strange power awakening inside her.
Nothing felt normal anymore.
And somehow...
Lila had become the center of it all.
---
One morning, Lila walked through the marketplace inside the pack territory.
Normally, nobody paid much attention to her.
Now everyone stared.
Some looked curious.
Others looked afraid.
A few even lowered their heads respectfully.
Lila hated it.
She wasn't used to attention.
Especially not this kind.
As she passed a bakery, two elderly women suddenly bowed.
Lila nearly tripped.
"Please don't do that."
The women exchanged nervous glances.
"But... we felt it."
Lila frowned.
"Felt what?"
Neither answered.
Instead, they hurried away.
Leaving her even more confused.
---
That evening, Morris summoned Lila to the royal gardens.
The place was beautiful.
Moon flowers glowed beneath silver moonlight.
Soft winds carried their sweet fragrance through the air.
Lila immediately spotted Morris standing beside the fountain.
Waiting.
For her.
Something about that realization made her heart race.
"You wanted to see me?"
Morris turned.
The moment he saw her, his expression softened.
Every single time.
Lila still wasn't used to it.
"Walk with me."
She nodded.
Together, they moved through the gardens.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Surprisingly, the silence wasn't awkward.
It felt natural.
Comfortable.
Dangerously comfortable.
Eventually, Morris stopped beside a large oak tree.
His gaze shifted toward the moon.
Then back to her.
"Do you remember the river?"
Lila froze.
The question triggered something inside her.
A flash.
A memory.
A little girl laughing.
Silver eyes.
Flowers floating on water.
A promise.
Her hand instinctively moved to her chest.
"It keeps coming back."
Morris nodded.
"Because it's real."
More memories surfaced.
Not complete.
But stronger than before.
She remembered a boy.
A lonely prince visiting different territories.
A boy who always found her beside the river.
A boy who made her laugh.
A boy she waited for.
Until he stopped coming.
"You left."
The words escaped before she could stop them.
Pain flickered across Morris's face.
"I know."
Lila looked away.
For years, she hadn't remembered him.
But now the old sadness returned.
"You promised you'd come back."
His expression tightened.
"I did come back."
Her head snapped toward him.
"What?"
"I returned."
His voice was quiet.
"I searched for you."
Lila stared.
Morris slowly stepped closer.
"But every time, I was told you had moved on."
The realization hit her again.
The priest.
The lies.
The stolen years.
A painful silence followed.
Then Morris reached into his pocket.
Carefully, he removed something.
A small silver bracelet.
Lila's breath caught.
The memory slammed into her instantly.
Years ago.
Beside the river.
She had given that bracelet to a silver-eyed boy.
"Keep it," little Lila had said.
"So you won't forget me."
The bracelet trembled in Morris's hand.
Because he had kept it all these years.
Every single year.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"You still have it."
Morris smiled sadly.
"I never stopped looking."
The words shattered the last wall around her heart.
For years, she chased someone who never wanted her.
While the person who truly cared had been searching for her.
The unfairness hurt.
But somehow...
The truth also healed.
---
Suddenly—
A sharp scream echoed through the gardens.
Both froze.
The scent of blood filled the air instantly.
Morris's expression changed.
Danger.
Within seconds, warriors rushed into the area.
"Your Majesty!"
"What happened?"
"A rogue attack."
Lila's heart dropped.
Rogues inside the territory again?
That wasn't normal.
At all.
Then another warrior arrived.
His face pale.
"There were three rogues."
Morris immediately frowned.
"Only three?"
The warrior nodded.
"Yes."
Something about that bothered Morris.
A lot.
Three rogues couldn't possibly penetrate royal security.
Unless...
Someone helped them.
---
Hours later, after the territory was secured, Lila returned to her room.
But sleep never came.
Something felt wrong.
The air.
The silence.
Everything.
Suddenly—
Her wolf growled.
Loudly.
Danger.
Lila immediately sat upright.
A second later, her bedroom window exploded inward.
A rogue wolf crashed through the opening.
Lila screamed.
The wolf lunged.
Its claws aimed directly for her throat.
She barely managed to move.
The attack missed by inches.
The rogue growled and attacked again.
Lila stumbled backward.
Fear consumed her.
She wasn't a fighter.
She wasn't a warrior.
She—
The wolf inside her roared.
Not growled.
Roared.
Power erupted through her body.
Silver light exploded from her skin.
The rogue froze instantly.
Every instinct inside it screamed submission.
Lila stared in shock.
"What..."
The rogue wasn't moving.
It looked terrified.
Then another scent filled the room.
Morris.
The Alpha King burst through the doorway.
The moment he saw the rogue near Lila, his eyes turned deadly.
Within seconds, the rogue was dead.
The threat ended.
But Morris wasn't looking at the body.
He was looking at her.
At the silver energy still glowing around her.
At the eyes that now shimmered with Alpha power.
The room fell silent.
Then Lila felt it.
A pull.
Stronger than anything she had ever experienced.
Her wolf surged forward.
The same thing happened to Morris.
Neither could stop it.
Neither wanted to.
The bond snapped into place.
Completely.
Powerfully.
Irrevocably.
Silver energy burst around them.
The entire territory felt it.
Every wolf.
Every elder.
Every warrior.
Even Kael.
A true mate bond.
The Moon Goddess herself was acknowledging it.
Lila gasped as emotions flooded her soul.
Love.
Protection.
Trust.
Belonging.
Everything she had searched for.
Everything she had never found with Kael.
Morris slowly stepped closer.
His eyes never leaving hers.
Then softly...
Almost reverently...
He whispered:
"You were always my mate."
Tears slid down Lila's cheeks.
Because for the first time in her life—
The bond felt right.
And deep inside her mind...
Her wolf finally spoke clearly.
"Home."
- Writer
