The Bond That Was Never Meant to Exist
1301 Words
“No.”
The word escaped my lips before I could stop it.
It was barely a whisper.
But inside the shattered remains of the healer’s tent, it sounded like a scream.
No.
The mate bond was sacred.
Every wolf knew that.
The Moon Goddess chose mates.
She created them before birth.
She tied two souls together with a thread no one could break.
No one!
So how could Malach stand there with a smile on his face and claim he created the bond between me and Kael?
It was impossible.
It had to be.
“You lie.”
My voice became stronger.
I needed it to be.
Because if he was telling the truth, then every feeling inside me was a lie.
Every moment.
Every heartbeat.
Every time my wolf reached for Kael.
A lie.
I looked at him.
The Alpha who had crossed enemy territory and threatened a war for me.
The same Alpha who had spent twenty years grieving a child he never knew.
The Alpha who had become my greatest weakness in a single night.
His eyes were on me.
Afraid.
And that terrified me more than Malach’s words.
Because Kael Draven was never afraid.
“Aria—”
“Don’t.”
The command came out sharper than I intended.
But I could not stop the hurt flooding my chest.
His jaw tightened.
And for a moment, I saw the same expression he had worn in the forest when he thought he had lost me again.
Pain.
Real pain.
That should have comforted me.
Instead, it made everything worse.
“Did you know?”
The question hung between us.
The entire battlefield seemed to wait for his answer.
Even Malach remained silent.
Waiting.
Enjoying the destruction he had caused.
Kael took one step toward me.
“I swear to the Moon Goddess—”
“Did. You. Know?”
My wolf growled.
Not at him.
At the possibility.
At the possibility that the male my soul had already chosen had lied.
His expression broke.
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
Without hesitation.
“No, little moon.”
The nickname hurt now.
Because I wanted it to comfort me.
I wanted to believe him.
That was what scared me most.
Malach laughed.
A dark, ancient sound.
“Look at you.”
His red eyes moved between us.
“The legendary Beast of Shadow Moon brought to his knees by a girl who hates him.”
Kael’s power exploded.
The ground trembled.
Every Shadow Moon warrior dropped their heads.
Every Silver Mist wolf took a step backward.
The Beast was awake.
“Speak another word about her,” Kael said quietly, “and I will remove your tongue.”
Malach smiled.
“Still protecting her.”
He shook his head.
“How disappointing.”
“Explain.”
The word left my mouth.
Everyone looked at me.
I did not care.
I was tired of secrets.
Tired of lies.
Tired of people deciding my life for me.
“You say you created the bond.”
My mark burned.
Silver light danced across my skin.
“Tell me why.”
Malach’s expression changed.
For the first time, his amusement faded.
Because this was the question he had been waiting for.
“Because I needed a key.”
The air grew colder.
“A key?”
“You.”
My stomach twisted.
“You are not simply the daughter of the First Alpha, Aria.”
He stepped closer.
Kael moved in front of me instantly.
A silent promise.
Nothing would touch me while he breathed.
And somehow, despite everything, my heart noticed.
“Thousands of years ago,” Malach continued, “the First Alpha stole a power from the darkness itself.”
The shadows around him writhed.
“The power to command every wolf alive.”
A chill moved down my spine.
“The power of the Alpha Crown.”
The name itself made the world seem to tremble.
“But that power could not be destroyed. It could only be sealed.”
His eyes locked onto mine.
“And the seal was placed inside his bloodline.”
My throat went dry.
“Inside me.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Alpha Rowan finally spoke.
His voice was filled with horror.
“The old stories said the Alpha Crown was a myth.”
“Most myths are just truths that survived long enough to become fairy tales.”
Malach smiled.
“And you have spent twenty years protecting the very thing I need.”
Luna Lyla began to cry.
Softly.
Painfully.
I turned toward her.
“Did you know?”
She looked away.
That was my answer.
Another lie.
Another secret.
Another person who decided I could not handle the truth.
“Everyone knew except me.”
My voice cracked.
The words hurt more than I wanted them to.
Lyla reached for me.
“Aria—”
“Don’t.”
She froze.
The same word I had spoken to Kael.
But somehow this hurt more.
Because she was the woman who raised me.
“I loved you.”
A tear fell down my cheek.
“Every moment of every day, I loved you.”
Her own tears fell.
“And I loved you too.”
“Then why did everyone get to know who I was except me?”
She had no answer.
Because there was none.
Malach smiled.
“Good.”
My eyes snapped toward him.
“Pain makes power awaken.”
A sudden burst of agony tore through my body.
I screamed.
The mark on my wrist blazed.
Not silver.
Black.
Dark energy spread through my veins.
The ground beneath me cracked.
Every wolf around me dropped to their knees.
Every wolf except one.
Kael.
“ARIA!”
For the first time since meeting him, I heard pure terror in his voice.
He reached for me.
The bond between us surged.
Warm.
Powerful.
Safe.
And for one second, the darkness retreated.
Malach’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
He took a step forward.
“Impossible.”
His confidence vanished.
“You shouldn’t be able to resist me.”
Kael wrapped his arms around me.
His forehead pressed against mine.
“Look at me.”
His voice was low.
Steady.
A command.
Not from an Alpha.
From my mate.
“Breathe, little moon.”
The words broke me.
Because I did.
I trusted him.
Even after everything.
Even when I should not.
The darkness faded.
The black veins disappeared.
And Malach looked afraid.
“You fool,” he whispered.
His eyes burned with hatred.
“You still don’t understand what he is.”
The entire valley became silent.
Kael went completely still.
Too still.
Like a predator sensing a trap.
“What does that mean?”
I asked.
No one answered.
I looked at Kael.
“Kael?”
His eyes closed.
Just once.
As if he had been waiting his entire life for this moment.
For this secret to finally be revealed.
“Tell her.”
Malach smiled.
Cruel.
Victorious.
“Tell her why you were the only wolf capable of surviving my false bond.”
A cold fear settled in my stomach.
“What is he talking about?”
Kael opened his eyes.
The golden color was gone.
They were no longer the eyes of a normal Alpha.
They were something older.
Something ancient.
Something impossible.
“I am not just the Alpha of Shadow Moon.”
My heart stopped.
No.
Not another secret.
Not another lie.
But his next words shattered everything I thought I knew.
“I am the last reincarnation of the First Alpha.”
The moon above us cracked with a deafening roar.
And every wolf in the valley bowed.
Not to Kael.
Not to me.
But to the ancient power that had finally awakened.
- Writer
