What the Bond Feels
1209 Words
Kael pulled his hand away first.
Not roughly.
Almost carefully.
But the warmth disappeared so suddenly that Lyra actually felt the loss of it.
The realization unsettled her immediately.
Kael noticed too.
His jaw tightened as he stepped backward, putting distance between them again.
“That,” he said quietly, “is exactly the problem.”
Lyra’s pulse still hadn’t calmed.
She could still feel traces of his emotions lingering beneath her skin — protective instinct tangled with fear and something darker she didn’t fully understand yet.
The bond.
It wasn’t just connecting them physically.
It was pulling emotions through too.
“That wasn’t normal,” she whispered.
Kael gave a humorless laugh. “Nothing about this is normal.”
Outside the room, thunder rumbled faintly over the mountains.
Snow continued falling beyond the small window beside them, covering Shadowfang territory in silver-white darkness.
Lyra wrapped her arms tightly around herself.
For the first time since entering the pack territory, exhaustion began giving way to something worse.
Loneliness.
The kind she’d carried most of her life.
The kind that came from always feeling different without understanding why.
“You knew something about my mother before tonight,” she said quietly.
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
That silence alone gave her the truth.
“You did.”
His silver eyes shifted toward her again.
“Yes.”
Pain tightened unexpectedly in her chest.
“How?”
Kael looked away briefly before answering.
“She came to Shadowfang territory once.”
Lyra froze.
“What?”
“You were very young.”
Her heart skipped painfully.
“No,” she whispered. “She never mentioned this place.”
“She wouldn’t.”
Kael’s voice had softened slightly now, quieter than before.
“She was terrified.”
Lyra stared at him, trying to process the image of her mother here — standing inside this territory surrounded by wolves.
“What happened?”
Kael went still.
Something dark crossed his face.
“She asked for protection.”
Fear crept slowly into Lyra’s stomach.
“From who?”
Kael hesitated.
“The Council.”
The room suddenly felt colder.
“My mother knew they were hunting us?”
Kael nodded once.
“She believed your bloodline had been discovered.”
Lyra’s throat tightened painfully.
“All this time…” Her voice cracked softly. “She was hiding me.”
Kael watched her carefully but said nothing.
Maybe because there was nothing comforting to say.
Lyra laughed weakly and rubbed her face tiredly.
“I used to think she was overprotective.”
The words hurt more than she expected.
“She never let me leave Black Hollow alone. Never let me travel too far.” Lyra swallowed hard. “I thought she was scared of the world.”
Kael’s gaze softened slightly.
“She was scared of wolves.”
Silence filled the room again.
Heavy silence.
Then quietly—
“She trusted you?”
Kael frowned slightly.
“What?”
“If she came here for protection…” Lyra looked at him carefully. “Did she trust you?”
Something unreadable crossed his face.
“Not at first.”
The answer surprised her.
Kael leaned lightly against the wooden wall, arms crossed tightly over his chest.
“She hated this territory.”
Lyra blinked. “That sounds more believable.”
A faint smirk almost touched his mouth.
Almost.
“She argued with me constantly.”
The image caught Lyra completely off guard.
Her mother arguing with Kael of all people felt impossible.
“What did she argue about?”
“You.”
The softness in his voice this time made her chest tighten unexpectedly.
Kael looked away toward the window.
“She wanted you hidden from every pack.”
“And you didn’t?”
Kael’s expression darkened slightly.
“I believed hiding forever wasn’t possible.”
“And apparently you were right,” Lyra muttered bitterly.
The silence that followed felt strangely personal now.
Less like Alpha and stranger.
More like two exhausted people standing inside the ruins of truths neither wanted.
Then suddenly—
A sharp pulse burned through Lyra’s chest.
She gasped softly and grabbed the edge of the basin.
Kael was beside her instantly.
“Lyra.”
The bond pulsed again.
Hotter this time.
Different.
Not pain.
Awareness.
And before she even understood what was happening—
Ronan’s emotions slammed into her violently.
Anger.
Frustration.
Jealousy.
The force of it made her knees weaken.
Kael caught her arm quickly.
“What is it?”
Lyra breathed unevenly. “Ronan.”
Kael went completely still.
The air around him darkened instantly.
“What about him?”
“I can feel him.”
The words barely left her mouth before the chamber door burst open.
Ronan entered looking furious.
Golden eyes immediately landed on Kael’s hand gripping Lyra’s arm.
His expression hardened instantly.
Kael slowly released her.
Too slowly.
The tension in the room sharpened immediately.
Ronan looked between them with visible irritation. “You closed the bond.”
Kael’s silver eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”
“The room.” Ronan stepped further inside. “I couldn’t sense her properly.”
Lyra blinked in confusion.
“What does that mean?”
Neither Alpha answered immediately.
Ronan dragged a frustrated hand through his hair before finally speaking.
“The farther the bond develops, the easier it becomes to sense each other.”
Lyra’s stomach dropped slightly.
“You mean emotions?”
“Yes.”
Kael looked deeply annoyed by the conversation already happening.
Ronan ignored him completely.
“Right now it’s unstable. Strong emotions bleed through easiest.”
That explained why she suddenly felt overwhelmed whenever either Alpha got angry.
Or protective.
Or jealous.
The realization made her uncomfortable.
“So you both can feel me too?”
Silence.
That was answer enough.
Heat crawled into Lyra’s face instantly.
Wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful.
Kael crossed his arms tightly. “The connection strengthens through proximity.”
Ronan’s gaze flickered toward him knowingly. “And touch.”
Lyra immediately remembered what she had felt when Kael held her hand moments earlier.
The warmth.
The emotional rush.
The terrifying intimacy of it.
Kael clearly remembered too because his expression darkened instantly.
Ronan noticed.
Of course he noticed.
Something sharp flashed briefly across his face.
Jealousy again.
And suddenly Lyra felt it too.
The bond pushed the emotion straight into her chest before she could stop it.
It wasn’t only Ronan’s jealousy anymore.
It was becoming hers too.
The realization frightened her badly.
“No,” she whispered softly.
Both Alphas looked at her immediately.
Lyra backed away slightly. “This thing is changing me.”
Kael stepped forward instinctively. “Lyra—”
“Don’t.”
Her voice cracked this time.
Fear finally overwhelmed everything else.
“I can feel things that aren’t mine.”
Neither Alpha argued.
Because they knew she was right.
Lyra shook her head slowly.
“This isn’t a connection.” Her eyes burned painfully now. “It feels like losing pieces of myself.”
The words hit the room hard.
Kael looked affected immediately.
Ronan too.
Because both of them understood something she didn’t yet:
The deeper the bond became…
The harder it would be to separate where one soul ended and another began.
- Writer
