Chapter 3 — The Impossible Bond
1307 Words
The forest had gone silent.
Not peaceful.
Dangerously silent. Like the world was holding its breath before a scream.
I stood behind Kael, watching the darkness between the trees.
Hundreds of glowing eyes stared back at us.
Yellow. Red. Silver. All of them fixed on me.
My heart pounded against my chest so hard it hurt.
A few hours ago, my biggest problem had been surviving the humiliation of my rejection.
Now, I was standing in the middle of a forest with the most feared Alpha alive, surrounded by creatures that wanted me dead.
How had my life changed so quickly?
Kael's hand tightened around his weapon. A long blade I hadn’t seen him draw before.
"Do not move from behind me."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Like this wasn't the first time he had faced death. Like he’d done this a hundred times and was bored of it.
"Who are they?" I whispered. My voice shook.
His eyes remained fixed on the shadows.
"I don't know."
That answer frightened me more than anything.
Kael Draven was supposed to know everything.
He was the Alpha everyone feared.
The man who could make warriors kneel with a single look.
The monster in every bedtime story.
But right now...
He was confused.
A sudden growl echoed through the forest. Deep. Ragged.
Then the wolves attacked.
Everything happened too fast.
Dark figures rushed toward us from every direction. Too many to count.
Kael moved before I could even react.
One second he was standing beside me.
The next, he was gone.
His wolf instincts took over.
He moved like a storm, like black lightning. Protecting me from every attack.
Claws. Teeth. Blood.
I watched in shock.
This wasn't the monster the stories described.
The monster in the stories enjoyed violence. Laughed while he killed.
But Kael?
Every movement had one purpose.
Protect me.
Only me.
A wolf lunged toward my side. Big. Fast.
I froze.
I couldn't move.
I couldn't shift.
I couldn't defend myself.
Just like always.
Weak.
Useless.
The thought had barely entered my mind when Kael appeared in front of me.
He took the attack meant for me. The wolf’s claws raked across his shoulder.
"Kael!"
He shoved the wolf away with one arm and turned back. Blood was already running down his arm.
"Are you hurt?"
I stared at him.
He was injured.
And he was asking about me.
"You're bleeding."
His expression softened for a moment. Just a flicker.
"It's nothing."
"That's not nothing."
The words came out before I could stop them.
His eyes met mine.
For a second, the entire battlefield disappeared. Just him. Just me. Just the blood on his skin.
Then the mark on my wrist burned.
Hot. Like fire.
Kael grabbed his own arm and hissed.
I noticed something.
A mark.
The same symbol.
On him.
A silver crescent wrapped in claws, glowing faintly under his sleeve.
My breath caught.
"You have it too."
Kael looked down at his wrist.
His expression changed.
"Impossible."
"What?"
He didn’t answer.
His jaw was tight. Confused. Angry.
Before I could ask again, another attacker rushed toward us from the trees.
This time, something inside me reacted.
Not my body.
Something deeper.
A force I didn’t understand. A pressure in my chest.
The air around me changed. Got heavy.
The ground shook slightly under my feet.
The attacker stopped mid-air.
His eyes widened.
"No..."
The wolf backed away.
Fear.
He was afraid of me.
Then Kael looked at me.
Not with fear.
With realization. With shock.
"What are you?"
I didn't have an answer.
Because I was asking myself the same thing.
The attackers disappeared as quickly as they came. Vanished into the trees like smoke.
Leaving only silence. And blood. And me breathing too hard.
Kael searched the area carefully, circling us once before finally turning back to me.
"Are you hurt?"
I shook my head.
"No."
My voice came out small.
He looked relieved.
The emotion was small.
Almost invisible.
But I saw it. In the way his shoulders dropped.
"You were worried about me."
Kael looked away. Jaw clenched.
"I was responsible for you."
I crossed my arms. Even though I was shaking.
"Is that all?"
His jaw tightened.
For some reason, my question bothered him.
"I don't know."
The honesty surprised me.
Kael Draven didn't know something.
About me.
About us.
About the strange connection between us.
I looked at my wrist. The mark was still glowing. Faint now.
"What is this mark?"
He didn’t answer immediately.
Finally, he said:
"A bond."
My heart skipped.
"A mate bond?"
"No."
The way he said it made me curious. Sharp. Final.
"Then what?"
Kael looked at me. Really looked at me.
"A bond older than a mate bond."
A chill ran through me.
"That doesn't make sense."
"I know."
He stepped closer. Close enough that I could smell pine and blood on him.
"That's why it's dangerous."
We continued through the forest after that, but something had changed.
Before, I was walking beside a stranger.
Now...
I could feel him.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
When Kael was angry, I felt heat in my chest.
When he was worried, I felt weight in my stomach.
When he looked at me, my heart reacted before my mind could understand why.
It was impossible.
And I hated that part of me didn't want it to stop.
"You're feeling it too."
Kael's voice broke the silence hours later.
I looked at him.
"Feeling what?"
"The connection."
I swallowed.
"Yes."
He nodded slowly. Like he’d been dreading that answer.
"Good. I thought I was losing my mind."
A small laugh escaped me.
The sound surprised both of us.
Because it was the first time I had laughed since the ceremony. Since Lucian said my name.
Kael noticed.
His expression softened. The hard lines on his face eased.
"You should do that more."
"What?"
"Smile."
My heart stumbled.
Nobody had said something like that to me in a long time.
Especially not after seeing me as broken.
I quickly looked away.
"You're strange, you know."
A faint smile appeared on his face. The first real one I’d seen.
"So I've been told."
For the first time...
I wondered if everyone had been wrong about him.
That night, we stopped near a small clearing.
Kael built a fire without speaking. He moved like he’d done it a thousand times.
I sat across from him beside the fire.
The feared Exiled Alpha.
The man everyone called a monster.
But monsters didn't look at the stars like they were searching for answers.
Monsters didn't bleed to protect strangers.
Monsters didn't carry pain in their eyes.
"Why were you exiled?"
The question escaped before I could bite it back.
Kael went still.
The warmth disappeared from his face.
"Not tonight."
His voice was final.
I knew I had touched something painful.
"Sorry—"
Before I could apologize, his expression changed.
His eyes focused somewhere behind me. Sharp.
"What is it?"
I turned.
Nothing.
Just trees. Dark and empty.
"Kael?"
He stood. In one smooth motion.
His hand moved toward his weapon.
"I felt something."
"What?"
His eyes locked onto mine.
And the fear in them made my blood run cold.
"Someone is trying to break our bond."
My breath stopped.
"Our bond?"
Kael looked at the mark glowing faintly between us.
Then toward the darkness.
"No one should be able to sense this."
A whisper traveled through the trees.
Soft. Ancient. Not human.
"Lyra Vale..."
My entire body froze.
Kael stepped in front of me instantly. Shielding me.
But this time...
The voice wasn't coming from the forest.
It was coming from inside my head.
Echoing.
"The First Wolf is awakening."
Lyra's mysterious bond with Kael is not a normal mate bond—and something ancient has finally noticed her existence.
- Writer
