The Bond Breaker's Price

Chapter Five

The fortress was too quiet.

Aria paced across Luna's chamber, her feet bare against the cold stone floor. Her wounds had mostly healed, but her chest still aches like something had been ripped out and sewn back in.

She hadn’t slept since the witch’s attack.

“Still restless?” Lyra asked from the door.

“I feel like something’s coming,” Aria murmured. “Like the air itself is warning me.”

Lyra walked in, arms folded. “You're not wrong. Zane hasn’t retreated. He’s regrouping.”

“And the witch?”

“Gone. But not far.”

Aria looked out the window. The moon was full and sharp.

“She wants our bond broken. And I think she’ll try again. But next time… it won’t be just magic.”

Lyra was silent for a moment. Then she said, “The curse didn’t just attack your connection to Kael. It did something else.”

Aria turned.

“What do you mean?”

Lyra hesitated. “I didn’t want to say it yet. But… your wolf has changed. She’s stronger. Wilder.”

Aria blinked. “How do you know?”

“I saw her in your eyes that night. And I’ve seen her since. You’re different now.”

Down in the training yard, Kael stood with his Beta, Jax, watching warriors spar under the morning light.

“She’s shifting faster than before,” Kael said, eyes locked on Aria who trained on the far side, her blade flashing.

“She’s not just a Luna anymore,” Jax said. “She’s becoming something else.”

Kael’s jaw tensed. “That witch did something.”

“And it might not be all bad,” Jax added. “She’s stronger. Faster. Her presence pulls the pack together.”

Kael nodded slowly. But deep down, unease churned. He’d felt something during the bond rupture. A glimpse of Aria’s wolf and it hadn’t been her usual silver form.

It had been black.

And glowing.

That night, the alarms rang.

A howl echoed through the valley sharp, terrified, and blood-soaked.

Kael shot from his chamber, Aria right behind him.

“What is it?” she shouted.

Rhys appeared from the shadows. “They attacked the eastern watchtower. Set it on fire.”

Kael growled. “Zane?”

Rhys nodded grimly. “And something else. Something… wrong.”

They shifted mid-run, four paws hitting the earth as they raced toward smoke and screams.

The tower blazed like a torch. Two warriors lay torn apart. But what made Aria stop wasn’t the blood it was the mark scorched into the ground near the bodies.

A black spiral.

“Elandra,” she whispered.

Kael shifted beside her. “She’s leaving messages now.”

“She wants me to come to her,” Aria said, eyes narrowing. “She’s baiting me.”

“You’re not going alone.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

By dawn, Aria stood before the elders.

“We can’t wait for them to attack again,” she said. “We take the fight to her. To Zane.”

Elder Morric frowned. “The witch’s magic is older than this pack. Her lands are cursed.”

“Then we bring her into ours,” Aria said. “We trap her. We will end it.”

Kael stepped forward. “We’ll draw her to the Nightfang Ruins. Wolves know the ground. She won’t.”

Morric hesitated. “You’re risking everything.”

Kael looked at Aria.

“She’s already risked more.”

That night, the trap was set.

Aria stood in the center of the ruined temple, an ancient battlefield where blood had soaked the ground centuries ago. Sigils were carved in stone. Hidden warriors surrounded the perimeter.

Kael stood at her side.

“Ready?” he asked.

Aria nodded. “Let’s end this.”

Then she whispered the words Elandra had etched into her mind.

“Blood to blood. Soul to shadow. Come and take what you think is yours.”

The wind howled.

The flames on the torches turned blue.

And the witch stepped out of the dark.

Her cloak dragged over the earth. Her hands glowed black. And her smile was venom.

“You summoned me, little wolf.”

Aria stood tall. “I’m not yours to break.”

Elandra laughed. “You think claiming power makes you immune? I created your new wolf. You’re mine.”

“I’m no one’s.”

The sigils lit up.

Wolves charged from the trees.

Kael led the strike.

But the witch was ready.

She raised her hand and threw back the entire front line with a blast of pure energy.

Kael hit a pillar. Aria screamed.

She shifted mid-leap, silver fur flying through the air.

She struck Elandra head-on.

They crashed into stone.

Snarls.

Flames.

Magic and fang.

Elandra grinned through blood. “You still don’t get it. That power inside you it’s mine.”

“No,” Aria growled. “It’s my mother's.”

The witch froze.

“What?”

“You cursed her. Long ago. But she gave me life. And that curse carried through me. I’m not your puppet. I’m your reckoning.”

She bit down.

Hard.

The magic shattered.

Elandra screamed, her body igniting in black fire.

The sigils flared.

Kael lunged, slamming her back into the altar.

Lyra whispered the spell.

The curse circle closed.

Elandra was pulled into the earth her scream echoing into silence.

Later, Aria knelt in the ruins.

Her wolf felt calm.

Kael sat beside her.

“You burned her,” he said softly.

“She burned herself. With her hate.”

Kael nodded.

“She tried to use your bond against us,” Aria said. “But it only made us stronger.”

He touched her hand. “You didn’t just survive her. You broke the curse.”

She turned to him.

“I think… I was meant to.”

He kissed her, slowly, gently.

It wasn’t a claim.

It was a promise.

But deep in the woods, something shifted.

Zane stood beneath the trees.

Watching.

Waiting.

And beside him, a girl stepped forward.

Her eyes glowed silver.

Her wolf had Aria’s scent.

Zane smiled. “Let’s see what happens when Luna meets her forgotten blood.”