The Hollow in Me
1565 Words
Chapter Four: The Hollow in Me
Eva’s POV
I stayed.
That was the first mistake.
Not because I didn’t want to. I did.
I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anything.
But staying meant accepting a world I didn’t understand. A world that pressed against my skin like invisible chains. A world with rules, instincts, rituals,secrets I hadn’t asked to inherit.
And I didn’t belong to it.
Not really.
The sun had risen long ago, but I hadn’t slept. I sat on the edge of the fur-covered cot, wrapped in one of Kael’s worn shirts, staring at my hands like they could tell me something my heart hadn’t figured out yet.
Everything had changed.
My body still hummed from his touch. Still bore the ache of the way he filled me—
slow and deep and perfect.
But my mind?
It was in freefall.
Bonded.
The word slipped out of my tongue.
I touched my chest, as if I’d find a mark there. Some physical sign of what we’d done. But there was nothing.
Just my racing heart.
The door creaked open behind me.
“Didn’t mean to startle you,” Kael said softly, carrying a bowl of something warm that smelled vaguely like honey and smoke.
“You didn’t.” I lied.
He handed me the bowl. Our fingers brushed, and a jolt passed between us—small, sharp, intimate.
Kael sat beside me, running a hand through his dark hair. The morning light made the silver in his eyes burn like frost.
“You okay?”
“Define okay,” I murmured, sipping the thick liquid. It was soothing, but I couldn’t stop shaking.
“You’re feeling the bond.”
“It’s like... something is clawing at the inside of my chest.”
“That’s me.”
He said it so simply. Like it was normal. Natural. As if I was supposed to wake up in a stranger’s bed and feel him—his emotions—like a second heartbeat in my body.
I set the bowl down. “It’s not just that. It’s everything.”
Kael nodded slowly. “I know. And I’ll give you space.”
“I don’t want space,” I said. “I want answers.”
He looked at me.
“I want to know who you are, Kael. Not just the alpha. Not just the man who tied me to him in the middle of the night. I want to know what I walked into.”
He exhaled sharply. “You deserve that.”
“And don’t lie. I’ll feel it now.”
He smirked. “Bonded mates can’t lie to each other. Not for long.”
“Great,” I muttered.
Kael’s smile faded. He stood, pacing slowly across the room. He’s tensed shoulders locked, eyes flickering toward the window.
“There’s more than you know,” he said. “More than I’ve said. But the truth comes with danger.”
“You think I can’t handle it?”
“I think you don’t know what you’re worth. And that makes you vulnerable.”
I flinched. “That’s not fair.”
“It’s the truth.” His eyes darkened. “You walk like someone who’s spent her whole life running. But now there’s nowhere to run.”
I stood too, heart pounding. “What are you not telling me?”
Kael stepped toward me, then stopped. “There’s someone who won’t like what we’ve done. Someone who’ll try to sever the bond.”
I froze. “You said that wasn’t possible.”
“It shouldn’t be.” His jaw tightened. “But power changes everything. And not everyone wants a human bonded to an alpha.”
I stared at him. “So I’m a liability.”
“No. You’re mine.” His voice dropped. “And that makes you powerful and a threat to anyone who wanted me claimed by someone else.”
I swallowed. “There was someone else, wasn’t there?”
He didn’t answer.
But he didn’t have to.
My stomach twisted. I turned away, trying to breathe past the sudden heaviness in my chest.
“I should go,” I whispered.
Kael reached for me but didn’t touch.
“Eva, don’t.”
“You said you wouldn’t stop me.”
“I won’t. But if you walk out that door without knowing what’s coming—you’ll regret it.”
My fingers shook as I grabbed my torn leggings from the floor. “Then maybe I need to regret it.”
---
The woods didn’t look the same in daylight.
The shadows were gone, but the unease remained. Every branch felt like a finger pointing. Every tree whispered things I didn’t want to hear.
I didn’t know where I was going. I just needed space.
I needed to feel like my choices still belonged to me.
But the farther I walked, the worse it got.
The air felt wrong.
Not quiet.
But Dead.
And then I heard it.
A sharp rustle. Not from the wind.
From breath.
From watching.
“Kael?” I called, heart pounding. “If you followed me—”
A figure stepped out from the trees.
Not Kael.
A woman.
Tall. Pale. Dressed in a deep green cloak that fluttered unnaturally. Her eyes were a color I couldn’t name—something between winter and poison.
She looked me over like I was a crack in glass.
“You’re the girl.”
I took a step back. “Excuse me?”
“The human.” Her voice was smooth. Chilling. “He bonded with you.”
“I don’t know what you’ve heard—”
“I’ve heard enough.”
She stepped closer. Her scent was sharp. Bitter flowers. Something wrong.
“He was meant to bond with me.”
My blood ran cold. “You’re the one.”
“I am the one,” she said. “His intended. His equal. You were a mistake.”
My heart pounded. I turned to run—but she raised her hand.
The ground beneath me shook.
I stumbled, fell to my knees.
She crouched beside me, fingers grazing the side of my face.
“I could unbind you right now,” she whispered. “Crack the tie. Leave you hollow. You’d never be the same.”
“Then do it,” I gasped, defiant.
But her hand dropped.
“No. That’s too kind. I want you to feel it first. The weight. The hunger. The ache when he starts to turn on you. When he starts to lose control.”
She stood again.
“Kael was mine before you were ever born. The only reason you’re alive is because he hasn’t realized what you are.”
My breath hitched. “What I am?”
She smiled. Cold. Cruel. “Ask him.”
And then she vanished.
Literally.
The air cracked around her like glass, and she was gone.
---
I ran.
Back to the lodge. Back through the forest that felt suddenly darker. Thicker. Every root clawing at my ankles, every shadow whispering you don’t belong.
When I burst through the door, Kael was waiting.
One look at my face and he was already moving.
“What happened?”
I shoved him back. “You tell me.”
His nostrils flared. “You’re afraid.”
“No, Kael.”
“What did you see?”
“A woman.” I paced, trembling. “Tall. Green cloak. Magic.”
Kael’s face went pale. “Elira.”
“Your ex-fiancée?”
He flinched.
I laughed bitterly. “Unbelievable.”
“She wasn’t supposed to be here.”
“She said you haven’t figured out what I a*.”
Kael froze.
And then he whispered something I didn’t understand.
“Elira’s a blood-witch,” he said. “Old magic. Forbidden. She wanted the alpha bond not for love—but for power. I broke the betrothal when I saw what she really was.”
“She seemed pretty convinced you were hers.”
“She was. Until I met you.”
The heat in my chest roared.
“But I didn’t ask for this, Kael.”
“You didn’t have to. The bond chose you. I just followed it.”
I stared at him. “Then what am I?”
He didn’t answer.
“Kael—”
“I don’t know.”
My heart cracked.
“But I will find out,” he said, stepping closer. “Because Elira’s afraid of something. Not me. You.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to be part of some war.”
“You already are.”
He cupped my face, and I hated how my body still leaned into him.
“You want to run, Eva. But I promise you—whatever secret is in your blood, it’s stronger than anything Elira could ever summon.”
“But what if it’s not good?”
His thumb brushed my cheek. “Then we’ll face it together.”
A heavy silence stretched between us.
And then Kael tensed.
His head turned toward the window.
“What is it?”
He stepped back. “Someone crossed the boundary.”
He opened the door.
And standing there...
Was my sister.
Hair wild. Eyes wide. Face pale from fear.
“Eva,” she gasped. “You have to come home. Mom’s missing. And they think it’s connected to you
- Writer
