CHAPTER FIVE : THE FORBIDDEN BOND

One heir crosses the line. One mark ignites. And the girl they hunted may become the hunter.

The Trial grounds were silent now. But Ava’s blood still raced.

Her body ached from running, but something deeper burned—hot, primal, and barely contained. It thrummed in her mark like a second heartbeat.

She didn’t know what scared her more: the five alpha heirs who’d chased her... or the way part of her liked it.

Back inside the Academy, Ava walked the long corridor toward her chamber. She could feel them—lurking behind doors, in corners, in shadows. Watching.

Hunting hadn’t ended.

It had only changed form.

She didn’t hear the footsteps behind her until it was too late.

A hand slammed against the wall beside her face.

Ava spun around, dagger drawn.

Ronan stood there, firelight dancing across his jaw. “Easy, little flame.”

“Touch me again and I’ll finish what I started in the forest,” she growled.

“I didn’t come to fight.” He leaned in, lowering his voice. “I came to warn you.”

She hesitated. “About what?”

“Lucien’s planning something. He didn’t come to win. He came to take.”

Ava narrowed her eyes. “Why tell me?”

Ronan’s gaze dropped to her mark—the glowing silver curve now pulsing faintly at her neck.

“Because I felt it,” he said. “When I touched you. The Bond responding.”

She stepped back. “That doesn’t mean—”

“I know what it means,” Ronan said, his voice tight now. “And so do you. You think this is a game? That we’re just here to flirt and bleed? This is war dressed as a courtship. And you’re the battlefield.”

Ava turned to leave—but Ronan grabbed her wrist again.

This time, it was different.

A pulse rippled between them—bright, electric. The bond snapped like a whip, lighting up her veins. Ava gasped.

Then—her knees buckled.

Visions hit her like lightning:

Flashes of moonlit cliffs.

A wolf's howl.

Ronan, bloodied and kneeling.

A silver crown… on her head.

Then darkness.

She woke up in her bed, drenched in sweat. Xander stood at the foot of it, arms folded.

“You touched one of them,” he said. “Didn’t you?”

Ava blinked. “It was nothing—”

“It wasn’t nothing,” he snapped. “The bond is sacred. It reacts when you give it permission. Even a moment of vulnerability can spark a link.”

Her mouth went dry. “So what happens now?”

He stared at her for a long time. “If you bond with more than one heir… the consequences could unravel every clan law that keeps our world from collapse.”

Later that night, Ava stood on the rooftop terrace. The wind was sharp, the moon full and mocking. She was no longer just surviving the Trials.

She was at the center of them.

And something inside her was shifting—breaking open.

She looked down at her hand. The veins beneath her skin pulsed silver.

“You’re changing,” came a voice behind her.

Ava didn’t turn. She didn’t need to.

Kian.

He moved beside her like a shadow. “The Moonfire is in you now. It means you’ve activated the first phase of the Alpha Bond.”

She glanced at him. “And what exactly does that mean for me?”

Kian didn’t answer right away. Instead, he leaned close and whispered: “It means you’re no longer prey.”

Back in the forest, at the edge of the wards, Lucien stood alone… watching her window.

He spoke to something in the shadows beside him.

“She’s awakening faster than expected.”

A low voice answered. “Then it’s time to start phase two.”

Lucien’s eyes flashed red.

The Trials were never about choosing an heir.

They were about unlocking her power.

And once she was strong enough… they would take it from her.