Chained to the Beast

Chapter 3: Awakening

It started on the seventh night.

Aria was lying in bed, as she had been every night since arriving at Silvercrest, when she felt it. A strange sensation in her chest, like something shifting inside her. Like a door opening in a part of herself she didn't know existed.

She sat up, breathing heavily. The feeling faded, but something had changed. She could feel it. Something inside her was different.

The next morning at training, Aria noticed it immediately. She was faster. Not by much, but definitely faster. When one of the other wolves lunged at her, she dodged the attack instead of just taking it. She actually managed to land a hit on his shoulder.

The training ground went quiet.

"Again," Raina commanded.

They fought for longer this time. Aria still lost, obviously, but she lasted longer than she ever had before. She was getting stronger. She could feel her wolf responding, waking up from a sleep she hadn't known it was in.

By the end of the session, Raina was watching her with an expression that was almost like curiosity.

"You," Raina said, pointing at Aria as the others dispersed. "You're different today."

"I don't know what you mean," Aria said, but her heart was racing.

"Your wolf," Raina said. "It's different and stronger. Like something inside you is waking up."

"I don't feel any different," Aria lied.

Raina studied her for a long moment, then shrugged. "Whatever. Just keep it up. Maybe you won't be completely useless after all."

That night, Aria couldn't sleep. Her skin felt too tight and her entire body was vibrating with energy. She paced her small room, trying to make sense of what was happening to her. Her wolf had always been weak. That's what her father had always told her and that's what everyone had always said.

So why was it getting stronger now?

Around midnight, she heard footsteps in the hallway. They stopped outside her door and through the small window, Aria could see a shadow. Someone was watching her room.

She held her breath.

The shadow moved away, and the footsteps continued down the hallway. But Aria knew. Someone had been watching her. Checking on her.

The next few days followed the same pattern. Aria would get stronger during training. Raina would make comments about her wolf waking up. And at night, someone would stop outside her door and watch her through the window.

She never saw who it was.

By the tenth day, Aria could actually fight back against some of the wolves. She wasn't winning, but she was no longer just an easy target. The other wolves stopped laughing at her quite so much. Their comments became more grudging. More respectful, in a strange way.

One of them made a joke about how maybe the payment wasn't completely useless after all. His tone was light, friendly even.

Aria went back to her room and waited.

She didn't have to wait long.

Kade came to her room two hours later. When she opened the door, he looked furious. His eyes were black with rage.

"What?" Aria asked, confused.

Kade didn't answer with words. He turned and walked away without saying anything. But Aria heard the sounds a few minutes later. Screaming from somewhere in the compound. Bones breaking and flesh tearing.

When it was over, Raina came to her during the next training session and told her that one of the younger wolves had gotten into a bad accident. He was in the medical wing. He would probably be fine, eventually.

Aria understood. It was a warning. It was Kade marking his territory.

That night, she felt something change between them. Like a thread had been drawn taut between her and Kade, connecting them. When she thought about him, she could feel his presence somewhere in the compound. It was strange and unsettling and completely impossible.

She tried to ignore it.

Two days later, during training, Aria was sparring with one of the larger wolves when she touched his arm and felt something. She could feel his emotions, his confidence, his arrogance and his underlying fear. It was like his entire emotional state was broadcasting itself directly into her mind.

She stumbled backward, shocked.

The wolf took advantage of her distraction and threw her to the ground. But Aria barely noticed. She was too busy trying to understand what had just happened.

She closed her eyes and reached out, trying to feel it again and she could. She could sense the emotions of everyone in the training ground. Their confidence, their hunger and their curiosity about her.

It was like her wolf had developed a new sense. Like she could see something that had always been invisible to everyone else.

When she got back to her room, she started experimenting. She touched the wall and felt the vibrations of all the people who had touched it. She touched the blanket on her bed and sensed Kade's presence. He had been in her room. He had sat on her bed.

The knowledge made her heart race.

That night, she felt him before she heard him. His presence grew closer and closer until he was standing outside her door. She could feel his anger and confusion and something else. Something that felt like hunger.

Her door opened without her moving toward it.

Kade stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the darkness of the hallway. He looked at her with those cold eyes, and Aria felt something shift inside her chest. Something that felt like recognition. Like coming home to a place she had never been.

"Stop," he said, and his voice was rough like gravel. "Stop doing whatever you're doing."

"I don't know what you mean," Aria whispered.

"Your wolf," Kade said, stepping into her room and closing the door behind him. "It's waking up. It's calling to mine and I don't have time for this."

Aria's breath caught. "Your wolf?"

"The mate bond," Kade said flatly. "It's starting."

He left before she could respond, closing the door with controlled violence.

Aria sat on her bed and tried to process what he had said. The mate bond. The supernatural connection between two wolves that were destined for each other. It was supposed to take time to develop. It was supposed to be rare.

And apparently, it was starting between her and Kade Silvercrest.

She wrapped her arms around herself and tried not to scream.