CHAPTER THREE: Chained by a Curse
1189 Words
Lena didn’t stop running until her lungs burned and the forest thinned into a quiet, dew-laced meadow. The wind tangled in her hair like fingers. Her heart thudded wildly against her ribs, but it wasn’t just exhaustion—it was the mate bond.
It followed her like a chain she couldn’t break.
She dropped to her knees in the grass, gasping, pressing her palms against the earth to stop herself from shaking. Her wolf was snarling inside her now, clawing against her mind.
> Go back. Go back to him. You belong—
> “No,” Lena hissed aloud. “We don’t belong to anyone.”
The wind didn’t answer. But she felt it—that lingering heat on the back of her neck, the mark burning low like embers under skin. It had dulled slightly since she ran, but it hadn’t disappeared. No matter how far she fled, it pulsed… a reminder.
He was still out there. And he wasn’t chasing her.
Why?
She clenched her fists, furious. With herself. With him. With this entire twisted fate.
Wasn’t he supposed to be some monster? The Alpha of shadows? Then why did he let her run?
> Because he knows you’ll come back.
The realization sent a fresh shiver through her. Was that how it worked? The bond… pulling them together, no matter the distance? No matter the will?
She screamed into the open night, an animal sound that made the birds scatter. Her voice cracked with it—rage, fear, confusion all bleeding together.
And yet, deep inside her… something else stirred.
Not rage.
Not hate.
Longing.
---
She walked for hours, wandering past the sleeping fields and fallen trees, trying to find her way back to the small town where she’d hidden all her life. But something had changed. She could feel it in the sky, in the soil, in the way the moon felt closer now—watching her.
By the time she reached the edge of the village, dawn was crawling over the horizon.
The little cottage she rented sat at the far end of a dirt road, tucked beneath a canopy of pines. She stepped up the porch stairs quietly, unlocked the door with a shaking hand, and slipped inside.
Safe.
For now.
She sank into the kitchen chair, her body limp, eyes wide and staring. Her mother’s face flickered through her mind—soft eyes, firm voice.
> If the mark burns, don’t trust the bond. Trust yourself.
Well, what if the bond was herself?
What if she couldn’t tell the difference anymore?
---
The shower ran until the water turned cold, but Lena barely noticed. She scrubbed her skin until it was red, as if she could wash off the mark itself. But it stayed.
Glowing faintly.
Tethered to a man she barely knew, yet already felt deep in her bones.
That night, she collapsed into bed and prayed the dreams wouldn’t come.
But they did.
---
Dreamscape
She stood in a forest lit by red stars.
The trees were taller than mountains, and wolves the size of horses circled her like shadows. In the center of it all was a throne of bone, and on it sat a woman with hair like flame and eyes full of sorrow.
> “You are her,” the woman said. “You are me.”
Lena blinked. “What—?”
> “Reborn. Marked again. The Alpha will break… or burn.”
Then flames rose. The wolves howled.
And Dominic stood at the center, covered in blood—not his own.
---
🕯️ Morning
Lena woke with a scream on her lips.
She sat up, gasping, drenched in sweat. Her sheets tangled around her, the mate mark pulsing like it had a heartbeat of its own.
She stumbled out of bed and grabbed the only phone she had—a burner with a single number in it.
She pressed Call.
It rang twice before a gruff voice answered.
> “Lena? I told you never to call me unless—”
> “The mark’s awakened,” she whispered. “He found me.”
Silence.
Then, “Pack your things. You have twenty minutes. I’m sending someone to extract you.”
> “I’m not leaving,” she said, voice trembling.
> “You have to. That bond will destroy you.”
> “I saw something in my dream,” she said. “A woman. A throne of bone. Wolves—”
> “Don’t speak of the dream,” the voice snapped. “Just run.”
> “He said he didn’t want a mate,” she whispered.
Silence again. Then softer: “That may be true. But it won’t matter. The bond always wins in the end.”
> “What if I don’t want to win?” she whispered.
But the line had already gone dead.
---
The knock came two hours later.
Lena hadn’t moved from the window. She had a duffel bag packed, but she hadn’t touched it. When she opened the door, it wasn’t the extraction scout she expected.
It was Dominic.
Not in shadow. Not in smoke.
But in broad daylight.
He wore a black coat, dirt and leaves clinging to the hem, and his eyes were tired. Not dull. Just… human. And that was somehow worse.
> “You left without saying goodbye,” he said simply.
She stared at him. “You didn’t stop me.”
> “I wanted to see if you’d come back on your own.”
> “So this is a game to you?” she snapped.
> “No,” he said. “This is war. And I’ve already lost too many battles.”
She stepped outside, slamming the door behind her. “What do you want, Dominic?”
He didn’t answer right away. His eyes scanned her face, her trembling hands, the way she swayed slightly—like something inside her was off balance.
> “You’re weakening,” he said quietly.
> “I’m fine.”
> “The bond is feeding on you. You’re not resisting it—you’re draining yourself trying to.”
She bit her lip. “What happens if I don’t resist?”
Dominic’s expression didn’t change. But something in the air did. Charged. Electric.
> “Then we find out why fate chose us. And we suffer the consequences together.”
It wasn’t a threat.
It was a promise.
A terrifying, magnetic promise.
> “Come with me,” he said. “You need to see what you are.”
> “What I am?” she echoed.
> “You’re not just my mate, Lena. You’re the key to a prophecy my entire pack has bled to keep buried.”
Her heart dropped. “What prophecy?”
> “The one that says the marked girl will either save the bloodline… or end it.”
She stared at him, cold creeping into her bones.
> “And which one do you think I am?”
Dominic didn’t blink. “That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
- Writer
