chapter 9
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Chapter 9 – The Bond That Burns
Serena’s POV
The days in Asher’s camp blurred together—each one a battle of wills.
Every time I thought I’d found a crack in his fortress, a chance to slip away, he was there. Always there.
His shadow haunted me. His scent clung to me. His voice wrapped around my nights. And those silver eyes—they followed me like chains.
The rogues feared him, but they also worshipped him. Around the fire they whispered his name like a curse and a prayer. “The Rogue King.” “The cursed wolf.” “The silver-eyed storm.”
And me? I was caught in his snare.
Tonight, the campfire cracked and spat sparks into the night air. Smoke curled upward into the dark, carrying the sharp scent of meat and pine. Rogues murmured low, casting sharp glances my way, but none dared linger. Not when their king sat beside me, his presence wrapped around me like iron.
“You’ve stopped trying to run.” Asher’s voice was casual, but I heard the amusement beneath it. His long fingers tore into roasted meat, his movements slow, deliberate. “Should I take it as surrender?”
My jaw tightened. “Or maybe I’m just waiting for you to get careless.”
His chuckle was dark, sinful. He leaned closer, his breath brushing my cheek. “Careless isn’t in my blood, little wolf. But I do enjoy watching you plot. Makes me wonder how far I’ll have to push before your wolf snaps and shows me her real teeth.”
Heat shot down my spine, but I hid it. “You’ll never break me.”
His lips curved, slow and sharp. “Oh, Serena. I don’t want to break you. I want to unmake you—piece by piece—until you don’t know if you’re fighting me or begging me.”
I shot to my feet, fury burning hot. His hand caught my wrist before I could step away.
“Asher—”
In a blink, I was against him, my chest colliding with the solid wall of his body. His grip was firm but not cruel, his silver gaze holding mine like a trap.
“Tell me again,” he murmured, his lips hovering a breath from mine. “Tell me you don’t feel it—the bond snapping at your veins, screaming for mine.”
My heart hammered. My wolf trembled inside me, clawing toward him, desperate. I swallowed it back with a hiss. “I feel nothing.”
He laughed softly, wickedly. “Sweet Liar.”
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Christopher’s POV
The rogue border stank of smoke and blood.
My men had stopped following me miles back, too afraid to cross deeper. I didn’t blame them. The land itself felt wrong, cursed.
But the bond… gods, the bond nearly strangled me. Every mile, it burned hotter. No longer the clean, sweet pull of a mate. No—this was claws, fire, agony.
Serena.
Her name was ash on my tongue. I had rejected her—broken her—but I couldn’t breathe without her. My wolf howled inside me, torn between guilt and need.
Behind me, Cassandra’s laughter slithered through the night like venom.
“Do you feel it, Christopher?” she purred. “That heat in your veins? That’s not her calling for you. That’s her answering him.”
“Shut up,” I snapped, but my voice cracked.
“She’s slipping from your hands,” Cassandra whispered, her lips brushing my ear. “And when you see her with Asher, when you see her eyes soften for him…” She chuckled darkly. “It will kill you.”
Her words dug into me like knives. Still, I pressed forward.
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Serena’s POV
The dreams came again.
The Goddess’s voice, soft but merciless, whispered through the smoke of my sleep.
Sacrifice.
I woke with a gasp, drenched in sweat. Asher crouched at my bedside, his hand gripping my shoulder, firm and grounding. His silver eyes scanned me like he already knew my nightmare.
“What did you see this time?” His tone was demanding, sharp.
“I don’t—” My breath shook. “Blood. Fire. And… you.”
Something flickered in his eyes. Surprise? Hunger? Fear?
He leaned close, his nose brushing along the curve of my throat, inhaling deeply. My pulse jumped, my wolf whining. His voice dropped to a growl. “Do you know what it does to me, smelling your fear laced with desire?”
I shoved at him, weakly. “I don’t want you.”
“You do.” His lips grazed the hollow of my throat. “And the sooner you stop lying, the easier this will be.”
Tears stung my eyes. “I hate you.”
He smiled against my skin. “Good. Hate makes surrender taste sweeter.”
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Rogue Camp
The rogues stirred around us, restless. They whispered about omens—shadows moving at the edge of camp, the fires burning lower, the trees whispering in strange tones.
“She curses him,” one muttered.
“No,” another hissed. “She completes him.”
The words made my skin crawl.
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Asher’s POV
She didn’t understand. Every shiver, every trembling denial—it wasn’t weakness. It was proof. Proof the Goddess had tied her wolf to mine, whether she wanted it or not.
The curse in her veins was old, dangerous. But to me? It was a gift.
And I would unwrap it slowly, until she screamed my name not in fury, but in need.
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Christopher’s POV
By the time I reached the edge of Asher’s camp, the bond nearly ripped me in half.
I crouched in the shadows, my heart thundering. And then I saw her.
Serena.
She sat by the fire, her hair wild around her shoulders, her eyes fierce even in exhaustion. My mate. My rejection. My mistake.
But then—my heart stopped.
Asher was there, too close. His hand brushed her cheek. She shoved him away, but the sight gutted me.
And then—he leaned in, his lips grazing hers, daring her to deny him.
Serena froze. Her fists clenched, her body stiff, but she didn’t pull away fast enough. The firelight caught her face, showing the war inside her—hatred, fear… and something else.
My wolf howled in agony.
Cassandra’s whisper slid into my ear like a knife. “See? She’s already his.”
“No,” I choked. My knees hit the dirt. “No…”
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Serena’s POV
I shoved Asher back at last, my voice breaking. “I’ll never be yours!”
But before his smirk could return, a screech ripped through the night.
The rogues spun, growls ripping from their throats. Shadows surged at the treeline, dozens of glowing red eyes watching.
Whispers cut through the camp. Nightspawn.
Asher’s silver eyes blazed. He yanked me behind him, his power snapping through the air like lightning.
“Stay down,” he snarled. “They’re not here for me this time. They’re here for you.”
The shadows lunged.
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Serena is now the target of creatures darker than rogues. Asher shields her, Christopher watches from the dark, and Cassandra’s true schemes stir in silence.
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- Writer
