The Threat and the Bond

Elara’s POV

“What the hell…” my father cursed as he stormed up the stairs.

Heavy footsteps shook the house.

My father and stepmother burst into the room. The space felt too small as they moved toward me. I tried to step back, but there was nowhere to go.

Seraphina grabbed my arm and spun me around roughly, forcing my neck into the light.

“So you can see it clearly,” she said with cruel satisfaction.

My father stared at the bite mark on my neck.

His eyes widened.

“This mark…” he muttered, disbelief thick in his voice. “This was left by a very strong wolf.”

Then he looked at me sharply.

“Who marked you?”

At the word strong, Seraphina and my stepmother froze. Their shocked looks quickly turned ugly.

I didn’t want to answer. I could barely understand it myself. But in this house, silence was never allowed.

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

My father’s face darkened.

“Where is he?” he roared.

“I think he’s still near the pond in the forest,” I said quietly. “I’m not sure.”

Seraphina laughed loudly.

“I told you,” she sneered. “A human like you would never be wanted. He probably used you and ran.”

The kick came without warning.

Pain exploded through my side as I flew across the room and crashed to the floor.

My father was the Gamma of the pack. He was strong. When he kicked me, it felt like my ribs might break.

“How dare you say you don’t know after being marked!” he bellowed. “I should have never allowed you into my family! I knew you were just like your mother a useless whore!”

Another kick landed before I could breathe.

I cried out and curled up on the floor, trying to protect myself.

“This is how you repay me for raising you?” he shouted.

Tears burned my eyes as thoughts of my mother flooded my mind.

My mother was only a servant in the pack.

Years ago, my father had slept with her while drunk. I was the result.

He never wanted her. When she became pregnant, he accused her of seducing him. She was punished and demoted to an omega slave.

The old Alpha had shown mercy and ordered my father to keep me and raise me.

I was rarely allowed to see my mother, but I remembered her kindness in the few moments we had together.

“She should be demoted to a slave too,” Seraphina said eagerly. “Just like her mother. She got herself marked and abandoned.”

Seraphina had always hated that I was Liam's girlfriend. She wanted him for herself.

Now she had him.

“No daughter of mine will be a slave,” my father snapped. “But I won’t allow you to disgrace me any longer. First you’re wolfless, now this.”

I flinched as another blow landed.

I had learned long ago not to run. Running only made things worse.

My back burned with pain as bruises formed under his strikes.

Finally, he stopped.

Breathing hard, he grabbed my jaw and forced my face up. His eyes locked on the mark on my neck.

Slowly, a cold smile spread across his face.

“At the mating ball,” he said quietly, “you will find a man willing to accept you, marked and all.”

His fingers tightened painfully.

“If you fail,” he continued, “then it will be my duty to erase you from this world.”

He had threatened my life before.

But this time, I believed him.

Fear wrapped around my spine like ice. Panic and anger twisted together inside me.

I couldn’t fight him.

I couldn’t escape him.

I had nowhere to go.

And the mating ball…

Silvermoon Pack had an ancient tradition with Nightwolf Pack.

Every three generations, the Alpha of one pack must choose a mate from the other.

This time, it was Nightwolf’s turn.

The ceremony was meant for their young Alpha Kael to choose a wife.

Both packs would attend. Many hoped to find mates.

But no one felt relaxed about it.

Because Alpha Kael was known as a ruthless killer.

Stories said he had destroyed entire packs. Survivors scattered and became rogues.

Meanwhile, our own Alpha was old and weak.

Someone like Kael would never want someone like me.

A dormant wolf.

Marked.

Unwanted.

“You will leave this house with a husband,” my father said coldly, “or you will leave it on a stone slab.”

He slapped me hard across the face, sending me crashing into the wall.

Then he walked out.

Kael’s POV

I woke from the best night of my life.

And my mate was gone.

At first, I wasn’t worried.

I had marked her. She couldn’t be far.

But when I reached out through our bond, I felt nothing.

Nothing at all.

It was like hitting a wall.

Impossible.

The memories of the night before were clear. Too real to be a dream.

Mate, my wolf growled with certainty.

I remembered catching her scent on the wind sweet, powerful, irresistible.

The joy that had surged through me when I realised she was my fated mate was overwhelming.

Nothing could have stopped me from reaching her.

I had run for miles through the forest.

Then I saw her.

Surrounded by rogues.

They were trying to take her.

The rage that exploded inside me was deadly.

My wolf had nearly torn them apart. Chasing them off had been mercy.

They were nothing compared to my dominance.

I had found her.

Claimed her.

Mated her.

Every instinct demanded that I mark her. Make her mine forever.

I had bitten her when my pheromones dulled the pain.

That mark should have bound us.

I should have been able to find her anywhere.

But now the bond was fading.

Her scent was gone.

Worse I didn’t even know what she looked like.

The darkness had hidden her face.

My wolf paced restlessly inside me.

I searched the forest again, then returned home and summoned my Beta.

“Ronan,” I ordered. “Find her.”

He looked stunned when I told him what happened.

“You marked someone?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said sharply.

He hesitated. “The mating ball with Silvermoon… It’s tradition.”

I clenched my jaw.

“I’ll choose a Luna in name only,” I said. “But my heart, my mark, and my loyalty belong to my true mate.”

No tradition would take her place.

Not ever.