Chapter six
1912 Words
The abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town looked like every other forgotten building—windows boarded up, rust bleeding down the metal siding, weeds claiming the cracked parking lot. But when Ravyn stepped inside, following her father’s careful directions, she found something entirely different.
The space had been transformed. Mats covered the concrete floor. Mirrors lined one wall. Equipment she didn’t recognize sat in neat rows along the back. It looked like a training facility, but for what, she couldn’t say.
“You came,” Eryx said, emerging from the shadows. He’d changed into dark workout gear and somehow looked even more intimidating than he had at her house.
“You said you’d tell me everything,” Ravyn said, crossing her arms. “About what’s coming. About the howling last night. So here I am.”
After last night’s revelations about Cassian, she’d barely slept. Every memory of their relationship now felt tainted, every kiss potentially a lie. But underneath the hurt and betrayal was something else—anger. And a desperate need for answers that weren’t wrapped in deception.
“How are you feeling?” Eryx asked, studying her face. “Have you noticed any changes?”
“Everything’s louder. Brighter. I can hear things I shouldn’t be able to hear.” She paused, pressing a hand to her chest. “And there’s this… heartbeat. Not mine. It’s like it’s trying to match mine, but it can’t quite get there.”
Eryx’s expression grew serious. “The heartbeat—how long have you been feeling it?”
“Since my birthday. It gets stronger sometimes, then fades. Last night at the lake, when we heard that howling…” She trailed off, remembering how the sound had called to something deep in her chest. “What is it?”
“That’s your mate bond beginning to stir.”
Ravyn blinked. “My what?”
“Werewolves have fated mates,” Eryx explained carefully. “It’s not a choice—it’s biological. Instinctual. When you’re near your mate, your heartbeats try to synchronize.”
“So that’s what this is,” Ravyn said, pressing her hand to her chest where the double heartbeat pulsed. “This strange rhythm I’ve been feeling. A fated mate—that means someone I’m destined to be with?”
“More than that. It’s a soul-deep connection that transcends choice or logic. When werewolves find their mates, the bond is absolute.” He moved to the center of the space, gesturing for her to follow. “I was hoping the human side of your blood would override the werewolf instincts. That you’d be free to choose your own path.”
“But I’m not,” she said, understanding dawning with a cold dread.
“The bond calls to both parties when werewolves reach maturity,” Eryx said. “You can sense each other’s existence even from a distance. It’s designed to ensure strong pairings for pack survival.”
“What about what I want?” Ravyn’s voice rose. “What if I don’t want some mystical connection to a stranger? What if I want to choose for myself?”
“That’s exactly why I came back,” Eryx said firmly. “Because you do have a choice. Your human blood gives you something other werewolves don’t have—free will. You can resist the bond.”
“Resist it how?”
“By understanding it. By learning to control your abilities before they control you.” He moved toward the training mats. “The vampire side of your heritage is manifesting first. Have you noticed increased speed? Strength?”
Ravyn thought about yesterday—her body had felt off, different, but she hadn’t noticed any real changes in speed or strength. “Not really any speed or strength. But I don’t understand what any of this has to do with—”
“Everything is connected,” Eryx interrupted. “Your vampire abilities, the mate bond, Cassian’s involvement—it’s all part of the same web. The vampires want you because of your power. The werewolves will want to protect you because of the mate bond. And in the middle of it all, you need to be strong enough to make your own choices.”
“Tell me about the bond,” Ravyn said. “If this… mate… is out there, what happens when I meet him?”
Eryx was quiet for a long moment. “The pull becomes overwhelming. Every instinct you have will tell you he’s yours, that you belong together. The bond tries to override everything else—logic, previous attachments, even your own will.”
“But I can fight it?”
“With effort, yes. But Ravyn…” His expression grew grave. “Breaking or rejecting a mate bond can be dangerous. Sometimes fatal.”
“Fatal how?”
“The connection runs deeper than emotion. It’s biological, spiritual. Severing it completely can cause madness, physical illness, even death in some cases.”
Ravyn felt the walls of the warehouse closing in around her. “So I’m trapped. Either I accept this bond to someone I don’t know, or I risk dying. And meanwhile, Cassian—who I thought loved me—was just playing some vampire game.”
“That’s why you need to be stronger,” Eryx said. “Strong enough to navigate this without being controlled by anyone—vampire or werewolf.”
“Then teach me,” Ravyn said, the anger giving her voice steel. “Show me how to control these abilities. Show me how to protect myself.”
