Bond Ignition

Chapter 6

Bond Ignition

POV: Adelina McKenna

They say the mate bond feels like gravity.

What they don’t tell you is that it doesn’t just pull it burns.

I couldn’t sleep that night. Not because the room was unfamiliar, or because the air was thinner this high in the mountains, or even because the entire Silver Fang pack had just stared at me like I was an infected wound. No, sleep was impossible for one reason:

Daxon Reyes.

His scent still clung to my skin. Cedar smoke, sharp steel, and something electric like rain right before a storm. His gaze still haunted me, echoing in my skull like a song I couldn’t forget. And that moment the second our eyes locked had carved itself into me like a brand.

Every cell in my body had screamed, Mate.

Every piece of me, even the parts I didn’t know existed, had recognized him.

And yet… he turned away.

No acceptance. No rejection. Just silence.

What the hell was that?

I paced the length of the balcony for what felt like hours, my bare feet cold against the flagstones. The moon hung low in the sky, casting silver light across the tree canopy. Wolves howled in the distance, their calls stretching across the valley like sorrow wrapped in song.

My wolf pressed against my skin, restless and hungry. She didn’t understand Dax’s silence. To her, there was no conflict no protocol, no pack politics, no traditions. There was only instinct. Only the truth of the bond.

And he had felt it too. I knew he had.

He looked at me like I was both salvation and damnation.

So why did he walk away?

By the time dawn broke, I felt raw like the whole night had peeled layers off me I didn’t know I had.

I didn’t get dressed.

Didn’t eat.

I sat by the fire, wrapped in a blanket, staring at nothing, and tried to make sense of it all.

It wasn’t just the bond. It was everything. This world I’d been dropped into without preparation. These people who looked at me like I didn’t belong. The secrets buried in my blood, whispering that I was something more than they realized, even if I didn’t yet know what that meant.

And him.

The Alpha.

My mate.

The one who could barely look at me.

A knock startled me from my thoughts.

I didn’t answer, but the door opened anyway.

Of course.

Maren stepped inside, as brisk and unbothered as ever, carrying a tray of tea and something that might have been breakfast, though I didn’t care enough to look.

She set the tray down and folded her hands.

“The Alpha requests your presence.”

I blinked. “What?”

She didn’t repeat herself.

I stood slowly, heart pounding. “Now?”

Maren gave a sharp nod.

I didn’t bother changing. I just threw on a jacket over my sleep shirt and jeans, shoved my feet into boots, and followed her down the long, echoing corridor toward whatever reckoning was waiting for me.

We didn’t go to a throne room or a council chamber.

Instead, she led me to the far side of the estate a part I hadn’t seen before. It was quieter here. More private. The hallways narrowed, and sunlight filtered through skylights above, casting warm pools of gold on the floor.

Finally, she stopped in front of a simple wooden door.

“He’s waiting,” she said.

Then she walked away, boots tapping softly on stone.

I stood there for a full minute, palms sweaty, stomach turning.

Then I knocked.

“Come in,” a voice answered.

Deep. Controlled. Familiar.

His voice.

I pushed the door open.

The room wasn’t what I expected.

It wasn’t regal or intimidating. No giant desk, no pack banners, no war maps on the walls. Just a fire crackling in a stone hearth, two leather chairs facing it, and a table with a single tea set.

Daxon Reyes stood by the window, back to me, dressed in a fitted black shirt and slacks. His sleeves were rolled to the elbows, revealing strong forearms and faint scars.

When he turned, his eyes met mine.

The bond flared like a match to gasoline.

My heart stuttered.

He didn’t speak at first. Just studied me. Not like a man appraising a possession but like someone trying to understand a painting they didn’t know how to interpret.

“Adelina,” he said finally.

His voice was quieter than I expected. Rougher. Like it had been carved out of stone.

I crossed my arms.

“You asked for me?”

A flicker passed through his eyes. Amusement, maybe. Or something darker.

“I did.”

He gestured to the chair closest to the fire.

I stayed standing.

“I’m not here to play house,” I said.

That surprised him. His brow rose slightly.

“Neither am I,” he replied.

The silence stretched.

The air between us pulsed with heat, the bond tugging like an invisible string wrapped around my spine. I knew he felt it too. His shoulders were too tense. His breathing too controlled.

“Then why am I here?” I asked.

“Because fate gave me a mate I wasn’t expecting,” he said simply. “And I need to decide what that means.”

My chest tightened.

“So you’re deciding whether or not I’m worthy?”

His jaw clenched. “It’s not about that.”

“Sure feels like it.”

“I don’t know you,” he said. “You appeared out of nowhere. Half-blood. Unregistered. Unknown lineage. You understand what that looks like, don’t you?”

Anger burned hot in my throat.

“So I’m a risk,” I said. “A liability.”

He didn’t deny it.

I laughed bitterly.

“You know, I didn’t ask for this either,” I snapped. “I didn’t grow up in a pack. I didn’t even know I was a wolf until last week. So forgive me if I’m not following all your stupid rules fast enough.”

He flinched

Good.

I stepped closer.

“But here’s the thing, Alpha,” I said, tasting the word like a challenge. “That bond? That wasn’t fake. You felt it. I know you did.