The Forbidden Bond of Fate

Anastasia screamed as an uncontrollable surge of power tore out of her body. She clawed both hands into her hair, collapsing onto her knees as the force erupted outwards with terrifying violence. The ground beneath her cracked with a deafening CRACK! Another wave of energy exploded from her. Dust and debris were hurled into the air as the entire field seemed to shudder beneath her. The officials tried to approach… They couldn't. Every time someone took a step closer, another wave of energy exploded from Anastasia, forcing them backwards. "Anastasia!" Someone shouted her name. She couldn't hear them. Her breathing grew ragged. Her entire body trembled violently as she desperately clutched her head. Then… Her eyes changed. The familiar blue slowly faded from her irises… Until there was nothing left. Nothing but absolute darkness. Pitch black. The people watching froze. No one dared to move. "What… is happening to her?" No one answered. Anastasia suddenly gasped. A sharp, unbearable pain tore through her skull. She grabbed the sides of her head even tighter. It felt as though something inside her mind was splitting apart. Then… She saw darkness. Not the darkness surrounding her… Something older, something buried. Trees… Endless trees. Men and women running through the wilderness in torn, bloodied clothes. Someone screaming. A woman's hand gripping hers… Warm, familiar. Then… A man's voice… Her father's voice. Anastasia's breath hitched. The memory vanished. Another one replaced it. A figure stood beneath the trees. Tall… Monstrous, two enormous horns rose from his head. And behind him… Two massive black wings stretched into the darkness. Anastasia stared. Her entire body went cold. She knew him! She had seen him before. Not once… Not twice… But for years. He had appeared in her dreams. Always beneath the trees… Always watching… Always just beyond her reach. And every time she tried to see his face… Pain! A blinding migraine… Dizziness… Sometimes, blood would suddenly pour from her nose. Then the memory would disappear. But this time… It didn't. Anastasia watched as the figure slowly turned. Her heart hammered against her chest. No! She didn't want to see. And yet… She needed to know. For years, something had always stopped her before she could see his face. Not now! She forced herself to look. The figure turned further. And then… She saw him. His face… Those eyes. That familiar expression. Her breath hitched in her throat. She knew that face. She had seen it countless times. A face she had smiled at… A face she had run towards. Arms she had once thrown herself into without fear. A voice she had once called with complete trust. Her lips trembled. "...Father?" The memory shattered. Anastasia screamed. The darkness in her eyes deepened. Her power exploded outwards. And then… Everything went black. ... Years ago… Kaden was only five years old when he first learned the word hate. He didn't understand it then. He didn't know what it meant. He certainly didn't know who it would one day belong to. All he knew was that something had been taken from him. And somehow… That something had led back to one man. Lucien. Years later, Kaden would finally understand why that name had always carried such bitterness. Why hearing it could turn his blood cold. Why he had spent so long believing that everything he had lost could be traced back to the same person. And perhaps that was why, years later, when Kaden finally stood before Anastasia again… There was no warmth left in his eyes, no hesitation, no softness. The boy she remembered was gone. In his place stood the Kaden everyone else knew… Cold, detached, nonchalant, untouchable. Anastasia stared at him, desperately searching his face. She moved her eyes over every familiar feature, looking for something… anything that belonged to the boy she had once known. “Kaden…” His name barely left her lips. Kaden looked at her… Only for a moment. Then his expression hardened. “You should stop.” Anastasia's brows drew together. “Stop what?” “This.” His voice was flat, almost bored. “Whatever it is you're still expecting from me.” Her heart tightened. A cold feeling slowly spread through her chest. “What are you talking about?” Kaden stepped closer. “You want the truth?” Anastasia swallowed. Her heart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her chest. “Yes.” His eyes remained fixed on hers. “Fine.” A brief silence. Then… “I never loved you.” Anastasia's breath hitched. She stared at him. For a moment, she didn't understand what she had just heard. Her lips parted slightly, but no words came. Kaden didn't look away. “I was using you.” Her fingers slowly curled at her sides. “What…?” The word came out barely above a whisper. Kaden's expression remained cold. “I needed a way to get close to your father.” Anastasia's eyes searched his face. There had to be something there… Some sign that he didn't mean it. But there was nothing… Only that same cold, detached look. A faint, humorless smile touched his lips. “And you made it too easy.” Anastasia's chest tightened. Kaden continued. “All I had to do was kiss you.” She stared at him. Her mind went completely still. The memories she had tried so hard to hold onto suddenly felt different. She shook her head slowly. “No…” “You trusted me blindly.” He continued as though he hadn't heard her. “You welcomed me when everyone