MOONBOUND: THE HUMAN HEART

Chapter 19 – Trust No One

I didn't answer Lukas.

I couldn't.

His words hung in the air between us, heavy and poisonous, and all I could do was stare at his green eyes and try to find the lie beneath them.

Nikolai used you for power.

He used your body, your blood, your bond.

But I would love you.

"Ela." Lukas reached for me again. "Say something."

"No."

"No?"

"I don't believe you." My voice was shaking, but my words were steady. "I don't believe you, and I don't trust you, and I need you to leave."

"Ela—"

"Leave."

Lukas's jaw tightened. For a moment, something dark flickered across his face—anger, maybe, or frustration. Then it was gone, replaced by that familiar, empty smile.

"As you wish," he said. "But think about what I offered. The curse won't wait forever."

He walked to the door.

Paused.

Looked back at me.

"Trust no one, Ela," he said quietly. "Not even yourself."

Then he was gone.

Kai was still standing by the door.

His arms were crossed. His jaw was tight. His brown eyes were fixed on the place where Lukas had been standing, like he was imagining all the ways he could hurt him.

"You should go too," I said.

"Ela—"

"Please, Kai. I can't—" My voice cracked. "I can't do this right now. I can't talk about curses or bonds or any of it. I just need to be alone."

Kai looked at me for a long moment.

Then he nodded.

"I'll be outside," he said. "If you need me."

"I won't."

"You might."

He walked out, pulling the splintered door shut behind him.

And I was alone.

I sat on the bed for a long time.

The black blood had dried on the pillow, flaking away like ash. The symbols on the headboard had stopped glowing. Everything looked normal.

But nothing was normal.

Nothing would ever be normal again.

Nikolai used you.

He left you.

He's not coming back.

I didn't want to believe it. Couldn't believe it. The boy who had killed wolves for me, who had cried for me, who had whispered I love you in the dark—

He wouldn't just leave.

Would he?

I opened my desk drawer.

My mother's letter was still there, still folded, still sealed. I'd been saving it for the right moment, for when I was brave enough to read it.

There was no more time for bravery.

I picked it up.

Broke the seal.

My dearest Ela,

If you're reading this, you're at Silvermoon Academy. I'm so sorry. I tried to keep you away from this place, from these people, from the life I escaped. But I always knew you'd find your way back.

There are things I should have told you. Things I was too afraid to say. Things that might have protected you.

I'm going to tell you now.

I was cursed too, Ela. The Shadow Bond. Just like you. I gave myself to a wolf under a blood moon, and my blood turned black, and I thought I was going to die.

But I didn't.

Because I found a way to break the curse without killing the wolf.

The answer is in the Blood Registry. In the basement of the academy. In the room they don't want anyone to find.

Go there. Find your name on the wall. And you'll find the truth.

I love you, my daughter. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.

—Your mother

The basement of the academy was cold.

Colder than the rest of the building. Colder than it had any right to be. My breath fogged in front of my face as I crept down the narrow stairs, my footsteps echoing off the stone walls.

Thorne had shown me the archives. But he hadn't shown me this.

This was deeper.

Older.

The air smelled of dust and decay and something else—something metallic, like old blood.

I reached the bottom of the stairs.

A door stood in front of me.

Iron. Rusted. Covered in symbols I didn't recognize.

The room they don't want anyone to find.

I pushed the door open.

The room was circular.

Smaller than the archives. Smaller than I'd expected. The walls were covered in parchment—hundreds of sheets, maybe thousands, each one covered in names.

Family trees.

Bloodlines.

Centuries of wolves and humans and children born of both.

I walked along the walls, reading the names. Volkov. Brandt. Wilder. Blackwood. Families I knew. Families I didn't.

And then—

I found my mother's name.

Leyla Kaya.

Born human. Admitted to Silvermoon Academy at sixteen. Expelled at nineteen.

And next to her name—

A line.

Connecting her to another name.

Aldric Vane.

The headmaster.

My father.

But there was another line too. Fainter. Almost invisible. Connecting her to a different name.

Dmitri Volkov.

Nikolai's father.

What does this mean?

I traced the lines with my finger, following them across the wall. Leyla to Aldric. Aldric to me. Leyla to Dmitri. Dmitri to Nikolai.

And then—

I stopped.

Because there, at the center of the wall, was my name.

