CHAPTER SIX A Bond Rekindled, A Secret Unleased
1019 Words
The moment Lena stepped into the pack hall, silence fell like a guillotine.
Whispers crawled along the walls like vines, choking the air with suspicion. They didn't recognise — not truly—and it was her advantage. The sleek black dress she wore clung to her figure like liquid shadow, the thin scar above her collarbone visible only under flickering torchlight. Her raven hair spilled over one shoulder, and the silver mark glinting at her wrist pulsed faintly — a reminder of her resurrection.
But his scent hit her first.
Dominic Raine stood at the far end of the chamber, speaking with the Elders. He looked taller than she remembered — broader, sharper. Years of battle had carved a hardness into him, but his eyes… hadn't changed. Still the same cold steel that once looked at her like she was nothing.
His back was to her.
He doesn't know I'm here.
Yet.
“Name?” the Gamma at the entrance asked, brow lifted, nostrils flaring at her scent.
“Selene,” she answered smoothly. “From the outer villages.”
The lie rolled easily off her tongue. She had practiced it for months. The Elders didn't question visitors during selection week — especially not females of breeding age. Everyone wanted to be Luna. Everyone wanted to be close to power.
But Lena had no interest in wearing a crown.
She came for blood.
---
The evening dragged on with formalities — rituals, offerings, displays of strength from warrior hopefuls. Lena stood at the edge of the circle, her fingers clasped before her, observing everything with a cool detachment.
Then came her — Arabelle.
Lena hadn’t seen her in years, but she'd know that voice anywhere.
“Oh Dominic,” Arabelle purred as she stepped forward, draped in a golden gown so sheer it may as well have been spun from spider silk. “I heard you’re choosing your Luna soon. I do hope you’ve considered… loyalty.”
Lena’s jaw clenched.
Arabelle. Her former friend. Her betrayer.
The one who whispered lies into Dominic’s ear the night Lena had been cast out.
And now she was vying to be his queen.
Lena’s heart beat slowly in her chest, controlled. Calculated. But her wolf howled in silence, pacing just beneath her skin.
She took one step forward.
Dominic turned.
Their eyes met.
And for one brief second — one suspended, breathless moment — something sparked between them. His lips parted, and his nostrils flared.
That bond. That buried, shattered bond.
It still existed.
But he didn’t speak. Didn’t flinch. His brows only furrowed slightly as if he were trying to place a memory that refused to surface.
He didn’t recognize her.
Not yet.
---
Later that night, Lena slipped through the corridors of the pack house like a shadow. Her room had been assigned — the lowest floor, of course. No rank, no name. Just another hopeful Luna-wannabe in a sea of pawns.
She waited until the halls quieted. Until the footsteps disappeared. Then she pulled the letter from her cloak.
It was a message.
Written in blood.
Delivered by wind.
“He’s waking. Soon, he will remember what he did. You must choose — vengeance or bond.”
— C.
Her fingers trembled only slightly.
C. — the mysterious entity that had guided her since her return. The one who whispered truths in dreams and taught her how to channel the blood magic in her veins. She didn’t know who C truly was, only that they knew everything. Her death. Her curse. Dominic.
A knock rattled her door.
She froze.
“Selene?” a voice called. “The Alpha would like to speak with you.”
Her blood turned cold.
---
The hall outside the Alpha’s chamber smelled like steel and fire. Lena walked slowly, head held high, as the guards opened the doors.
Dominic stood inside, arms folded, eyes locked on her like twin daggers.
“Close the doors,” he ordered.
The guards obeyed.
Lena stepped into the room, spine straight, heart steady. “Alpha,” she said with a slight bow.
His gaze narrowed. “You’re not from the outer villages.”
A lie formed on her tongue.
“You’re not just anyone,” he continued. “I can smell… something familiar.”
Her lips curled faintly. “Do you always summon strange women in the middle of the night?”
He didn’t flinch. “Only the dangerous ones.”
She laughed softly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Then I suppose I should be flattered.”
He stepped closer.
Too close.
His voice dropped. “What’s your name. Your real name.”
She said nothing.
But he inhaled sharply.
That bond — buried deep, severed and burned — flared like a spark in dry grass. His eyes widened for a second. “It can’t be…”
“You left her to die,” she whispered.
He staggered back.
“Lena?” he breathed.
Her smile was razor sharp. “Surprised I’m still breathing?”
---
Silence crashed between them.
His fists clenched at his sides. “You were dead.”
“No,” she hissed. “I was discarded. There’s a difference.”
“I didn’t know—”
“Save it.” Her voice was like ice. “You chose to believe Arabelle. You chose to believe I betrayed the pack. You rejected me before the Moon Goddess even marked me. You sentenced me.”
“I made a mistake.”
She stepped closer now. “Mistakes don’t leave scars that still burn.”
His eyes darkened, torn between guilt and awe. “How are you here?”
She leaned in, her lips near his ear.
“Blood remembers what the mind forgets.”
Then she turned and left him standing alone — haunted, breathless, and shaken.
---
Outside, the wind howled. The stars blinked cold above the forest.
And deep beneath the surface of the pack lands, something ancient stirred.
The blood bond was not just a connection.
It was a key.
And someone — something — was coming for it.
- Writer
