CHAPTER FOUR

JESSICA’S POV

Awakening Bonds

My eyes snapped open to dim firelight and the thick smell of pine smoke mixed with wet stone. It coated my throat, heavy, like breathing through wet earth. Pain hit first—ankle throbbing like someone was driving nails through it with every heartbeat. Then the rest: bruises screaming across ribs, arms raw from thorns, back stinging where roots had gouged me during the drag. I was on a rough cot, thin blanket scratching my skin, shift someone had changed me into clinging too tight, too thin.

The cave was carved straight into the hillside—walls jagged, uneven, shadows jumping from the low fire in the center pit. Bundles of herbs hung overhead: sage, lavender, sharp and bitter. Faint metallic tang of old blood hung in the air, mixing with damp dirt. Outside, wind howled through cracks, carrying distant forest rustle and the low echo of night.

I tried to sit. Pain lanced up my leg—ankle swollen purple-black, twice normal size, cuts crusted with dried blood. Vision blurred. Gasp tore out before I could stop it.

“Easy, sweetheart.”

Ryder’s voice—smooth, teasing, edged with that same playful heat from the fight—came from the side. He knelt beside the cot, green eyes catching firelight like polished jade. Hair still messy, dirt streak across his cheek, but the crooked grin was back, like the blood and claws earlier had just been foreplay.

“Been out cold for hours. Thought you’d sleep straight through. Would’ve been a damn shame—I was looking forward to playing nurse.”

He flashed the grin wider, but his hands stayed careful as he lifted the blanket off my leg. Ankle looked brutal up close: purple spreading like spilled ink, skin split in ugly lines from gravel and roots. Dried blood flaked when he touched the edge lightly. Warmth of his fingers cut through the cold air.

I flinched—not just pain. A spark shot up my leg straight to my core. Thighs clenched hard. Heat bloomed low, sudden and unwanted. Nipples tightened against the thin shift, aching with every breath as fabric brushed them.

Ryder noticed. Eyes darkened, grin turning hungry. “Sensitive, huh? Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle.”

He dipped the cloth in steaming water, wrung it slow, steam curling between us. Warmth hit the worst cut—stung, then soothed. His fingers lingered, tracing bruise edges deliberately slow, thumb pressing just enough to send another jolt racing through me. Breath hitched. Heat pooled deeper, thighs slick. I hated it—hated how my body answered him while the real pull tugged somewhere else.

It wasn’t focused on Ryder.

It yanked outward—toward the cave mouth where Kai stood silhouetted against the night, arms crossed, back to us. Rigid. Cold. Like he hadn’t carried me here bleeding. Like the bond screaming in my veins was background noise.

Ryder’s hand slid higher, cleaning a gash on my thigh. Thumb brushed inner skin—intentional. Sparks danced. Breath came shorter. I bit my lip hard to kill the whimper.

“You’re safe here,” he murmured, voice dropping low, intimate. “Kai’s a grumpy bastard, but he won’t let anything touch you. Neither will I. Neither will Jax.”

I swallowed. “Why save me?”

His grin softened a fraction. Eyes flicked toward Kai. “Nobody deserves to be sold like cattle. And because…” Thumb stroked slow circles on my calf. “Some bonds are worth fighting for. Even if certain idiots pretend they don’t exist.”

My gaze followed his.

Kai hadn’t moved. Silver eyes fixed on the darkness outside, jaw locked, shoulders tight. The pull hit harder—desperate, aching—flooding my lungs with his scent even from across the cave. Wild forest. Storm. Ancient power. It sank into my skin, made my core clench, thighs tremble. I wanted to cross the cave, demand answers, touch him, make him feel how the bond was ripping me open—wet, aching, humiliated.

Enough.

I swung my legs off the cot. Ankle screamed. Pain shot white-hot up my leg. I forced upright anyway, blanket falling away. Shift clung, too revealing, too thin.

Ryder stood fast. “Whoa—easy, you’re hurt—”

Ignored him. Eyes locked on Kai’s back.

Limped forward. Each step fire. Close enough he had to hear.

“Kai.”

He stiffened. Didn’t turn.

Stopped a few feet away. Voice shook but held. “Look at me.”

Silence stretched—thick, heavy. Cave felt smaller. Air thicker. Ryder and Jax watched from shadows, tense.

Stepped closer. “You carried me here. You saved me. But you won’t even look. Why?”

Shoulders tensed harder. Still no turn.

Rejection burned. Tears pricked. Swallowed them. “High school. You remember. Called me weak. Told me stay away. Now you’re here, but you act like I’m nothing.”

Jaw ticked.

Pressed harder. Voice rose. “Say something. Tell me why you hate me. Why reject the bond. Why pretend it doesn’t exist when it’s tearing me apart.”

Pull throbbed—relentless. Heat flooded—wet, desperate. Wanted to hate him. Wanted to scream. Wanted him to touch me.

He turned.

Silver eyes met mine—cold, guarded. But something flickered underneath. Conflict. Pain. Regret.

“You don’t know what you’re asking,” he said, voice low, rough, raw at the edges.

“Then tell me.”

Stepped forward. Close enough his heat hit me. Scent overwhelmed—wild, intoxicating. Knees weakened. Body arched toward him without permission.

Face stayed hard.

“I rejected you then to protect you,” he said. “I’m doing it now for the same reason.”

Breath caught. “Protect me from what?”

Looked away. “From me.”

Words hung.

Ryder stepped between us fast. “Kai—”

Kai cut him off sharp. “She needs rest.”

Turned. Walked out.

Pull snapped tight—aching, unfinished.

Sank back onto cot. Trembling.

Scent lingered. Overwhelming.

Vision blurred for a second.

Stared at cave mouth. Heart pounding.

Then pain flared—not ankle. Deeper. Chest. Heat twisted wrong, sharp, like something inside trying to break free. Skin prickled. Faint glow under my arm—luna mark? Curse? Didn’t know.

Ryder was beside me in a heartbeat. “Hey—hey, breathe. What’s wrong?”

Hand on my shoulder. Steady. Warm.

But the pull yanked toward the cave mouth where Kai had disappeared. Distant howl answered—Thorne’s scouts? Or something worse?

Jax appeared from shadows, eyes storming. “She’s not safe here long. They’re coming.”

Ryder’s grin faded. “Then we move at dawn. But first…” He looked at me, serious for once. “You’re not just some runaway bride anymore. Whatever’s waking in you—it’s big. And Kai knows more than he’s saying.”

I gripped the blanket. Voice hoarse. “Then he better start talking. Because I’m done being protected from the truth.”

Outside, wind howled louder. Another distant call—closer this time.

The cave suddenly felt too small. Too exposed.