Chapter 3: Moonlit Chains
1260 Words
Aelira's POV
The blood moon hovered low over the mountains, red as spilled wine. I could feel it dragging at me, pulling something ancient and volatile from the pit of my stomach. The stone circle they’d dragged me to was older than memory, each monolith etched with symbols too deep to read. But I felt them. Felt them burn into my skin like brands.
“I don’t want to do this,” I muttered, tugging at the silver chains locked around my wrists.
Kaelen didn’t flinch. He stood at the edge of the ritual circle, arms crossed, expression stone. His war cloak snapped in the wind, but he didn’t move.
“You don’t have a choice,” he said.
I glared at him. “That’s becoming a pattern with you.”
“Then stop resisting,” he snapped. “Let it happen.”
“You think that makes it better? You’re forcing a bond. You’re no better than my father.”
His jaw tightened. A muscle ticked in his neck. “I’m not your father.”
“No,” I said. “You’re worse.”
The air crackled between us. The circle began to hum—faint at first, then louder until the stones vibrated with pulsing heat. My body responded against my will, my heart racing as the Moon Witch magic clawed its way up my spine.
I dropped to my knees.
It felt like drowning and burning at the same time. I dug my nails into the earth, biting back a scream. Power burst from my palms and scorched the moss. Cracks spiderwebbed under me, glowing like veins of fire.
Kaelen stepped into the circle.
“You need to control it,” he growled.
“Control?” I laughed, shaking. “It’s not something you tame, Alpha. It’s something that eats you.”
His boots stopped inches from me. “Then let it eat you,” he said. “And show me what’s left.”
I met his eyes, breath ragged. “Why? So you can weaponize it?”
“So I can stop it from killing you.”
There it was again. That razor-thin line between menace and concern. Between threat and protection.
The ground jolted beneath us.
A surge of power slammed outward. The chains around my wrists shattered. Stone cracked. The ritual circle split.
Kaelen grabbed my arm. “Stay with me!”
But I wasn’t in control. The power ripped from me in waves. Shadows slithered from the forest, wrapping around the stones. Whispers filled the air.
Kaelen swore and yanked me upright.
“I said stay with me!” His voice cut through the chaos like a blade.
“Then help me!” I shouted. “I can’t stop it!”
He crushed his hand over mine. A pulse of energy snapped through us both—hot, electric, too intimate. My magic collided with his, and for one breathless second, we were fused. Not just bonded. Entwined.
His heartbeat thundered in my ears.
Mine matched it.
Then, without warning, the treeline exploded.
Arrows hissed. Shadows broke apart into snarling wolves.
Kaelen shoved me behind him, his body a wall of heat and steel. “Assassins,” he said.
“Yours?”
“No. Nightfang loyalists don’t use poison.”
He shifted mid-lunge—armor tearing, claws glinting, eyes blazing gold. His wolf form struck like a storm, all muscle and fury.
I rolled to the side, ducking a blade. My palms burned, wild power still coursing through me.
I reached for it.
It obeyed—barely.
The first attacker lunged at me with twin daggers. I lifted my hand, and a burst of moonlight shot from my fingertips. It hit him square in the chest, sending him flying into the trees.
I gasped. “Holy hell…”
Kaelen’s growl rumbled behind me. “Try not to kill yourself.”
“I could say the same,” I snapped, throwing another bolt.
The battle turned feral. Claws clashed. Teeth gnashed. The scent of blood mixed with scorched earth.
Kaelen fought like he was born for it. A shadow in motion, precise and brutal.
But I wasn’t helpless anymore.
When another wolf charged at me from the left, I didn’t run. I called the wind.
It screamed through the trees, throwing him off his feet. I raised my arms and twisted. The shadows obeyed.
For the first time, I commanded my magic.
And it listened.
We stood back to back now—Kaelen and I—breathing hard, surrounded by fallen enemies.
“You’re bleeding,” I said, nodding to a gash on his shoulder.
“So are you,” he countered.
I glanced down. There was a tear in my tunic, and blood trailing down my side. I hadn’t even felt it.
We locked eyes.
His pupils were still rimmed with gold. The bond between us pulsed again, deeper now, like it had tasted the heat of battle and wanted more.
Kaelen stepped toward me.
The air between us felt charged.
Neither of us spoke.
His hand lifted slowly, brushing a streak of blood from my cheek. His thumb lingered, tracing the curve of my jaw.
I should’ve pulled away.
I didn’t.
Instead, I leaned into it.
His breath hitched.
His lips hovered over mine—close enough to feel but not touch. I tilted my head, heart pounding. His scent—spice and cedar—wrapped around me.
“Don’t,” I whispered. “Don’t pretend this is real.”
“It is real,” he said. “That’s the damn problem.”
Our mouths were a heartbeat apart.
I could taste his breath.
Then—
A flash of movement in the trees.
Kaelen spun, dragging me behind him.
A shadow loomed in the canopy—tall, cloaked, eyes glowing amber. Watching. Not attacking. Waiting.
Kaelen snarled. “Another assassin?”
“No,” I said quietly, stepping forward.
Something in my chest twisted.
“I know those eyes.”
The figure melted into the night like smoke.
Kaelen grabbed my wrist. “Who was that?”
“My brother,” I breathed.
He stared at me.
“I thought he was dead,” I whispered.
“You sure it was him?”
I nodded, but my stomach coiled. Aelar. My ghost. My protector. My betrayer?
“I’ll hunt him down,” Kaelen growled.
“No,” I snapped. “You’ll do nothing until I know why he’s here.”
Kaelen’s mouth twitched. “You still trust him? After what he did?”
I looked away. “I don’t know what I trust anymore.”
The blood moon had started to fade, but the tremor in my limbs hadn’t stopped. My magic buzzed like a warning. The bond inside me—tethered to Kaelen—burned hotter than before.
Kaelen stepped closer. “You need to rest.”
“I’m fine,” I said, even though I swayed.
“You’re not.”
He reached for me again. This time, I didn’t flinch.
His arms wrapped around me—not forceful, but steady. Solid. I didn’t want to need him.
But part of me did.
“I hate you for this,” I whispered into his chest.
“I know,” he said.
And still, his arms tightened.
We stood in silence, the battlefield still and broken around us.
Then he leaned down, mouth at my ear, voice low and rough.
“You’re mine now, Omega,” Kaelen said.
His breath sent a shiver down my spine.
“And I’m already losing control.”
- Writer
