The first night

Chapter 3

I didn't sleep.

How could I?

Every time I closed my eyes, I felt him. The bond hummed between us like a live wire. Constant. Inescapable. I could sense his location in the main lodge. Could feel the tension coiled in his body even from here.

He wasn't sleeping either.

The cabin was simple. A bed with rough blankets. A small table and chair. A tiny bathroom with a toilet and sink but no mirror. The walls were bare wood, gaps between some of the planks letting in slivers of moonlight.

I sat on the bed, knees pulled to my chest, and tried to make sense of everything.

Werewolves were real.

Mate bonds were real.

And I was tied to an Alpha who'd murdered his last mate.

My hands were shaking. I pressed them against my knees but couldn't stop the trembling.

A betrayal, Vera had said. Thirty-seven wolves dead. His sister.

No wonder he looked at me like I was a curse.

Maybe I was.

A soft knock on the door made me jump.

"It's just me," a voice called. Female. Young. "I brought food."

I hesitated. Kael had said no one could talk to me without his permission. Was this a test?

"He said I could," the voice added, like she'd read my mind. "I'm Sage. The pack healer's daughter. I'm not... I won't hurt you."

Slowly, I stood and opened the door.

The girl on the other side couldn't have been more than sixteen. She had warm brown skin and dark curly hair pulled into a messy bun. Her eyes were a startling amber. Wolf eyes. But her smile was genuinely kind.

She held a tray with bread, cheese, and what looked like stew.

"I know you probably aren't hungry," she said. "But you should eat anyway. The bond. It takes energy. Especially at first."

I took the tray. My stomach growled traitorously despite everything.

"Thank you."

Sage glanced over her shoulder, then lowered her voice. "Can I come in? Just for a minute?"

Every instinct said no. Don't trust anyone here.

But she looked so earnest. So young.

"Okay."

She slipped inside and I closed the door behind her. Set the tray on the small table.

Sage wrung her hands, nervous energy radiating off her. "I'm not supposed to tell you this. Kael would be furious if he knew. But I thought you should know the truth. About the curse."

My pulse quickened. "What curse?"

"The one killing us." Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "The Shadowveil Pack has been cursed for three years. Ever since... well. Ever since the betrayal."

I sat down slowly. "What kind of curse?"

"We're dying. Slowly. Our wolves are getting weaker. Some of the older pack members can't shift anymore. The children born since the curse... they're fragile. Two didn't make it past their first year." Her eyes glistened with tears. "My mom says we have maybe five years before the pack dies out completely."

The weight of her words settled over me like a blanket of ice.

"What does this have to do with me?"

Sage met my eyes. "The curse can only be broken by a true mate bond. Accepted by both parties. Completed through the marking ritual."

Oh.

Oh no.

"But Kael's last mate..."

"Wasn't his true mate," Sage said quickly. "It was a political bond. Arranged. She came from a powerful pack and the alliance was supposed to protect us. But it was never fated. Never real."

She stepped closer.

"You are. I can feel it. We all can. The way the bond snapped into place the second you crossed the boundary. That's fate, Mira. That's destiny giving us one last chance."

"But he hates me."

"He hates what you represent. Hope. Second chances. Trusting fate again after it destroyed him." Sage's voice was urgent now. "But if he doesn't accept the bond, if he keeps fighting it... we all die. The entire pack."

The stew in my stomach turned to lead.

"So I'm supposed to what? Convince him to... to mark me? To complete some ritual I don't even understand?"

"I don't know." Sage looked miserable. "I just thought you deserved to know the truth. To know what's at stake."

"Does he know? That the bond could break the curse?"

"Vera told him the moment she scented you. He..." She hesitated. "He threw a chair through a window. Said he'd rather watch the pack die than be chained by fate again."

The words hit like a physical blow.

He'd rather let his entire pack die than accept me.

Sage touched my arm gently. "I should go. I've already said too much. Just... please. Don't give up on him. On us. I know he's difficult. I know he's angry and cold and terrifying sometimes. But he's a good Alpha. He's kept us alive this long against impossible odds. He just..."

"He just what?"

"He just needs someone to remind him what he's fighting for."

She left before I could respond. The door clicked shut and I was alone again.

I stared at the tray of food. My appetite was gone.

An entire pack. Dying because of a curse that could be broken if Kael just... accepted me.

But he wouldn't.

He'd made that clear.

I stood and paced the small cabin. Three steps one way. Three steps back. The bond pulled at my chest with every movement. Urging me toward the main lodge. Toward him.

What was I supposed to do? Seduce a man who looked at me like I was poison? Beg him to save his pack by shackling himself to me?

I'd been planning to major in botany. My biggest worry yesterday was passing my midterms and figuring out if I should switch my minor to environmental science.

Now I was responsible for the survival of an entire supernatural community.

The absurdity of it would have been funny if it wasn't so terrifying.

I moved to the window. Through the gaps in the shutters, I could see the clearing. A few wolves moved between buildings. Sentries, probably. Keeping watch.

Keeping me in.

The main lodge loomed in the center. Large. Imposing. I couldn't see inside but I could feel him there. The bond told me exactly where he was. Second floor. Pacing like I was.

Could he feel me too? Did he know I was awake? Panicking?

Did he care?

A howl split the night. Long and mournful. Others joined it until the forest rang with the sound.

I pressed my hands over my ears but it didn't help. The howls seemed to vibrate through my bones. Through the bond itself.

They were singing. Mourning.

Dying.

And I was supposed to save them by making a man who hated me fall in love with me.

Impossible.

I sank onto the bed and finally forced myself to eat. The stew was cold now but I didn't care. Sage was right. I needed energy.

Because tomorrow I'd have to face Kael again. Have to figure out how to navigate this nightmare I'd stumbled into.

Have to decide if I was willing to sacrifice my freedom, my life, my entire future... for people I didn't know.

For a bond I didn't choose.

For a man who'd already killed one mate and didn't seem to have any problem doing it again.

The howls faded. Silence settled over the clearing like snow.

Through the bond, I felt Kael's rage finally burn out. Felt exhaustion replace it.

Felt the exact moment he stopped fighting sleep and let it take him.

And despite everything, despite the fear and anger and sheer impossibility of it all... I felt relief that he was resting.

The bond wanted him at peace.

Even if my mind knew better.

I lay back on the rough blankets and stared at the ceiling. Moonlight painted strange shadows on the wood.

Sleep wouldn't come. But I closed my eyes anyway.

And tried not to think about the fact that somewhere in this clearing, a man who was supposed to be my soulmate was dreaming of ways to break the very thing connecting us.

Even if it killed us both.