else kept their distance. You brought me into your world. You told me things you shouldn't have.” His jaw tightened slightly. “And I let you believe I cared.” Anastasia's head shook again. “No.” “I knew exactly what I was doing.” Her breathing grew uneven. “You're lying.” Kaden's expression remained cold. But Anastasia couldn't accept it. She shook her head again, more desperately this time, as if refusing his words could somehow make them untrue. “No. You can't say that.” Her voice trembled. “Because I remember…” She swallowed, struggling to get the words out. “How you held me. How passionately you kissed me.” Kaden said nothing. Anastasia stared at him, searching his face for the smallest crack in his expression. Her lips quivered. “You can't tell me all of that was an act.” For the first time, something flickered in Kaden's eyes. Anastasia caught it… Her breath hitched. She stepped closer. A tense silence settled between them. “Were you really pretending?” Kaden's jaw tightened. For a brief moment, his eyes held hers. Then his expression hardened again. “Yes.” The single word seemed to knock the air from her lungs. Anastasia stared at him. She didn't blink or move. Her lips parted, but nothing came out. Then she slowly shook her head. “No…” The word came out broken. She swallowed hard, trying to steady herself… But she couldn't. The tears she had been fighting began to gather in her eyes, blurring his face in front of her. Kaden's voice lowered. “I gave you exactly what you needed to trust me.” Something inside Anastasia snapped. Her eyes turned red as the tears finally spilled over. “You…” Her voice trembled with hurt and disbelief. She stared at him through the tears, her chest heaving unevenly. “You really did all of that… just to get to my father?” Then… SLAP! Her palm struck his cheek. Kaden's head turned sharply from the force. Before he could react, Anastasia stepped forward and slammed both hands against his chest… Once, twice… so hard. “You held me!” Her voice broke. “You kissed me!” Tears streamed down her face now, but she didn't stop. “You looked at me like I was the only person in the world!” Her hands struck his chest again. “And you're telling me all of that was a lie?” Kaden remained still. Anastasia's breathing came in broken gasps. She stared up at him through tear-filled, reddened eyes. “I hate you!” The words shook as they left her. But this time, she didn't take them back. “I hate you, Kaden!” CHAPTER ONE: The First Manifestation “...AHH…!” Anastasia jolted upright. A terrified cry tore from her throat before she could stop it. For several seconds, she couldn't move. Her small body remained rigid beneath the sheets, drenched in sweat. Her fingers clutched the blankets tightly as she stared into the darkness of her room, her chest heaving with uneven breaths. But she wasn't truly seeing her bedroom. She was still there… Still trapped inside the nightmare. The images burned behind her eyes with terrifying clarity. Kingdoms were burning. Entire cities had been reduced to ruins, their towers collapsing beneath skies choked with black smoke. Flames stretched across the horizon, turning the night into a horrifying sea of orange and red. Then came the wolves. Massive wolves tore across blood-soaked battlefields, their enormous bodies moving through the chaos with terrifying speed. Their claws ripped through armor. Their jaws snapped around screaming warriors. Their vicious snarls rolled across the battlefield like thunder. Everywhere Anastasia looked, there was destruction. Bodies lay scattered across the earth. Some were motionless… Others still crawled desperately through the mud, reaching for anyone who might save them. There was no one coming. Blood flowed between the broken stones, gathering in dark rivers beneath the burning ruins. Smoke filled the air… Ash drifted endlessly from the sky. And beneath it all… The screams! God… The screams. They came from everywhere. Men screaming… Women crying… Children calling for their parents… Voices pleading for mercy… Voices begging for help. Some screams were so raw with agony that they barely sounded human anymore. They echoed across the ruined battlefield, overlapping until they became one unbearable symphony of suffering. Anastasia wanted to cover her ears… She couldn't. She wanted to run… She couldn't. She could only stand there and watch as the nightmare unfolded around her. The screams grew louder… Until it felt as though every terrified voice was screaming directly into her ears. But that wasn't the worst part. No! The worst part was what stood above it all. Enormous black wings stretched across the blood-red sky. They were impossibly vast, spreading from one end of the horizon to the other, blotting out the burning sky until even the flames below seemed small beneath them. They weren't feathers… They weren't flesh either. They looked like darkness itself had taken shape. A living darkness that should never have existed. And they were far worse than death. Because death felt final… This thing didn't. This felt like the kind of horror death itself would obey. Like if death had a master… This was it. Anastasia stared upwards, unable to tear her eyes away. She didn't know what she was looking at. She only knew that it was wrong… Terribly wrong. And beneath those monstrous wings… Something was watching. Not the burning kingdoms or the