Bound by Shadows
967 Words
POV: Kael
I couldn’t sleep.
The forest outside my window pulsed with energy I didn’t understand—restless, expectant. My wolf paced inside me, growling low, unsettled since that night beneath the moon when Aria touched the bond and something inside me cracked.
I hadn’t meant to look at her that way. When her fingers brushed mine, I saw something—memories that weren’t mine, emotions I couldn’t explain. A glimpse of a life that felt both foreign and familiar.
And then it vanished, leaving behind a weight in my chest that hadn’t been there before.
I sat at the edge of my bed, shirtless, my hands braced on my knees. Moonlight poured through the open window, casting pale light across the floorboards. I could hear the wind whispering through the trees. Every instinct screamed that something had changed.
My wolf—silent for years—was stirring. He didn’t speak in words, not yet, but he pressed against the inside of my skin, restless and irritated. He wanted something. Someone.
He wanted her.
But that couldn’t be right. I didn’t have a mate. I would know if I did. Every Alpha knows. That’s what they always told me.
Yet Aria’s scent clung to the hallways like firelight and lavender. It wrapped around my senses until I couldn’t focus. Even now, I could feel the echo of her touch burning on my hand. The moment she stepped into Shadowclaw territory, something inside me had started to splinter.
I needed answers. And the only person who seemed to have any was the one I didn’t want to face.
Elder Taran.
I found him outside the packhouse, seated on a weathered bench beside the training fields. His white hair fluttered in the breeze, and his gaze locked onto mine as if he’d been waiting.
“You feel it now, don’t you?” he asked, before I could speak.
I didn’t answer.
He chuckled under his breath and looked away. “The bond. It's waking up. Slowly, painfully. Like digging through centuries of dust and finding a fire still burning underneath.”
“What’s wrong with me?” I finally asked.
Taran turned his head, his pale blue eyes sharp and unflinching. “You were cursed, Kael. Your father’s sins, your bloodline’s secrets. They sealed the part of you that could recognize your mate.”
My stomach twisted. “So what happens now?”
“She woke the bond, but not without cost.” His voice grew quieter. “I warned her. Forcing it would demand sacrifice. You feel the crack between you because her wolf was the price.”
My fists clenched. I didn’t remember asking her to give up anything. I hadn’t asked for any of this.
“She did it for you,” Taran added. “Because she believes you're worth saving.”
I turned away, overwhelmed by the weight of it all. I had spent years ignoring the mate bond, telling myself it wasn’t my path. That I could lead without it. That I was stronger for it.
But now I knew the truth—I’d been blind.
That night, I left the packhouse and went deep into the woods.
The moon was high above the treetops, filtering through the leaves in silver streams. My boots sank into the soft earth as I made my way toward the river. It was the only place I could think clearly.
Except tonight, even the river didn’t help.
Because she was already there.
Aria stood at the water’s edge, her dark hair falling over one shoulder. Her eyes found mine, and the air shifted. Something between us pulsed again—faint but steady.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” she said softly.
“I didn’t think you’d be here.”
“I needed the quiet.”
We stood in silence for a long time, listening to the river move.
Then she looked up at me, and her voice broke something inside me.
“I know you don’t feel it the way I do. Not yet. But I’m not going anywhere.”
The pain in her voice wasn’t weakness—it was strength. She’d lost part of herself and still stood here, facing me without fear.
“I don’t understand any of this,” I said, honestly. “I’m trying, but it feels like a war inside me. Like half of me wants to run and the other half wants to—”
“To stay,” she finished.
“Yes.”
She stepped closer, slowly, as if afraid I’d pull away. I didn’t. I couldn’t.
“Then stay,” she whispered. “For now, that’s enough.”
We stood there, not touching, but close enough for the tension to hum between us.
Her presence was a balm to the chaos inside me. Even with the curse’s claws still embedded in my soul, even with my wolf snarling in confusion, I felt... calmer with her near.
The moonlight bathed her face in silver. She looked otherworldly—too strong, too bright for this broken world we lived in. And something inside me shifted again. A crack in the wall.
I didn’t say a word. I just nodded.
She smiled, a small, tired smile that made my chest ache.
When we finally walked back toward the packhouse, I stayed behind her, watching her silhouette move through the trees like a spirit born of moonlight.
I didn’t know how to fix what had been done to us. But for the first time, I wanted to try.
Not because I had to.
But because of her.
Because Aria wasn’t just a girl who believed in fate.
She was a warrior who challenged it.
And she might just be the only one strong enough to break the curse still clinging to my blood.
- Writer
