Chapter 6

Evander's POV

She would not stop moving.

I stood in the doorway and watched Sabine twist in the sheets, the body fighting battles she could not see. Sweat dampened her hair and her lips moved soundlessly, forming words I could not hear. Every few seconds she whimpered, a small broken sound that made my wolf surge forward with the need to protect.

I forced him back down. Control was everything. The feeling was weakness.

But watching her suffer tested that control in ways I had not anticipated.

"This is insane," Kael muttered from behind me. His voice was low but sharp with frustration. "We should not have brought her here. You know what is coming, Evander. The heat. The bond. The choice we will all have to make."

"We did not have a choice," Riven said quietly. He stood on my other side, arms crossed, eyes fixed on Sabine's trembling form. "The bond is real. It has always been real. She belongs with us."

Kael laughed without humor. "Belongs with us? She does not even know us. And in case you have forgotten, she is married to an Alpha who will start a war to get her back. This is a political nightmare."

"Then we handle the politics," I said, my voice cutting through their argument like a blade. "But she stays."

Kael opened his mouth to argue further but something in my expression stopped him. He shook his head and walked away, his footsteps heavy on the wooden floor. Riven remained, silent as always, but I felt his presence like a weight beside me.

"You know something," Riven said after a long moment. It was not a question.

I did not answer immediately. Instead, I watched Sabine's chest rise and fall, each breath shallow and labored. The drugs in her system were fighting their way out and her body was paying the price.

"Father told me about the dream bond years ago," I said finally. "Before he died."

Riven turned to look at me fully. "What did he say?"

I moved into the room and took the chair by the window, the same one I had occupied for hours. Sabine's scent filled the space, sweet and wild despite her current state. It called to something primal in me, something I had spent years learning to suppress.

"Sabine's parents came to him when she was sixteen," I began. "They were afraid. There was a prophecy about her marrying into the Holt family and they suspected Dominic was not what he seemed. They wanted protection for their daughter but could not openly defy pack politics."

"So they created the dream bond," Riven finished.

I nodded. "A temporary connection. A way for Sabine to find us if she were ever in danger. It was supposed to fade after a year, maybe two at most."

"But it did not."

"No." I leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling. "It grew stronger instead. When we came of age, all three of us started dreaming of her. At first, I thought it was a coincidence. Then I realized the truth."

Riven was silent for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was rough. "Why did you not tell us?"

"Because I did not understand it myself. Father died before he could explain what went wrong. I spent years researching dream bonds, trying to find a way to break it. Every source said the same thing. Dream bonds fade when the creator dies or when they are deliberately severed."

"Her parents are dead," Riven said.

"Exactly. They died before they could sever the connection. That left the bond permanent but dormant. We felt it in dreams but nothing more. Until she crossed into our territory."

Understanding dawned in Riven's eyes. "Physical proximity activated it."

"Yes." I looked at Sabine again. She had stopped moving and lay still now, her breathing slightly easier. "The moment she crossed our border, the bond stopped being a dream and became reality. That is why we all felt the pull so strongly. That is why the claim marks took so easily."

Riven moved to stand at the foot of the bed. He stared down at Sabine with an expression I rarely saw on his face. Softness. Longing. "She does not know any of this."

"No. And I am not sure we should tell her. Not yet." I stood and joined him. "She has been betrayed by everyone she trusted. Learning that her parents bound her to us without her knowledge might break what little trust we can build."

"So we lie to her."

"We protect her," I corrected. "There is a difference."

Riven did not look convinced but he nodded anyway. We stood in silence, two brothers watching the woman who had unknowingly become the center of our world.

A sharp knock broke the moment.

"Enter," I called without turning around.

Marcus, my Beta, stepped into the room. His expression was grim and I knew immediately that I would not like whatever he had to say.

"Report," I ordered.

"Dominic sent a formal notice an hour ago. He is demanding Sabine's return as his legal mate. He claims you have kidnapped her and are holding her against her will."

I felt anger simmer beneath my skin but kept my voice level. "And?"

"Bloodmoon warriors are gathering at the southern border. At least fifty, maybe more. They are not attacking yet but the message is clear. Return her or face consequences."

Kael appeared in the doorway, having heard Marcus from the hall. "Told you this was a nightmare."

I ignored him and focused on Marcus. "How many warriors can we mobilize within the hour?"

"Double what he has, easily. But Evander, starting a war over a woman, even one who is bonded to us, will have consequences beyond Bloodmoon. Other packs will question your judgment. They will say you are acting on emotion rather than strategy."

"Let them say what they want." I walked to the window and looked out over Nightbane territory. The land stretched for miles, green and wild and mine to protect. Sabine was part of that now, whether anyone else understood it or not.

"You are really going to do this," Kael said. He sounded surprised.

"Yes."

"Why? We barely know her. The bond might be real but that does not mean we owe her a war."

I turned to face my brothers and my Beta. All three of them watched me with varying degrees of concern and confusion. They wanted an explanation that made sense. A strategic reason. A political advantage.

I could not give them one.

"Because she ran into our territory bleeding and hunted like an animal," I said quietly. "Because her own mate tried to kill her. Because she looked at me with terror in her eyes and still begged me not to let them take her back."

I paused and let the weight of my next words settle over the room.

"Because she is ours now and I do not give back what is mine."

Silence followed my declaration. Even Kael had nothing to say.

Marcus cleared his throat. "What do you want me to tell Dominic?"

I thought about Sabine's broken body when we found her. I thought about the claim marks on her neck, still red and fresh. I thought about the bond pulling tight in my chest every time she took a breath.

My wolf rose to the surface and for once, I let him speak through me.

"Send word to Dominic," I said, my voice dropping to something cold and final. "His mate is dead. The woman in this room belongs to Nightbane now.”