Bound by Blood,Marked by war

Chapter seven: Blood on the border

📖 Chapter Seven: Blood on the Border

The night was too quiet.

Aurora felt it before she heard it an unnatural stillness, like the forest was holding its breath. She was returning from the river when the wind shifted, and the scent hit her.

Blood.

Heavy. Metallic. Wrong.

Her heart pounded as she pushed through the trees, and then she saw it.

A body sprawled against the roots of an oak. A Moonfang warrior her father’s scout. His throat ripped open, his chest torn with savage claws.

But it wasn’t the gore that froze her blood.

It was the mark carved into his skin.

The Bloodfang crest.

Her knees went weak. This wasn’t just murder. This was provocation. A spark meant to ignite war.

And then behind her the leaves rustled. She whirled, her wolf on edge, claws threatening to burst free.

Kael.

His dark eyes locked on hers, his chest heaving as though he had run the whole night to get here. Blood smeared his shirt. Not his own.

Aurora’s breath caught. “What have you done?”

Kael’s jaw tightened, but his voice was low, controlled, dangerous.

“Not me. This is a vampire’s game. They want war between us.”

Aurora shook her head, panic rising. “My father will never believe that. He’ll see the mark, the blood, and he’ll”

“Blame me,” Kael finished, stepping closer, shadows coiling around him. “Unless you help me hide this. Now.”

Her instincts screamed against it. To protect him was to betray her pack. But the bond burned, pulling her closer, whispering that she already belonged to him.

Before she could decide, a howl split the night. A patrol. They were minutes away.

Kael’s hand closed around hers, rough, commanding. His voice a growl that made her wolf shudder.

“Choose, Aurora. Do you stand with me or do I let them find me over his body?”

Her heart thundered. The patrol was coming closer. Her father’s wrath was already upon her.

And she had only seconds to decide.