The First Bond

The creature stepped out of the black water.

For the first time, Rei could see him clearly.

He wasn't some mindless beast.

He was a man.

Or he had once been one.

He stood nearly seven feet tall, his broad body covered with scars that looked centuries old. Golden markings ran from his throat down his chest and disappeared beneath the dark water dripping from his skin. Heavy iron bands circled his wrists, though the chains attached to them had long since broken.

His black eyes fixed on Rei.

Then he looked at Dominic.

Something almost like recognition passed across his face.

"Finally."

Dominic stepped in front of Rei.

"Who are you?"

The stranger's gaze remained on him.

"You carry his blood."

"Whose?"

The creature smiled.

"Mine."

Dominic froze.

Marcus's voice came from behind them.

"Caelan."

The creature turned.

Marcus looked terrified.

Rei had never seen that expression on him before.

Not fear for himself.

Fear of something he had believed could never return.

"Who is Caelan?" Rei asked.

Marcus swallowed.

"The First Alpha."

Caelan laughed.

"No."

He looked down at his hands.

"I was the First Alpha."

His eyes returned to Rei.

"Now I'm what your ancestors made of me."

Dominic didn't lower his guard.

"Explain."

Caelan's expression became cold.

"Long before Blackthorn existed, there were two bloodlines."

He pointed toward Rei.

"The Omega bloodline."

Then toward Dominic.

"The Alpha bloodline."

"They were never enemies."

Rei remembered Elara's words.

"They were partners."

Caelan nodded.

"Your ancestors discovered that an Alpha and Omega could create a bond stronger than instinct."

"What kind of bond?"

"A complete bond."

His eyes narrowed.

"A bond neither could dominate."

Rei understood.

"Equal."

"Yes."

Caelan looked at Dominic.

"That frightened them."

"Who?"

"The first Alpha leaders."

"They wanted control."

"They wanted an army."

Caelan's expression darkened.

"They believed that if they could control the Omega, they could control every Alpha connected to her."

Rei felt a chill.

"So they experimented."

"They created me."

Dominic frowned.

"You were born."

"No."

Caelan's voice was bitter.

"I was selected."

He stepped toward them.

"They took an Alpha child with exceptional compatibility. They altered his blood. Strengthened his instincts. Amplified his senses."

He touched one of the scars across his chest.

"Then they gave me an Omega."

Rei's stomach tightened.

"Who?"

Caelan looked at her.

"Her name was Seraphine."

Rei's breath caught.

"Elara's ancestor."

"Yes."

His expression softened for the first time.

"She was the first Omega capable of completing the bond."

Dominic looked at him.

"And you loved her."

Caelan stared at the floor.

"She was the only person who ever saw me as something other than an experiment."

Rei felt a strange sadness.

"What happened?"

"We bonded."

The cavern became silent.

"Naturally?"

"Completely."

Caelan looked toward Rei.

"That was their mistake."

"What happened?"

"They discovered that the completed bond couldn't be controlled."

Dominic's expression hardened.

"So they tried to destroy it."

"They tried to separate us."

Caelan's voice became colder.

"They tortured her."

Rei's hand went to her chest.

"Why?"

"To make me obey."

"And did you?"

"No."

His black eyes flashed.

"I killed everyone in the laboratory."

Dominic stared.

"All of them?"

"Everyone except the one who escaped."

"Who?"

Caelan looked toward the ceiling.

"Blackthorn's founder."

Marcus closed his eyes.

"Edmund Black."

Rei looked at him.

"The founder?"

Marcus nodded.

"Edmund survived."

Caelan laughed bitterly.

"He spent the rest of his life trying to understand why the bond couldn't be controlled."

"And that's how Blackthorn began."

"Yes."

Rei looked around the cavern.

"Then why were you imprisoned?"

Caelan's expression changed.

"Because Seraphine stopped me."

Rei frowned.

"She stopped you?"

"She realized what I had become."

His voice was quieter.

"The experiments changed me."

Rei stared at him.

"The hunger."

Caelan nodded.

"They amplified my Alpha instincts until protection became possession."

He looked at Dominic.

"Love became obsession."

Then at Rei.

"Fear became violence."

He closed his eyes.

"I wanted to destroy everyone who could ever hurt her."

Rei whispered, "And she wouldn't let you."

"No."

Caelan opened his eyes.

"She chose freedom over me."

That sentence carried more pain than anger.

"What did she do?"

"She used the bond against me."

Dominic frowned.

"How?"

"She commanded me."

Rei stiffened.

Caelan smiled sadly.

"The first and only time she ever did."

"What did she command?"

