Chapter 14: Bonds Broken and Restored

The autumn wind carried dying leaves through the sacred grove as Lucian knelt before the ancient altar. For seven nights, he'd sought answers in this place, but found only the cold comfort of stone beneath his knees and the weight of his failures pressing down like lead.

"Guilt makes a poor counselor, young Alpha."

Elder Moira materialized from the shadows, her ancient frame moving with surprising grace. Her eyes held the accumulated wisdom of centuries, and tonight, they gleamed with purpose.

"Elder Moira." Lucian rose stiffly, muscles protesting the hours of penance.

"You've been coming here every night, seeking redemption through suffering." She approached the altar, her weathered fingers tracing the carved symbols. "But tell me—when you were with her, when her power first awakened, what did you experience?"

The memory hit him like a physical blow. "Everything changed. The very air crackled with energy. I felt... whole. Complete in a way I'd never imagined possible."

"And now?"

Lucian's hand moved instinctively to his chest. "There's an emptiness that nothing can fill. A constant ache, like part of my soul has been ripped away. Sometimes I catch myself turning toward the forest, as if something's calling me..."

"Because something is." Elder Moira's voice carried absolute certainty. "The bond between true mates transcends distance, transcends time. What you awakened together still exists—wounded, but unbroken."

"That's impossible. She's gone. Our scouts found no trace—"

"Your scouts couldn't find her because you're not fully connected to her." The elder's eyes blazed with ancient knowledge. "The political bond you formed with Selene acts like a barrier, blocking your ability to sense your true mate's location."

Understanding crashed over him like a wave. "The false bond is interfering."

"Precisely. You cannot serve two bonds, Lucian. The magic won't allow it." She stepped closer, her voice dropping to an urgent whisper. "And time is running out. Word of a rogue Luna has spread through the territories. Every ambitious Alpha with dreams of power is hunting for her."

"She's in danger." The words came out as a growl, his protective instincts flaring to life.

"Mortal danger. If another Alpha finds her first, if he manages to bond with her..." Elder Moira let the implication hang in the cold air. "Your connection will be severed forever. She'll belong to him, body and soul. Your child will call another wolf father."

Rage exploded through Lucian's system, his eyes flashing gold as his wolf clawed for dominance. The thought of another Alpha touching Mira, claiming what was his, made his vision blur with fury.

"How long do we have?"

"Days. Maybe less. My sources indicate movement toward the northern territories—the Silverpine lands." Elder Moira gripped his shoulders with surprising strength. "But first, you must free yourself from the false bond. Completely and permanently."

"The rejection ritual," Lucian said, pieces falling into place.

Footsteps echoed through the grove—measured, deliberate. Selene stepped into the moonlight, her expression set in lines of grim determination. She'd been listening, Lucian realized. Watching from the shadows as her world crumbled around her.

"So," she said, her voice carrying a bitter edge of resignation. "The truth finally comes out."

Lucian turned to face her, seeing not the woman he'd tried to force himself to love, but a fellow prisoner of political convenience.

"You knew," he said. It wasn't a question.

"I've known for weeks." Selene's laugh was sharp as broken glass. "Did you think I couldn't feel the emptiness between us? Every touch, every kiss, every night you lay beside me thinking of someone else?" She stepped closer, tears glistening in her eyes. "I felt the moment you truly left me. Like a light going out, leaving me in the dark."

"Selene, I—"

"Don't." She held up a hand, her voice steady despite the pain. "Don't apologize for something that was never real. We were both trapped by duty, by expectation. The only difference is that you found your way out."

Elder Moira watched them both with calculating eyes. "The rejection must be formal. Witnessed. Complete."

"Then let it be done." Selene straightened her shoulders, meeting Lucian's gaze directly. "I won't stand in the way of true love. Not when I've seen what the absence of it does to people."

The moon hung overhead like a witness as Lucian prepared to sever one bond and reclaim another. In the distance, wind through the trees sounded almost like howling—or perhaps like calling.

Either way, it was time to answer.

"By the ancient laws," Elder Moira began, her voice carrying the weight of ritual, "an Alpha may reject a bond formed in duty when true love calls."

Lucian faced Selene, his voice formal but not unkind. "Selene of the Moonridge Pack, I release you from our bond. May you find the love that was denied us both."

"And I release you, Lucian of Blackpine," she replied, her chin held high. "Go to the one who holds your heart."

The words hung in the air like visible things, power crackling between them. Then, as if severed by an invisible blade, the artificial connection snapped. Lucian gasped, staggering as the false bond dissolved into nothing.

But in its wake came something else—a pull so strong it nearly brought him to his knees. North and east, like a compass needle finding true north. The bond with Mira, no longer blocked, blazed to life in his chest.

"I can feel her," he breathed, wonder replacing pain. "She's... she's alive. Safe."

"Then go," Selene said softly. "Before it's too late."

Lucian turned toward the forest, the bond singing in his veins like a song he'd forgotten how to hear. Every step away from the grove made the pull stronger, clearer.

Mira was waiting, whether she knew it or not.

The hunt was about to begin.