THE SECOND BOND

ANYA

Pain.

It was the first thing I felt before I even opened my eyes. A sharp, splitting ache started at the base of my skull and pulsed through my entire body. My head felt as though it was on fire, every breath scraping like glass through my lungs.

A broken sound escaped me, then a full scream before I could stop it. The noise ripped from my throat, raw and desperate.

Somewhere close, a deep voice cursed softly. The sound of a chair scraping, heavy footsteps rushing closer.

“Are you okay?”

My eyes fluttered open. Brightness stabbed at me, making the pain in my head explode all over again. I groaned and shut them tightly, trying to curl away from it, but a warm hand was suddenly at my back, steadying me.

“She’s awake,” the same voice said again, but it cracked this time.

I forced my eyes open once more. The first thing I saw was a man, no, not a man, something more. He was standing at the edge of the bed, his eyes an impossible storm-gray, his dark hair mussed as though he hadn’t slept. His expression was hard, but his hands trembled where they hovered just above my skin.

Before I could think, he turned sharply toward the door, his voice low and dangerous, yet laced with fear.

Physician. Now.

I didn’t understand how he’d called someone without moving, but minutes later, another man entered with a leather bag. His scent was clean and herbal, the kind of smell you only notice in clinics.

The doctor knelt beside me, speaking in a calm tone. “Miss, can you hear me? Do you know your name?”

I stared at him, lips pressed shut. Not because I couldn’t speak, my throat still worked, but because the effort felt impossible. My body was heavy, my mind blank. Where was I? Who were these people?

The doctor asked again. I turned my head slightly, my gaze drifting back to the man who’d first been there, the one with stormy eyes. He was leaning against the bedpost now, muscles coiled tight, as if one wrong move from anyone would set him off.

He was… gorgeous. Striking, in a way that made my stomach twist. Broad shoulders, strong jaw, a scar just at the edge of his throat. And yet, even as he radiated power, there was something about the way his eyes flicked to me, like he was afraid I’d vanish if he blinked.

Then it hit me.

A scent drifted across the room, faint but unmistakable, cedarwood and smoke, warm and sharp, seeping into my skin. My heart lurched, my wolf stirring from the fog of pain.

Mate.

The word brushed against my mind, soft but undeniable.

Iris purred. "This handsome man… he’s ours" .

I blinked at him, a flicker of something like recognition sparking even through the haze. My lips parted, but no sound came out.

The doctor’s voice faded into the background. He was still speaking, still trying to draw answers from me, but I could only stare at the man at the edge of the bed.

He stepped closer, the scent growing stronger, making my pulse race. His hand hovered above mine, not touching, but the heat from his palm bled into my skin all the same.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, questions clawed their way up, Why am I here? What happened to me? Who is he?, but my Iris’ voice drowned them out with a single word again.

Mate.

The man’s gaze never left me, sharp and unrelenting, as though he was trying to memorize every detail of my face. I felt stripped bare under those storm-gray eyes, my flaws screaming at me louder than the pain in my head. My freckles. My thick brows. The nose I’d always thought was too wide. My body, scarred and ordinary.

He was a Lycan. I could feel it in the way the air shifted around him, in the sheer weight of his presence. Lycans didn’t belong with wolves like me, especially not with someone like me.

But… how? My mind reeled, a sharp panic clawing through my chest. How is it possible that I have another mate? Rafael had been my first fated bond, and he had shattered me with his rejection. The Moon Goddess never gave second chances. Not to the weak. Not to the unwanted.

Iris whispered with desperate certainty, She did. She gave him to us.

I shook my head slightly, the motion making the pain in my skull flare. No. I couldn’t believe that. It was cruel, too cruel, to dangle the idea of another mate in front of me only for him to tear me apart again.

What if he rejects us too? My chest clenched. The thought seared through me like fire. I couldn’t survive it again.

I forced myself to look away, my breath shaky. The physician asked me another question, but I ignored him, staring instead at the wall, pretending I hadn’t heard. If I gave them nothing, no words, no answers, maybe I could find a way out before things went too far.

But his scent clung to me, curling around me no matter how much I fought it. My wolf whimpered, restless, clawing at the edges of my mind.

"He’s ours. Don’t run. Don’t fight" .

I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood. I can’t stay here. I can’t let him know. If he finds out… he’ll only break me the way Rafael did.

The pain in my head pulsed again, drowning me in a wave of dizziness. My eyelids grew heavy, my body too weak to move. Just before darkness dragged me under again, I managed a single thought:

I need to get away. Away from him… before he rejects me too.