Ela Demir.

Born human/wolf hybrid. Bloodline unclassified. Status: unmarked.

And next to my name—

A line.

Connecting me to another name.

A name I knew.

A name I'd whispered in the dark.

A name that had been carved into my heart since the moment I arrived.

Nikolai Volkov.

I stared at the wall.

At the line connecting my name to his.

At the words written beneath it, in handwriting so old the ink had faded to brown.

Fated mates. Bond sealed under the blood moon. Curse activated.

But that wasn't what made my blood run cold.

It was the date.

Written next to the bond.

Seventeen years ago.

Before I was born.

Before I even existed.

The bond had been sealed before I was born.

Which meant—

Which meant Nikolai and I had been fated mates since before I took my first breath.

Which meant the curse wasn't a mistake.

Which meant—

Oh God.

It wasn't the blood moon that activated the curse.

It was me.

Being born.

Being alive.

Being his.

I stumbled back from the wall.

My hand pressed over my mouth. My eyes wide. My heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my teeth.

The bond was already there.

From the moment I was born.

From the moment Nikolai was born.

We were always going to end up here.

Always going to seal the bond.

Always going to activate the curse.

It was never a choice.

None of it was ever a choice.

I heard a sound behind me.

I spun around.

Thorne was standing in the doorway.

His gray eyes were fixed on the wall. On my name. On Nikolai's name. On the line connecting us.

"You found it," he said.

"You knew."

"I knew there was a room. I didn't know what was in it."

"Don't lie to me, Thorne." My voice was shaking. "Not now. Not about this."

Thorne was quiet for a long moment.

Then he stepped into the room.

Walked to the wall.

Traced the line between my name and Nikolai's.

"The bond was arranged," he said quietly. "Before you were born. Before Nikolai was born. Your mother and Dmitri Volkov made a pact."

"A pact?"

"They wanted to unite the bloodlines. Human and wolf. To create something new. Something powerful enough to stand against the Council."

"So they—"

"They arranged for their children to be fated mates." Thorne's jaw tightened. "They used old magic. Blood magic. The kind that can't be undone."

"That's not—that's not love. That's—"

"It's manipulation." Thorne turned to face me. "It's what your mother was running from. What she was trying to protect you from."

"She didn't protect me." Tears streamed down my face. "She sent me here. She knew I would find him. She knew I would—"

"She knew you would be in danger no matter where you went." Thorne's voice was soft. "At least here, you had a chance."

"A chance at what?"

"At surviving."

I looked at the wall again.

At the names. The lines. The centuries of blood and magic and lies.

My mother arranged for me to be bound to Nikolai.

Before I was born.

Before I had a choice.

Before any of this.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked Thorne. "Really. Why?"

Thorne was silent.

Then he reached up and unbuttoned his collar.

Pulled it down.

Showed me the scar—the crescent shape carved into his neck, the one the Shadowborn had given him when he was twelve.

"Because I'm bound too," he said. "Not to a person. To a promise."

"What promise?"

"My mother made me promise to protect the next human girl who came to this academy. The one the Council would try to destroy." He looked at me. "The one who would be just like her."

"Me."

"You." He buttoned his collar. "I've been watching you since you arrived. Not because I care about the bond or the curse or any of it. Because I made a promise to someone I loved."

"Thorne..."

"I don't expect you to trust me." His gray eyes met mine. "No one should trust anyone in this place. But I need you to know—"

He stopped.

Swallowed.

"What?"

"I need you to know that I would die before I let them hurt you." His voice was barely a whisper. "The way they hurt her."

I didn't know what to say.

Didn't know what to feel.

The room was spinning. The names on the wall were blurring together. And somewhere in the distance, I heard footsteps.

"Heavy," Thorne said.

"What?"

"Footsteps. Heavy. Coming this way." He moved to the door, peering out into the darkness. "Someone's coming."

"Who?"

"I don't know." He turned back to me. "But you need to hide."

"Where?"

He pointed to a door on the far side of the room—small, hidden in the shadows, easy to miss.

"Go. Now."

I ran.

The door led to a narrow passage.

I pressed myself against the wall, my hand over my mouth, my heart pounding.

Through the crack in the door, I could see Thorne standing in the center of the room.

The footsteps grew louder.

Closer.

And then—

A figure appeared in the doorway.

