CHAPTER 9: Unbreakable Chains
1066 Words
Selene’s body ached, but it wasn’t just from exhaustion. It was something deeper, a pull she couldn’t sever no matter how hard she tried. The mate bond—shattered yet still lingering like a ghost—clawed at her, whispering in the back of her mind, urging her to turn around, to seek out the man who had rejected her.
Killian.
Even his name felt like a wound that refused to heal.
She sat by the fire, wrapped in a thick fur that Xander had given her, yet the warmth did nothing to stop the cold that had settled inside her. The wind howled through the trees, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth. She tried to focus on that, on the present, but her mind refused to obey.
Across from her, Xander sharpened a blade with slow, precise strokes. The firelight flickered against his chiseled features, casting shadows that made him look even more untouchable. His silver eyes flicked toward her, and she quickly looked away.
“Your thoughts are too loud,” he said, voice deep and smooth.
Selene tensed. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.” He set the blade down, leaning back against a fallen log. “You’re still thinking about him.”
She clenched her jaw. “I can’t help it.”
His expression didn’t change, but something dark flickered behind his gaze. “The mate bond doesn’t break so easily. Not even rejection can erase it completely.”
Selene’s fingers curled into the fur draped around her. “Then why does it feel like it’s still there? Like it’s trying to pull me back?”
Xander exhaled slowly, studying her. “Because it is.”
Her throat tightened. She had spent so much time trying to push Killian from her mind, trying to convince herself that she was free. But the truth was far crueler. She wasn’t free. She was still tied to him, still suffering the effects of what they had once been.
She hated it.
“Does it ever go away?” she whispered.
Xander was silent for a long moment before he spoke. “No.”
The answer felt like a slap. Her breath hitched, and she fought the lump rising in her throat. “Then what’s the point of running?”
Xander leaned forward, his gaze locking onto hers. “Because you’re not running from him. You’re running toward something else.”
Selene swallowed hard. “And what’s that?”
He reached out, his fingers brushing against hers. The contact sent a shiver up her spine. “A choice.”
Her pulse quickened. Xander’s touch was warm, grounding. Different. He wasn’t claiming her. He wasn’t demanding anything from her. He was simply there, offering something she hadn’t realized she needed.
A way forward.
But could she take it?
Selene pulled her hand back, staring at the flames. The bond to Killian wasn’t just in her mind—it was in her blood, in the deepest parts of her soul. It wasn’t something she could sever overnight.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” she admitted.
Xander’s expression softened, just a fraction. “You don’t have to do it alone.”
A lump formed in her throat. She had been alone for so long, even when she’d been with Killian. He had never truly seen her, never truly valued her. But Xander…
He saw too much.
Before she could say anything, a sudden shift in the air made them both go still.
A presence. One that made her blood turn to ice.
Killian.
Xander was on his feet in an instant, his entire body tensed like a predator ready to strike. Selene’s heart pounded against her ribs as she turned toward the darkness beyond the fire’s glow.
She saw nothing.
But she felt him.
Then, a voice—low, rough, and filled with something she couldn’t decipher—cut through the night. “Selene.”
Her breath caught. She hadn’t heard his voice since he had rejected her, since he had cast her aside like she was nothing. And yet, the sound of it still sent a sharp ache through her chest.
Xander took a step closer to her, his presence a silent barrier between her and the shadows. “You’re not going to him.”
Selene wanted to agree. She wanted to turn her back on Killian the way he had done to her. But the bond, that cursed, unbreakable bond, tightened around her like a noose.
Then he stepped into the light.
Killian looked different. There was a wildness in his eyes, a desperation that hadn’t been there before. His clothes were torn, his hair disheveled. He wasn’t the proud Alpha who had once stood before his pack, commanding their respect. He looked… lost.
And the sight of him made her stomach twist.
“You need to leave,” Xander said coldly.
Killian ignored him, his gaze fixed on Selene. “I need to talk to you.”
Selene swallowed hard. “There’s nothing left to say.”
His jaw tightened. “Yes, there is.”
Xander moved slightly, placing himself more firmly between them. “She said no.”
A growl rumbled in Killian’s chest. “This isn’t your business, Lycan.”
Xander’s lips curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “She is my business.”
Selene’s breath hitched at the possessiveness in his tone, but more than that, at the truth beneath it. Xander wasn’t just protecting her out of duty. He wasn’t doing this because he had to.
He was choosing her.
Killian’s gaze darkened. “I never meant to hurt you.”
The words cut deeper than she wanted them to. Because they were a lie. Whether he had meant to or not, he had broken her. And now, when she was finally starting to piece herself back together, he wanted to pull her back in.
Selene straightened, forcing steel into her voice. “You did hurt me. And I’m not coming back.”
For the first time, Killian looked… afraid.
Xander’s hand brushed against her lower back, a silent reassurance. And in that moment, she made a choice.
The bond might never fully fade. It might always linger, a scar of what once was. But she wasn’t bound by it.
She was free to walk away.
And she did.
- Writer
