005: When The Bond Screams Back

Pain dragged me under like a tide.

I floated somewhere between waking and darkness, my body burning and freezing all at once. Voices echoed around me—urgent, sharp, overlapping—but I couldn’t understand the words.

Silver light pulsed beneath my skin.

Too bright.

Too strong.

“She’s burning up—”

“That energy isn’t normal—”

“Alpha Ronan—!”

Hands gripped mine.

Firm. Steady.

“Stay with me,” Ronan’s voice cut through the chaos, low and commanding. “You’re not allowed to disappear on my territory.”

I tried to answer him, but my throat refused to cooperate. The pain in my chest intensified suddenly—sharp, relentless—like invisible claws tearing through my heart all over again.

A scream tore from me.

The silver markings on the stone floor flared violently, ancient symbols lighting up one by one. The entire Alpha’s hall trembled.

Outside, wolves howled in alarm.

Ronan swore under his breath. “Clear the hall. Now.”

I felt myself being lifted, my body cradled against a solid chest as the world spun. The scent of pine and smoke surrounded me—dangerous, grounding.

Alpha.

The pain spiked again.

This time, it wasn’t empty.

It pulled.

Hard.

Kael

The moment the bond screamed, Kael dropped to one knee.

His claws tore into the stone floor as agony ripped through his chest, raw and unforgiving. He gasped, breath coming in harsh bursts as the mark on his shoulder burned like it had been branded with fire.

“No…” he growled. “That’s impossible.”

Lyra rushed to his side. “Kael? What’s wrong?”

He shoved her hand away instinctively.

The bond wasn’t connecting to her.

It was tearing toward something else.

Toward her.

The rejected one.

The woman he had cast aside beneath the full moon.

Kael’s vision blurred as flashes of silver light flooded his mind—ancient power, trembling earth, a presence that made even his Alpha wolf recoil.

Fear coiled in his gut.

“What did I do?” he whispered.

The Head Elder stiffened beside him, eyes wide. “Alpha… the bond backlash—this isn’t normal.”

Kael forced himself to his feet, chest heaving. “Find her,” he ordered. “Now.”

“She was banished into rogue lands—”

“Then bring her back,” Kael snapped. “Alive.”

Lyra stared at him in disbelief.

“You chose me,” she said sharply. “You rejected her.”

Kael didn’t look at her.

The bond screamed again.

Louder.

Back at Blackrock Pack

I woke with a gasp, sitting upright as air flooded my lungs.

Pain still pulsed through me, but it had changed—no longer tearing me apart, but circling, waiting.

Ronan sat beside the bed, his jaw tight, eyes glowing faintly in the dim torchlight.

“You’re awake,” he said.

“What happened?” I croaked.

“You nearly tore my territory apart,” he replied. “That power inside you doesn’t like being ignored.”

I swallowed. “I felt… something. Like the bond—”

His expression darkened.

“Yes,” he said. “So did I.”

He leaned closer. “Your rejection didn’t sever your mate bond completely.”

My heart slammed against my ribs.

“That’s impossible,” I whispered. “He rejected me.”

“He rejected what he didn’t understand,” Ronan said. “The Moon doesn’t always release what it binds.”

Fear crept up my spine. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” he said slowly, “you’re standing at the center of something much bigger than a broken mating ceremony.”

The door creaked open.

An older she-wolf entered, her presence calm yet heavy with authority. Her silver hair was braided with moonstones, her eyes sharp and knowing.

Blackrock’s seer.

She stopped short the moment she saw me.

Then she went very still.

“Oh,” she breathed.

Ronan stood immediately. “You felt it too.”

The seer approached cautiously, studying me like I was both miracle and threat.

“Child,” she said softly, “do you know what blood runs in your veins?”

I shook my head.

Her gaze lifted to the moonlight spilling through the high window.

“The Lost Luna Line,” she said. “The first queens of our kind.”

My breath caught.

“That blood doesn’t awaken,” she continued, voice trembling, “unless the Moon herself is preparing for war.”

The room fell silent.

Outside, a distant howl echoed—answered by another.

And another.

Ronan’s eyes hardened.

“Silverclaw will come for her,” he said.

The seer nodded grimly. “And when they do… they won’t be the only ones.”

I clutched the blankets, my chest tight with fear and something dangerously close to purpose.

“What happens to me now?” I asked.

Ronan met my gaze.

“Now,” he said, “every pack will want you.”

The moon flared brighter.

And somewhere deep within me—

Something ancient smiled.