Eryx nodded approvingly. “We’ll start with your vampire heritage. Speed and strength will manifest first, but you need to learn how to bring them out and control them without losing yourself in the process.”
For the next hour, they worked through basic exercises. Eryx taught her to harness her enhanced speed without losing control, to gauge her new strength without breaking everything she touched. It was harder than she’d expected—like trying to relearn how to walk when her body suddenly felt foreign.
“Good,” Eryx said as she successfully moved across the mats without stumbling. “You’re adapting quickly.”
“It feels like someone else’s body,” Ravyn said, breathing hard. “Like everything I knew about myself was wrong.”
“Not wrong. Just incomplete.” He handed her a water bottle. “You’re still you, Ravyn. These abilities don’t change who you are at your core.”
She took a long drink, then fixed him with a steady stare. “I want to know about the howling last night. That was him, wasn’t it? My supposed mate?”
Eryx nodded reluctantly. “I believe so. The timing, the location—it fits.”
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know yet,” Eryx admitted. “We won’t know until you meet him. The bond doesn’t reveal identity, only proximity and connection.”
She felt that double heartbeat skip in her chest. “How will I know when I find him?”
“You’ll know,” Eryx said simply. “The bond will make it unmistakable. Your heartbeats will sync perfectly, the pull will become overwhelming, and every instinct you have will recognize him.”
“So everyone knows about this except me,” Ravyn said bitterly. “The vampires, the werewolves, you—all of you have been planning and scheming while I thought I was just a normal girl.”
“We were trying to protect you—”
“By lying to me!” She stood abruptly, pacing toward the mirrors. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to discover that everything you believed about your life was false? That the person you love might have been manipulating you from the beginning? That there’s some stranger out there who thinks he has a claim on you?”
“Yes,” Eryx said quietly. “I do.”
Something in his tone made her turn. “What do you mean?”
“I know what it’s like to have everyone plotting around you, making decisions about your life without your consent.” His expression grew distant. “I’m a hybrid too, Ravyn. The first vampire-werewolf hybrid ever born. My existence broke every natural law, and both sides wanted to claim me.”
Ravyn stared at him. “That’s why the war started?”
“The vampires wanted me to choose their side. The werewolves demanded I join their packs. Neither side could accept that I might want to forge my own path.” He looked at her intently. “When I refused to be controlled by either faction, I went into hiding with the humans. That’s where I met your mother.”
“And you fell in love?”
“I felt something like a bond with her—a pull, a connection—but because she was human, it was one-sided. We fell in love naturally, freely.” His voice grew soft with memory, then harder. “We were together until you were born. Then I had to disappear again to keep them from discovering you.”
“Then you do understand,” Ravyn said softly.
“I understand the weight of being something that shouldn’t exist. I understand having your very existence threaten the balance others have spent centuries maintaining.” His voice grew firm. “And I understand that you have the power to choose differently than I did. You don’t have to run and hide. You can be stronger.”
“What if I want to give Cassian a chance to explain? What if his feelings are real, even if they started as a mission?”
“Then you need to be careful. Vampire emotions aren’t like human emotions. They’re possessive, controlling. And Cassian still has to obey his father—he won’t be able to resist if his father controls him directly.” Eryx’s expression darkened. “Vampire hierarchy runs deeper than family bonds. A sire’s commands override personal will, especially for younger vampires.”
The double heartbeat pulsed again, stronger than before. Ravyn pressed her hand to her chest, feeling it echo through her ribs.
“He’s getting closer, isn’t he?”
“The bond will draw you together now that it’s awakened. It’s not something that can be avoided forever.”
“What happens when I meet him?”
“That depends on you. The bond will try to convince you that he’s everything you’ve ever wanted. But your human side gives you the power to see past the mystical connection to who he really is.”
Ravyn was quiet for a long moment, processing everything. “I need more time.”
“Time is a luxury we might not have,” Eryx warned. “The vampire courts know you’re awakened. The werewolf packs are stirring. And the longer this goes on, the more dangerous it becomes for everyone involved.”
“Then teach me faster,” Ravyn said determinedly. “Teach me everything I need to know to survive this. Because I’m not going to be anyone’s pawn—not the vampires’, not the werewolves’, not even destiny’s.”
Eryx smiled, and for the first time since she’d met him, it reached his eyes. “Now you sound like your mother.”
“Good,” Ravyn said. “Now show me what else I can do.”
- Writer
