The Wolf With My Heartbeat
1019 Words
The room felt too quiet.
Too still.
Too fragile for the storm that kept raging inside Aria’s chest. She hadn’t moved since Rowan left the room — not because he told her to rest but because she was afraid that if she stood up, everything would shatter again. The truth, the danger, the pull between them… all of it.
Outside the cabin windows, the snow had thickened, clouds hanging low like heavy thoughts that refused to leave.
She pressed a hand to her chest.
Her heartbeat wasn’t normal. It was too loud, too fast… almost synced with something else. Something not hers.
A soft knock on the door pulled her from her spiraling thoughts.
Before she could answer, Rowan stepped in — shoulders tense, jaw clenched, eyes darker than she’d ever seen them. That calm, controlled alpha energy wrapped around him like winter armor.
But he avoided her gaze.
That wasn’t normal.
“Rowan?” she whispered.
He swallowed but still didn’t meet her eyes. “We need to talk.”
Every part of her body tightened at those words. Nothing good ever came after we need to talk.
He finally lifted his gaze to hers — and the moment their eyes met, her heart gave a painful thump.
Not because she was scared.
Because it recognized him.
“I made a mistake,” he said slowly.
Her breath faltered. “What kind of mistake?”
He stepped closer, the wood beneath his boots creaking. For the first time since she met him, he seemed… unsure. Afraid of his own truth.
“I shouldn’t have touched you,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t have let your blood mix with mine. It awakened something I can’t undo.”
The room suddenly felt colder. “What… what are you saying?”
His jaw flexed.
“Your heartbeat changed,” he said. “I heard it.”
Aria’s hand flew to her chest instinctively. That strange rhythm… the heavy echo inside her ribs…
“You bonded to something,” he continued. “Something you shouldn’t have.”
Her pulse hammered harder. “To what?”
Rowan exhaled, long and exhausted.
“To me.”
The room spun.
“No,” she whispered. “That’s not— that’s impossible. I’m human.”
“Not anymore,” he said, voice barely above a breath. “You carry traces of my essence. My blood. My magic. If the bond seals, you won’t just feel me… you’ll be connected to me. In ways that can’t be broken.”
Her legs weakened. “Rowan… I didn’t choose that.”
“I know.” His voice cracked at the edges. “That’s why it terrifies me.”
He ran a hand through his hair and stepped away from her, pacing the small space like a caged animal.
“Your ex isn’t just after you,” Rowan said. “If he finds out what’s happening between us, he’ll kill you before your heartbeat fully syncs with mine.”
Her throat tightened. “Why would he care? He doesn’t love me.”
“Because if a human bonds with an alpha, it threatens bloodline order. Balance. Pack laws. It’s forbidden.”
The word forbidden sank into her skin like ice.
“So what do we do?” she whispered.
Rowan slowed his pacing, his expression darkening. “I can try to break the bond.”
Her chest felt like it caved in. “Break it?”
“It’s the only way to keep you safe,” he said. “But it will hurt you. Both of us. And if it’s already too deep…” He hesitated. “It might do worse than hurt.”
She swallowed hard. “And if we don’t break it?”
Rowan finally looked up — and his eyes were full of a storm he couldn’t control.
“Then you belong to me,” he murmured. “In a way that no one can undo.”
Her breath caught.
The room buzzed with tension — thick, magnetic, dizzying. She hadn’t moved, but every part of her felt pulled toward him like gravity suddenly changed direction.
“Do you want that?” she whispered, barely able to force the words out.
Rowan froze… then his mask cracked slightly.
“I want everything I’m not allowed to want,” he said. “You most of all.”
Her heart betrayed her by beating harder.
He heard it.
He reacted.
In one stride he was standing right in front of her — close enough that she felt the heat coming off him, close enough to feel his breath on her cheek.
He raised a hand but didn’t touch her, his fingers trembling inches from her skin.
“You have no idea what you’re doing to me,” he said softly, voice low and rough.
“I think I do,” she breathed.
Their eyes locked.
Silence.
And then—
A bone-deep growl echoed from outside the cabin.
Rowan’s head snapped toward the window.
His expression shifted instantly — from conflicted to deadly.
“They found us.”
Her blood went cold. “Who?”
His eyes flickered gold, the glow sharp and furious.
“Not wolves,” he said.
“Hunters.”
A shadow moved past the window.
A boot crunched in the snow.
Rowan grabbed her hand — not gently, but like a man realizing he could lose something he wasn’t ready to lose.
“We’re leaving,” he said. “Now.”
Before she could form a question, something slammed against the front door hard enough to shake the walls.
Aria gasped.
Rowan positioned himself between her and the sound, muscles coiling, power shifting under his skin.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered.
Another slam.
The hinges groaned.
Her heart hammered — and Rowan reacted instantly, turning sharply toward her with a look that wasn’t fear…
It was realization.
He heard it.
He felt it.
The bond.
Her pulse synced with his.
“Aria,” he whispered, eyes wide. “It’s sealing.”
Before she could speak, the door burst open.
And everything went dark.
- Writer
