Chapter 2: The Bond That Followed
371 Words
The forest didn’t feel like home tonight.
Elara didn’t stop running until the sounds of the ceremony were long gone, swallowed by distance and darkness.
Only then did she slow.
Her breath came uneven.
Not from exhaustion.
From something else.
Something… wrong.
She pressed a hand to her chest.
Her heart was still racing.
Her wolf wasn’t calming down.
If anything—
It felt more awake than ever before.
“This doesn’t happen,” she muttered.
Not to her.
Not ever.
Her entire life, she had been untouched by the bond others spoke of with reverence. No pull. No whisper. No fate.
Nothing.
And now—
If anything—
It felt more awake than ever before.
“This doesn’t happen,” she muttered.
Not to her.
Not ever.
Her entire life, she had been untouched by the bond others spoke of with reverence. No pull. No whisper. No fate.
Nothing.
And now—
This?
Her wrist burned.
Sharp.
Sudden.
Elara hissed, grabbing it.
“What—”
The sensation spread under her skin, not visible, but there—like something was being carved from the inside out.
Not pain.
Not exactly.
But something she couldn’t ignore.
Her wolf surged forward.
Not in fear.
Not in defense.
In recognition.
“To him.”
The thought came uninvited.
Clear.
Certain.
“No.”
Her voice was firm this time.
Grounded.
“I don’t accept this.”
The forest answered with silence.
But the bond—
Didn’t.
It pulsed.
Once.
Slow.
Steady.
Like it had heard her…
…and didn’t care.
Elara clenched her jaw.
“He walked away,” she said, forcing the memory into something she could control.
“He didn’t choose this.”
A pause.
Then, quieter—
“Neither did I.”
That mattered.
It had to.
She turned, pacing once, trying to steady herself.
Trying to think.
This wasn’t how bonds worked.
They weren’t accidents.
They weren’t… denied.
She had seen it in his eyes.
That moment of stillness.
That recognition.
And then—
Nothing.
Elara exhaled sharply.
“Fine.”
If he could ignore it—
So could she.
A branch snapped behind her.
Her body stilled instantly.
And yet—
He had felt it.
She knew he had.
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