battlefield. But.. Her… Anastasia. Its gaze was fixed on her. It didn't feel like the distant stare of something observing the destruction around it. It felt deliberate… Personal. As if everything else in the nightmare had ceased to matter the moment it noticed her. Anastasia tried to move… Nothing happened! She tried to scream… No sound came! The darkness seemed to stretch towards her. Closer… Closer… And that unseen gaze never left her. Even now, awake in the safety of her room, Anastasia could still feel it. That terrible presence… That invisible gaze. Watching her from somewhere beyond the nightmare. Her breath hitched. Then suddenly, she scrambled out of bed. Fear sent her racing across the cold floor. “Mother!” Her frightened voice cracked through the darkness. “Father!” The hallway seemed endless. Every shadow stretched across the walls, making the nightmare feel dangerously close. A terrifying thought crept into her mind. Whatever had been watching her might have followed her out of the dream. Anastasia reached her parents' chamber and pushed the doors open. Both Lucien and Anana were already awake. The moment they saw her face, every trace of sleep disappeared. “Anastasia.” She rushed towards them. Lucien barely had time to sit upright before she climbed hurriedly onto the bed and threw herself against him. His arms immediately wrapped around her. One hand moved to the back of her head, holding her securely against his chest. “You're alright,” he murmured. His voice remained calm, but concern sharpened beneath it. “Easy, little wolf. Breathe.” Anastasia clung tightly to his shirt. Her fingers refused to let go. Anana immediately moved closer, wrapping her arms around them both. “Oh, my angel,” she whispered, gently brushing Anastasia's hair away from her face. “What happened?” Anastasia swallowed. For a moment, she couldn't answer. The images were still too clear… Still too real. “I saw...” Her voice shook. “Burning kingdoms.” Lucien's hand slowed against her back. Anastasia's fingers tightened around his shirt. “Wolves... tearing through battlefields.” Anana's expression changed slightly. “Rivers of blood beneath broken skies.” Anastasia swallowed again. “And screams.” Her voice dropped. “There were screams everywhere.” Silence filled the room. Anastasia slowly lifted her eyes. “There was smoke...” Her breathing hitched. “And giant black wings in the sky.” The words faded into a frightened whisper. Neither of her parents spoke. For one brief moment, the silence felt heavier than the nightmare itself. Anana immediately pulled Anastasia closer. “Oh, my sweet girl.” She pressed a kiss against her forehead. “Nothing is going to hurt you.” Lucien lowered his head, pressing his lips gently against Anastasia's hair. “You're safe.” His voice was quiet. “No nightmare can reach you here.” Anastasia remained between them. Slowly, Anana's fingers moved through her hair while Lucien's hand continued moving gently along her back. The warmth of her parents surrounded her. Little by little, her breathing steadied. The nightmare began to loosen its grip. Eventually, exhaustion won. Anastasia's fingers remained curled into Lucien's shirt as she fell asleep between them. The room became quiet… Only her soft breathing remained. For several moments, neither Lucien nor Anana spoke. Then Lucien slowly lifted his gaze. Anana was already looking at him. Neither needed to explain what they were thinking… They had both understood. The moment Anastasia described what she had seen. “This was her first manifestation,” Anana whispered. Her fingers continued moving gently through Anastasia's hair. “But she's only ten.” Her voice grew quieter. “It's too early.” Lucien's gaze lowered to their sleeping daughter. Every supernatural child manifested at thirteen… Anastasia had manifested three years early. The silence that followed was different now… Heavier, more uncertain. Lucien remained quiet for several seconds. Then finally, he spoke. “It's unexpected… Yes.” Anana looked at him. Lucien's expression remained calm, though his eyes had settled on Anastasia with quiet thoughtfulness. “But Anastasia was never meant to be ordinary.” A faint silence passed. “Not when she's our child.” Anana looked back down at their daughter. Lucien's hand moved gently across Anastasia's back. “She was born with power in her blood.” His gaze darkened slightly. “And now that power has begun to awaken.” Anana's fingers stopped briefly in Anastasia's hair. A quiet understanding passed between them. Then she whispered… “It's time.” Lucien didn't immediately answer. His gaze remained fixed on Anastasia. She looked so small… So peaceful. Completely unaware that something inside her had already begun to change. “She’s still so little, Lucien.” “I know.” “But if her manifestation has already begun...” Anana's voice lowered. “Then her training has to begin too.” Lucien's arm tightened slightly around Anastasia. “She needs control.” His eyes remained fixed on his sleeping daughter. “Before her power grows beyond her.” Silence settled over the room once more. Then Anana finally spoke. “The academy.” Lucien looked at her. For a moment, neither moved. Then he nodded. “Yes.” Outside the chamber, the night remained silent. But far away from the warmth of Anastasia's parents… Something unseen seemed to stir within the darkness. And somewhere beneath that endless night… Something remembered her.