CHAPTER TWO
1375 Words
— Dani
The plane hums beneath us, steady and low, but my body feels anything but calm.
Alaric hasn’t spoken since takeoff. He sits beside me, arms crossed, gaze fixed on the clouds outside the window like they’ve personally offended him. Alana’s across the aisle, headphones in, already half-asleep.
I should be sleeping too. Or reading. Or doing literally anything other than noticing how close Alaric’s shoulder is to mine. How the heat of him seeps through the space between us. How the hum inside me — that strange, low vibration — has grown louder.
It’s not just nerves.
It’s not just attraction.
It’s something else.
Something waking up.
I press my fingers to my chest, just above my heart, and feel it — a warmth that pulses in time with my heartbeat. It started as a flicker days ago. Now it’s a steady thrum, like something inside me is trying to reach out.
I glance at Alaric.
His jaw is tight. His fingers flex against his armrest. And for a moment, I swear I see his nostrils flare — like he’s scenting something in the air.
Me.
My pulse stutters.
He shifts slightly, and the movement sends a wave of heat through me. Not just desire — something deeper. Something ancient. Something I don’t understand.
I close my eyes and try to breathe through it.
But the moment I do, a memory surfaces.
A night years ago.
I was sixteen.
Alana had gone to bed early, and I’d stayed up reading by the fire. Alaric had walked in, paused, looked at me — and something had sparked. Just for a second. A flicker. A jolt. A feeling I couldn’t name.
I buried it so fast I barely remembered it until now.
But now… it’s back.
Stronger.
Sharper.
Real.
I open my eyes and find Alaric watching me.
Not casually. Not politely.
His gaze is dark, intense, unreadable. Like he’s trying to solve a puzzle he didn’t know existed.
I swallow hard.
He looks away a second later, but the damage is done. My skin is flushed. My heart is racing. And the hum in my chest is a roar.
Something is happening to me.
Something is changing.
And I think he feels it too.
— Alaric
The moment the plane leaves the ground, I know something is wrong.
Not with the aircraft.
Not with the weather.
With me.
I’ve spent years mastering control — of my temper, my instincts, my emotions. An Alpha who can’t control himself is a danger to everyone around him. I learned that lesson young, and I’ve lived by it ever since.
But sitting here, inches from Dani Vale, I feel control slipping through my fingers like sand.
Her scent hits me first.
Warm. Soft. Familiar.
But different now — sharper, brighter, threaded with something I can’t name.
Something that calls to me.
I clench my jaw and stare out the window, pretending the clouds hold my attention. They don’t. All I can feel is her. The heat of her body. The rhythm of her breathing. The faint tremor in her pulse.
And something else.
A pull.
It’s subtle at first, like a thread tugging at the edge of my awareness. But every minute it grows stronger, tightening, drawing me toward her in a way that makes no sense.
I’ve never felt anything like it.
Not once.
Not in all my years.
Because I don’t have a mate.
The Moon Goddess never gave me one. I accepted that long ago — accepted the loneliness, the emptiness, the quiet ache that never fully faded. I built my life around duty instead. Around Alana. Around the pack.
But now…
now something inside me is waking up.
Dani shifts beside me, and the pull snaps tight, sharp enough to steal my breath. I turn my head before I can stop myself.
She’s touching her chest, fingers pressed over her heart, eyes closed like she’s fighting something inside her.
A surge of instinct rises in me — protect, comfort, claim — and I crush it instantly.
No.
Not her.
Not Dani.
She’s Alana’s best friend.
She grew up in my home.
She trusts me.
And I will not betray that trust.
But when she opens her eyes and looks at me…
the world tilts.
There’s something glowing behind her gaze. Something ancient. Something powerful. Something that reaches straight into the hollow place inside me and fills it with heat.
My breath catches.
She feels it too.
I look away, gripping the armrest until my knuckles ache. My heart is pounding, my instincts roaring, my control fraying at the edges.
This isn’t possible.
It can’t be.
But the bond — whatever it is — keeps pulling, stronger with every passing second.
And for the first time in years, I’m afraid.
Not of losing control.
Not of my temper.
I’m afraid of what it means if I don’t.
— Alaric
Dani shifts again, brushing my arm, and the pull slams into me so hard I almost flinch.
I don’t flinch.
I don’t react.
I don’t ever let anything show.
But this… this is different.
I’ve spent my entire life believing the Moon Goddess denied me a mate. I made peace with it. I built my world around the idea that I would lead alone, die alone, and leave the pack to Alana one day.
But now, sitting beside Dani Vale, I feel something I’ve only ever heard described in stories whispered by elders.
A bond.
A thread.
A force that feels older than time.
It coils around my ribs, tightens in my chest, and pulls me toward her with a strength that terrifies me.
I inhale slowly, trying to steady myself, but her scent hits me again — warm, bright, threaded with something new. Something awakening.
I shouldn’t notice.
I shouldn’t want to notice.
But I do.
Dani Vale has always been… Dani.
Quiet. Steady. Loyal.
The girl who grew up in my home, who laughed with Alana, who trusted me without question.
And now she’s sitting beside me, heart racing, power humming beneath her skin like a storm waiting to break.
I can feel it.
I can feel her.
My fingers curl into fists.
This is impossible.
This is wrong.
This is—
She turns her head, and our eyes meet.
The bond snaps tight.
My breath stops.
Her pupils dilate. Her lips part. And for a heartbeat, I see something flicker behind her gaze — light, power, recognition. Like she’s seeing me in a way she never has before.
My chest tightens painfully.
No.
No, no, no.
I tear my gaze away, staring hard at the seat in front of me, forcing my breathing to steady. My wolf is pacing, restless, agitated, pushing against the walls I’ve built over years of discipline.
He wants her.
He recognizes her.
He’s known her all along.
I grit my teeth.
This can’t be happening.
Not with her.
Not with Dani.
She’s too young.
Too close.
Too important to Alana.
Too woven into my life in ways that make this bond feel like a betrayal.
But the bond doesn’t care about logic.
Or rules.
Or the lines I’ve drawn to keep everyone safe from me.
It just pulls.
Harder.
Stronger.
Relentless.
Dani shifts again, brushing my arm, and the spark hits us both. She gasps softly. I feel the sound like a punch to the gut.
My control slips for a fraction of a second.
I turn toward her before I can stop myself, voice low, rougher than I intend.
“Dani… what’s happening to you?”
Her eyes widen. She opens her mouth, but no words come out. She looks confused. Scared. And something inside me — something primal — surges forward with a single, overwhelming instinct.
Protect.
I swallow hard and force myself back into my seat.
I can’t do this.
Not here.
Not now.
Not with her so close I can feel the heat of her skin.
I stare out the window again, but the reflection staring back at me isn’t calm or controlled.
It’s a man on the edge of losing everything he’s spent years holding together.
And for the first time in my life, I don’t know if I can stop it.
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- Writer
