The Bond That Will Not Break

Kael Varyn's POV

River found me on the roof of my building, staring at the city below.

"You look like hell," he said, leaning against the railing beside me.

"I feel like hell," I admitted.

River was my Beta. My second-in-command. And the only person in the world who had stood by me for the past three centuries. He was younger than me, blond-haired and sharp-eyed, with a loyalty that bordered on recklessness.

"She hates you," River said bluntly.

"I know."

"Good," he said. "Because if she did not, I would be worried. A woman who forgives you that easily is not worth your time."

I glanced at him. "You have a strange way of being supportive."

River shrugged. "I am just being honest. You killed her, Kael. You cannot expect her to smile and move on."

"I do not expect anything," I said quietly.

River was silent for a moment. Then he sighed. "The pack is getting restless. They know the curse is spreading. Wolves are losing their ability to shift. Pups are being born weaker. If we do not fix this soon, there will be a revolt."

"I know."

"So what is the plan?"

"Find Morgath," I said. "Kill him. Break the curse."

"And if Calista does not forgive you?"

I did not answer.

Because I did not have an answer.

If Calista refused to forgive me, the curse would not break. The werewolf race would fall. And I would spend eternity knowing I had failed everyone again.

River clapped me on the shoulder. "You will figure it out. You always do."

He started to walk away, then stopped. "Kael?"

"Yes?"

"The Council called again. Dante Cross wants a meeting. Tomorrow night. He is not asking anymore. He is demanding."

I closed my eyes. The Alpha Council. Of course they did.

Dante Cross was the oldest wolf alive besides me. He led the Council with an iron fist and had no patience for failure. If he was demanding a meeting, it meant the other packs were close to panic.

"Tell them I will be there," I said.

River hesitated. "He said if you do not break this curse soon, they will take matters into their own hands."

"What does that mean?"

"It means," River said carefully, "that they are discussing whether to kill Calista themselves. If her death is what triggers the curse, some of them think her permanent death might end it."

Rage exploded through me. My eyes flashed silver and I felt my wolf surge forward, demanding to be released.

"They will not touch her," I growled.

"I know," River said quickly. "I am just telling you what they are saying. You need to be prepared."

He left before I could respond.

I gripped the railing so hard the metal bent under my fingers. The Council wanted to kill Calista. My mate. The woman I had spent three hundred years trying to save.

Over my dead body.

I pulled out my phone and sent a message to River.

"Double the patrols. Morgath will strike again soon. And if any Council member comes near Calista, stop them."

Then I sent another message. This one to Elena.

"Keep her safe. No matter what. Trust no one."

I put my phone away and closed my eyes, reaching out with my mind.

Every Alpha had a bond with their Luna. It was a connection forged by the Moon Goddess herself, tying their souls together across time and space. It was supposed to be unbreakable.

But ours was fractured. Shattered by betrayal and death.

Still, I could feel her. A faint thread of light in the darkness. She was angry. Scared. Confused.

But alive.

And as long as she was alive, there was hope.

I focused on the bond, letting my consciousness follow that thread. It was dangerous. If Calista felt me reaching for her, she would be furious. But I needed to know she was safe.

The bond pulled me across the city, through streets and buildings, until I found her.

She was still at Elena's shop. Lying on the cot. But she was not sleeping.

She was dreaming.

I could feel the memory playing out in her mind. One of the good ones. A memory from before everything went wrong.

We were in the forest clearing where I had first told her I loved her. She was wearing that white dress, her hair loose and flowing. She was laughing at something I had said.

I watched myself in the memory take her hand and press it to my chest.

"I will love you until the stars fall from the sky," I said.

And she had believed me.

The memory shifted. Now we were standing at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the pack lands. The sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of gold and crimson.

"Do you ever wish things were different?" she asked me.

"Different how?"

"Easier," she said. "Without all the responsibilities. Without the pack. Just us."

I pulled her close. "I would give up everything for you, Calista. The pack. The title. All of it. If it meant I could keep you safe."

She smiled. "You do not have to give up anything. I chose this life. I chose you."

The memory faded, and I felt Calista jerk awake.

I pulled back from the bond quickly, not wanting her to sense me.

But it was too late.

She sat up on the cot, her hand pressed to her chest. Her breathing was rapid. She looked around the room, confused and afraid.

