Blood and Bonds

**Elara's POV**

Kael's grip on my wrist was iron. Heat poured off his bare skin, raw and overwhelming, drowning Darius's familiar scent in something far more dangerous. My pulse thundered where his fingers pressed, and that new bond twisted deep in my gut like a live wire.

"Get the fuck off her!" Darius roared, launching himself forward.

Kael shoved me behind him with one powerful arm, turning just in time to meet Darius's fist. The impact cracked like thunder. They crashed together, two walls of muscle and fury, trading blows that would kill lesser wolves. Fists. Elbows. Claws slashing across flesh.

I stumbled back, heart slamming against my ribs. Blood sprayed across the stone as Darius landed a brutal hit to Kael's jaw. Kael laughed, low and feral, spitting red.

"That all you got, Kane?" he taunted, voice dripping with dark amusement. "No wonder she smells so fucking starved."

Darius's eyes blazed with murder. He shifted mid-swing, black wolf exploding outward. Kael followed instantly, silver-black fur rippling over deadly muscle. They collided again, a whirlwind of fangs and claws. The pack surged in, but Kael's rogue wolves met them head-on, turning the courtyard into a battlefield.

Seraphina screamed, backing toward the hall. "Darius! Kill him!"

I couldn't move. My body burned. Every time Kael's ice-blue eyes flicked toward me through the chaos, that pull yanked harder. Need. Power. Something I'd buried for three years roared to life between my thighs, slick and aching.

A rogue wolf slammed into Darius's side, giving Kael an opening. He shifted back to human form, naked, bloodied, magnificent, and grabbed me again. This time his arm locked around my waist, hauling me flush against his hard body. His cock pressed hot and heavy against my stomach through my thin dress.

"Mine," he growled against my ear, breath scorching. His free hand tangled in my hair, yanking my head back so he could drag his nose along my throat. "I can smell how wet you are for me already, little queen. Been waiting three years for this scent."

A shiver ripped through me. I hated how right he was. My core clenched painfully, traitorous heat flooding me.

"Stop—" I gasped, but it came out broken.

He chuckled darkly, fangs grazing my neck. "Liar. Your body knows who it belongs to now."

Darius's wolf howled in rage. He shifted back and charged, tackling Kael. The force ripped me from Kael's arms and sent both alphas crashing into the stone steps. I hit the ground hard, scraping my palms.

"Elara!" Darius snarled, pinning Kael down with a knee on his chest. His fist rained down. "She's my Luna. My property!"

Kael bucked him off with terrifying strength, flipping their positions. He smashed his forehead into Darius's face, cracking bone. Blood poured down Darius's chin.

"She stopped being yours the second you brought that pregnant bitch home," Kael spat, landing a vicious elbow to Darius's ribs. "I can smell your failure on her. Three years and you couldn't even breed her properly."

Darius roared, pure alpha dominance exploding outward. He grabbed Kael by the throat and slammed him into the ground. The pack cheered, closing in. But Kael's eyes found mine again across the violence.

"Run to me, Elara," he commanded, voice cutting straight through the mate bond like a blade. Power laced every word. My legs moved before I could stop them.

I took one step. Then another.

Darius noticed. His head snapped toward me, betrayal and fury twisting his features. "Elara, don't you fucking dare!"

Seraphina's voice rang out, sharp and panicked. "She's defecting! Stop her!"

Two of Darius's warriors shifted and lunged at me. I dodged the first, but the second caught my arm, claws digging in deep. Pain flared. I snarled and drove my knee into his groin, then raked my own claws across his face. He howled and released me.

Kael was suddenly there again, tearing the second warrior off me and snapping his neck with one brutal twist. He pulled me against his blood-slick chest, one big hand possessively cupping my ass as he backed us toward the gates.

"Touch her again and I'll paint these walls with your guts," he warned the pack, voice carrying deadly promise.

Darius rose slowly, chest heaving, eyes locked on where Kael's hand gripped me. "You think you can just take what's mine?" He wiped blood from his mouth, smiling through the pain, a terrifying, unhinged smile. "I rejected her. I own her. She's barren. Useless. But she still belongs to me."

Kael's laugh was pure darkness. His fingers flexed on my ass, pulling me tighter so I could feel every hard inch of him. "She's not barren. She's mine. And when I knot her tonight, she'll scream my name loud enough for your whole pack to hear how a real alpha claims what you couldn't."

Heat exploded through me at his words. I pressed my thighs together, ashamed and desperate. Darius's gaze dropped there, noticing. His expression shattered into something feral and broken.

"Elara," he said, voice dropping to that dangerous alpha timbre that used to make me submit. "Come here. Now. Or I'll drag Seraphina's pup out of her and make you watch while I kill it."

Seraphina gasped in horror.

Kael tensed behind me, ready to strike.

The new bond screamed at me to run with him. The old one, the broken, toxic one, still tugged with years of cruel habit. My power flickered under my skin, gold flashing in my eyes for the first time openly.

I looked at Darius, at the man who had spent three years breaking me.

Then I turned in Kael's arms, grabbed his face, and crushed my mouth to his in a violent, claiming kiss. He groaned into it, tongue dominating mine instantly, tasting of blood and dark promises. His hand fisted my hair, devouring me right there in front of everyone.

When we broke apart, I stared straight at Darius.

"I reject you, Alpha Darius Kane. Completely."

Power surged through the broken mate bond, snapping it like dry bone. Pain lanced through both of us. Darius staggered, clutching his chest with a guttural roar.

Kael lifted me effortlessly, throwing me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing. His hand landed hard on my ass in a possessive slap as he ran toward the gates.

"Kill them all!" Darius bellowed behind us.

Howls erupted. Paws thundered.

Kael's rogue wolves formed a brutal rearguard, clashing with Darius's pack in a storm of violence. But Darius was already shifting and charging after us, faster than death.

Kael leaped over the outer wall with me, landing in the dark forest. Trees blurred past as he ran at impossible speed, my body bouncing against his powerful back.

"You're going to pay for that kiss later, little queen," he growled, voice thick with lust. "I'm going to fuck you until you forget his name."

I gripped his shoulders, heart racing, the forest swallowing us whole.

Then a savage howl ripped through the night, closer than it should have been.

Darius.

He wasn't alone.

And he was gaining.