The Weston Bond

3

The Weston estate sat at the edge of the pack territory as it had always been there instead of being built by human hands. Stone walls, dark timber, and old iron covered the massive house, while huge ancient trees stood around it silently, as if they had watched generations rise and fall without caring about any of them. It was the kind of place that did not need to show off its power to anyone. The power was already there, buried deep inside the stone itself.

Zane had gone quiet during the drive back home. About an hour before we reached the estate, I noticed the change in him. He tried hard to hide it. He still kept one hand resting lightly on my knee and still looked over at me now and then, but I could feel the difference in him now. Nervousness. Tension. A kind of uneasiness I had not seen from him at the ball, at the hotel, or during any of the hours we had spent together since meeting.

Whatever waited inside that house was enough to make even Zane careful.

The front door opened before we even reached it.

A staff member stood there waiting for us with a calm, unreadable expression. We were led inside through a huge entrance hall with cold stone floors, tall ceilings, and the smell of cedar wood mixed with something old and distant. The place was beautiful in a way that felt impossible to relax in. Everything about it felt untouchable.

“He’s in the study,” the staff member said quietly.

Zane’s hand moved to the small of my back.

“Stay close,” he murmured. “And try not to—”

“Try not to what?” I asked him.

Before he could answer, a voice came from somewhere farther down the hallway.

“Zane.”

Just one single word.

My name had not been spoken yet. He had not even seen me yet. But the sound of that voice still moved through me like cold water sliding down my spine. It felt familiar in a strange way that made no sense at all, and it stopped me before I could even understand why.

Then he appeared in the doorway of the study.

The entire world seemed to freeze around me.

He was tall. Taller and broader than Zane, with harder features and the same dark colouring but none of the warmth that Zane carried so naturally. He moved like someone completely used to walking into rooms and having everyone around him shift out of his way without question.

His eyes passed over Zane first.

Then they landed on me.

And I watched his face go completely blank.

Because I knew that face.

I had hated that face for five long years.

Cain Weston.

Top student at Crescent Academy.

The alpha candidate who had beaten me for the leadership position I had spent two years fighting to earn. I had always believed he won because of his family name, his powerful bloodline, and the money behind him, not because he truly deserved it. In my mind, the council had already decided to choose him before the final evaluations had even started.

I still remember the last day clearly.

He had stood across from me with that same calm expression and told me that I needed to learn how to accept the things I could not change.

I had hated him for saying it.

And I had not spoken a single word to him since the day I walked out of that academy building.

“You,” I said.

“You,” he answered back.

His voice was empty. No surprise. No warmth. No sign that he felt anything at all except the cold reality of seeing me standing there inside his home.

Behind me, Zane spoke quietly.

“You know each other.”

It was not asked like a question.

Silence filled the hallway.

I could feel the tension growing thicker around us with every second that passed.

Cain’s eyes stayed locked on mine. The bond hit me so suddenly that I almost stumbled backward.

Mate.

The feeling hit me harder than it had with Zane.

Stronger. Wilder.

It felt like something deep inside me had suddenly come alive.

My breath caught in my throat.

No.

No, no, no.

I already knew this could happen. Zane had warned me about it. But hearing about it was completely different from actually feeling it happen inside my body.

Cain felt it too.

I saw the exact moment it happened to him.

His shoulders became stiff. His jaw tightened so hard that I thought he might break his teeth.

For one quick second, real emotion flashed across his face.

Shock.

Then it disappeared behind cold control so fast that I almost thought I imagined it.

Zane looked between both of us carefully.

“Well,” he muttered quietly, “this is already going badly.”

Cain completely ignored him.

“What is she doing here?” he asked coldly.

I stared at him in disbelief.

“That’s your first question?”

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“You disappeared from the academy without saying anything,” he said. “And now you’re suddenly standing in my house.”

Anger rushed through me so quickly that it almost pushed the bond away.

“I disappeared?” I repeated sharply. “You stole that position from me.”

Beside me, Zane let out a quiet sigh.

“Oh, this is worse than I expected.”

Cain’s face stayed calm.

“I earned that position.”

“You had it handed to you.”

“That’s not true.”

I laughed bitterly.

“Please. Everyone knew the council wanted a Weston leading the northern territories.”

His eyes hardened.

“You think I didn’t work for it?”

“I think your family name opened doors the rest of us had to fight to get through.”

“You know nothing about my life,” he said quietly.

“And you know nothing about mine.”

The bond twisted painfully between us, reacting to every angry word we threw at each other.

It made everything worse.

Because underneath all the anger, pride, and old hate between us, there was still that terrible pull dragging me toward him.

Mine.

The thought came from deep inside me.

I didn’t want it.

But I couldn’t stop it.

Cain looked away first.

That shocked me more than anything else.

He took a slow breath before looking at Zane.

“You brought her here without warning me.”

“I needed to be sure first,” Zane answered carefully.

Cain let out a short laugh, but there was no humor in it.

“So you slept with her first and decided to explain later?”

Heat rushed to my face immediately.

Zane’s expression became tight.

“That wasn’t planned.”

“But it still happened.”

The silence after that felt sharp and uncomfortable.

Cain looked back at me again, and the bond hit me so hard that my knees almost gave out.

I saw something dangerous in his eyes.

The same strong pull I felt toward him was pulling at him too. And he hated it.

I could see that clearly. Maybe I hated it too.

“You should leave,” Cain suddenly said.

Zane frowned. “Cain—”

“I’m serious.”

His voice stayed calm, but something underneath it sounded close to breaking.

“This is already complicated enough.”

I crossed my arms tightly.

“You think I want this?” I asked.

His eyes snapped back to mine.

“No,” he said quietly. “I think that’s exactly the problem.”