"Kael?" she whispered into the darkness.

I froze.

She could not possibly know I was watching. The bond was not strong enough for that.

But she said my name again. This time, louder. More certain.

"I know you are there. I can feel you."

I severed the connection completely and opened my eyes. I was back on the roof, alone.

But my heart was pounding.

She had felt me.

Somehow, despite the curse, despite the fractured bond, she had felt me reaching for her.

That should not have been possible.

Unless her Luna powers were awakening faster than I thought.

My phone buzzed. A message from Elena.

"She knows you were in her head. She is furious. And her powers are manifesting. Get here. Now."

I did not hesitate. I shifted into my wolf form and leaped from the roof, landing on the street below. People screamed and scattered, but I did not care.

I ran through the city, my paws pounding against the pavement. I had to get to her. I had to make sure she was safe.

Within minutes, I reached Elena's shop. I shifted back into my human form and burst through the door.

Elena was standing in the main room, her face grave. "She is in the back. And Kael, be careful. She is not in control."

"What happened?"

"Her Luna powers activated. She is terrified. And when she gets scared, things break."

I walked to the back room and pushed open the door carefully.

Calista was standing in the middle of the room, her hands glowing with a soft silver light. Every object in the room hovered in the air around her. Books. Bottles. Candles. All suspended by invisible strings of power.

Her eyes were wide with shock and fear when she saw me.

"You," she breathed. "You were in my head. I felt you watching me dream."

"I was making sure you were safe," I said, keeping my voice calm.

"That is a violation," she said. Her hands clenched into fists, and the light grew brighter. The floating objects began to shake. "You have no right to invade my mind. My dreams. My memories."

"Calista, you need to calm down."

"Do not tell me to calm down!" she shouted.

The objects shot toward me like missiles. I dodged, my reflexes kicking in. Glass shattered against the wall. Books slammed into the floor. A candle exploded into flames.

"Calista, stop!"

"I cannot!" she cried. Tears streamed down her face. The silver light pulsed around her like a living thing. "I do not know how to stop it. I do not know what is happening to me."

I crossed the room and grabbed her hands. The moment our skin touched, everything stopped. The objects clattered to the ground. The light dimmed. The air grew still.

Calista stared up at me, her breath coming in gasps. "How did you do that?"

"The bond between us," I said quietly. "It stabilizes your power. As long as we are connected, you have control."

She jerked her hands away like I had burned her. "I do not want your help."

"You do not have a choice," I said. "Your Luna powers are waking up. Without training, without control, you are dangerous. To yourself and everyone around you."

"Then teach me," she said. Her voice was cold. "Teach me how to control it so I do not need you."

Before I could respond, Elena appeared in the doorway. Her face was pale, her hands trembling.

"We have a problem," she said.

"What kind of problem?" I asked.

Elena held up her phone. On the screen was a news alert.

"Breaking News: Mass Animal Attack at Metropolitan General Hospital. Five Dead. Dozens Injured. Witnesses Report Creatures With Glowing Red Eyes."

My blood turned to ice.

Calista grabbed the phone from Elena's hand, her eyes scanning the article. All the color drained from her face.

"That is my hospital," she whispered. "Marcus. Jenna. They were working tonight."

She looked at me, and for the first time since we met, I saw raw terror in her eyes.

"He is sending me a message, is he not?" she said.

I nodded grimly.

"What does the message say?"

"It says he knows where you are. And everyone you care about is now a target."

Calista's phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out with shaking hands. A text message from an unknown number appeared on the screen.

We both read it at the same time.

"Your friends screamed beautifully, little Luna. Come find me before I visit your father next. You have until midnight. Come alone, or everyone you love dies. Starting with the old man who raised you."

Below the message was an address. And a photo.

It showed Thomas Rivers, Calista's adoptive father, unconscious and tied to a chair in a dark room.

Calista's hands began to glow again, but this time the light was not wild. It was focused. Burning with cold fury.

"He has my father," she said. Her voice was deadly calm.

"It is a trap," I said. "Morgath wants you to come alone so he can take you."

"I do not care," Calista said. She looked at me, and I saw something in her eyes that I had never seen before.

A Luna ready for war.

"I am going after him. With or without you.”