"Sleep."

The cavern went silent.

"She put me into a deep bond state and sealed me beneath the laboratory."

Rei looked at the broken chains.

"She imprisoned you."

"To save everyone."

Caelan looked at his hands.

"She believed I could be cured."

"Could you?"

"No."

His expression hardened.

"Blackthorn found me first."

Rei's heart sank.

"They continued experimenting on you."

"For centuries."

She stared.

"How?"

"They kept me alive."

"Why?"

"Because they needed to understand me."

Caelan looked toward the ceiling.

"Every generation improved their technology. Every generation tried to reproduce the original bond."

His eyes returned to Rei.

"Until they found your bloodline."

Rei understood.

"They've been trying to recreate Seraphine."

"Yes."

"And me?"

"You are the first true successor."

Caelan stepped closer.

"You possess the same ability she had."

"To create a complete bond."

"More than that."

His gaze moved to Dominic.

"You have found the one Alpha capable of completing it."

Dominic's jaw tightened.

"So that's why Blackthorn needs us."

"Yes."

Rei looked at the glowing markings on her wrist.

"And you?"

Caelan's expression became unreadable.

"What do you need?"

"I need the bond."

"Why?"

"Because your bond is the only thing powerful enough to break the prison."

Rei stared.

"Your prison?"

"No."

Caelan looked around the cavern.

"The system."

He pointed upward.

"Blackthorn's entire network is built around the original bond."

Dominic understood.

"If we complete ours naturally..."

"The system will overload."

"And you'll be free."

"Yes."

Rei stared at him.

"But what happens after you're free?"

Caelan didn't answer.

Dominic stepped forward.

"That's the question you don't want her asking."

Caelan's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"You want to destroy Blackthorn."

"Yes."

"Everyone knows that."

"But you don't just want freedom."

Caelan's expression became darker.

"You want revenge."

Silence.

Caelan finally smiled.

"Yes."

Rei felt the truth settle in her chest.

He wasn't a savior.

He wasn't entirely a monster, either.

He was a man who had been turned into something monstrous and had spent centuries feeding that pain.

"What will you do when you're free?"

Caelan looked at her.

"Destroy every person who continues the system."

"Even innocent people?"

"If they protect it."

"Students?"

"Those who do nothing will survive."

"Teachers?"

"If they surrender."

"And everyone else?"

Caelan's eyes became blacker.

"Those who refuse will die."

Rei shook her head.

"No."

Dominic looked at her.

Caelan stared.

"What did you say?"

"I won't help you."

His expression hardened.

"You don't understand what they did."

"I do."

Rei stepped forward.

"I know what it's like to be controlled."

She touched the scar beneath her wrist.

"I know what it's like to have someone decide that your body belongs to them."

Her voice became stronger.

"And I won't replace one master with another."

Caelan stared at her.

"You would defend Blackthorn?"

"No."

Rei shook her head.

"I would destroy it."

Dominic stepped beside her.

"But we're not going to become you."

Caelan's expression twisted.

"You think you're different."

"We are."

"How?"

Rei looked at Dominic.

Then back at Caelan.

"Because he could control me."

She reached for Dominic's hand.

"He chooses not to."

Dominic's fingers intertwined with hers.

"And she could command me."

His eyes remained on Caelan.

"She chooses not to."

The golden markings on Caelan's body began glowing.

For a moment, Rei thought he would attack.

Instead, he smiled.

"Then perhaps there is hope."

A violent explosion shook the cavern.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Caelan looked upward.

"They've arrived."

Dominic turned.

"Blackthorn?"

Caelan nodded.

"Voss."

Rei's stomach tightened.

Caelan walked toward the tunnel.

"He's coming for you."

Dominic moved to follow.

Caelan stopped him.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you don't understand what Voss has done."

"What?"

Caelan looked at Dominic.

"He didn't merely study your bond."

His expression became grim.

"He studied your father."

Dominic went still.

"Marcus?"

"No."

Caelan looked toward the tunnel.

"The man who raised you."

Dominic's face hardened.

"You mean—"

Caelan nodded.

"Your father isn't the man you think he is."

The cavern fell silent.

Rei looked at Dominic.

He looked shaken.

"Then who is my father?"

Caelan's answer came quietly.

"The last Alpha who willingly served Blackthorn."

Another explosion shook the underground complex.

Caelan turned toward the tunnel.

"And he's standing beside Voss."

Rei's heart dropped.

Because somewhere above them, the doors to the cavern were opening.

And someone was coming down the stairs.

Someone Dominic knew.

Someone who should have been dead.

Someone who had been hunting them from the beginning.