Tall. Broad. White-blonde hair.

Nikolai.

He was back.

He was here.

And he was looking at the wall.

At the names.

At the line connecting his name to mine.

At the date written beneath it.

Seventeen years ago.

"Thorne," Nikolai said. His voice was raw. "Where is she?"

"Who?"

"Don't play dumb." Nikolai turned to face him. "Ela. Where is she?"

"I don't know."

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

Nikolai stepped closer to him.

His hands were shaking. His eyes were gold—bright, burning gold.

"She knows," Nikolai said. "About the bond. About the arrangement. About—"

"About everything." Thorne didn't flinch. "Yes. She knows."

"How?"

"She found the room."

Nikolai's face went pale.

"Then she knows," he said slowly. "She knows that I—"

"That your father and her mother arranged the bond before you were born." Thorne's voice was hard. "Yes."

"It wasn't my choice."

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter."

"No." Thorne shook his head. "To her, it doesn't. All that matters is that you kept it from her. That you sealed the bond without telling her the truth. That you left her alone this morning without a word."

Nikolai flinched.

"I didn't—I couldn't—"

"You could have." Thorne's gray eyes were cold. "You should have. But you didn't. Because you're a coward, Nikolai. Just like your father."

Nikolai's fist connected with Thorne's face.

Thorne stumbled back, blood streaming from his nose—but he was smiling.

"Hit me again," Thorne said. "It won't change the truth."

I wanted to go to him.

Wanted to step out of the shadows and demand answers.

But I couldn't move.

Couldn't breathe.

Couldn't do anything but watch as Nikolai stood in the center of the room, his chest heaving, his hands bloody, his face broken.

"I love her," Nikolai said.

"Then tell her the truth."

"I can't."

"Then you don't deserve her."

Nikolai looked at the wall again.

At my name.

At his name.

At the line connecting us.

"The bond is already complete," he said quietly. "The curse is already killing her. If I tell her the truth—if she knows that I was part of the arrangement—she'll hate me."

"Maybe."

"She'll want me dead."

"Maybe."

Nikolai's voice cracked. "I can't lose her, Thorne. Not now. Not after—"

"After you used her?"

"I didn't use her."

"Then what did you do?"

Nikolai didn't answer.

But I already knew.

Because the wall had told me.

The bond had been arranged before we were born. The curse had been waiting for us since before we took our first breaths. And Nikolai—

Nikolai had known.

Maybe not all of it. Maybe not the details.

But he had known enough.

And he had kept it from me.

I stepped out of the shadows.

Nikolai saw me.

His face went white.

"Ela—"

"Don't." My voice was steady. Colder than I felt. "Don't say my name. Don't come near me. Don't pretend you were trying to protect me."

"Ela, please—"

"You knew." I walked toward him. "You knew about the arrangement. You knew about the curse. You knew what would happen if we sealed the bond."

"I didn't—"

"You knew."

Nikolai's eyes filled with tears.

"I knew there was a bond," he said. "I knew it was arranged. But I didn't know about the curse. I didn't know about the blood moon. I didn't know—"

"You left."

"What?"

"This morning. You left. Without a word. Without a note. Without anything." My voice cracked. "I woke up alone, Nikolai. In a bed with your blood and my blood and black blood everywhere. And you were gone."

"I went to find a cure."

"Did you find one?"

He was silent.

"That's what I thought."

I turned away from him.

Walked to the wall.

Ran my fingers over my name. Over his name. Over the line that bound us together.

"Seventeen years," I said. "My whole life. Your whole life. All of it leading to this moment."

"Ela—"

"The bond isn't fate, Nikolai. It's a prison. Built by our parents. Paid for with our blood."

"Then let's break it."

"How?" I turned to face him. "Tell me how. Because from where I'm standing, the only way out is through your death or mine."

Nikolai stepped toward me.

"I'll find another way."

"There is no other way."

"Then I'll make another way."

I looked at him.

At his desperate eyes. His trembling hands. His broken heart.

I wanted to believe him.

I wanted to trust him.

But the wall was covered in lies.

And my mother was dead.

And my blood was turning black.

And Nikolai had left me.

"The bond is already complete," I said. "The curse is already killing me. And you—" My voice broke. "You're the reason I'm dying. And I don't know if I can ever forgive you for that."