TWICE BOUND

I'd lost count of days a long time ago.

The scars on my arms were the only things I had left to mark the passage of time. Each one, a mix of old and new, thick and thin, was a testament to my survival. They were proof that I was alive and had not yet been defeated.

The sound of iron scraping stone made me freeze. My cell door. I hadn't seen it open in seven years.

When two guards came in, their boots were so loud it hurt my ears; I'd gotten used to the quiet.

"Get up," one of them said roughly. "You're being released." I didn't believe it. Released? It had to be some kind of trick. I stayed right where I was until the second guard grabbed my arm and pulled me up. My legs shook, but I managed to stand up straight.

"Don’t pull her so hard," the first guard snapped, "you'll make her fall before we get to the gate." The other one just sneered. "She's a traitor. She should just die here." I didn't say a word. I knew it was useless; they never listened to me.

They finally unlocked the shackles from my wrists for the first time. The heavy chains fell off, leaving deep red marks on my skin. I traced the marks with my fingernails, and it felt so strange without the weight of the metal.

They pushed me forward, out into the hall. The air reeked of damp stone and mildew. The torchlight was so bright it made me flinch; my eyes had gotten used to the dark.

"Faster," the second guard commanded, shoving me again.

My bare feet scraped against the cold floor. I attempted to walk normally, but my legs shook. My body was weak but my spirit wasn't. Not yet.

They led me up the stairs and out of the dungeons. I raised my head for the first time in ages and saw the moonlight. At first, it blinded me, but then it settled warmly on my skin in a way I'd completely forgotten.

Stepping outside, I took a deep breath of the night air. It felt so sharp and real in my lungs. I wanted to just break down and cry, but I stopped myself.

Voices. So many voices.

Outside of the dungeons, the yard was full of people. Wolves of the Litha Pack. Some stood in silence, others whispered.

"There she is."

"The traitor."

"She's still alive?"

"I thought they would kill her."

I walked on. My head held high, though my body ached to fold in over itself.

Amid the crowd was Alpha Marcus. His cold amber eyes were still the same; he looked at me like I was something disgusting stuck to his boot. His hair was a bit grayer, but he still had the same powerful aura he'd always had.

By his side stood a younger man, tall and wide-shouldered, dark-haired and gold-eyed. I knew him even before introduction. Kael Maxmus. His son. The heir.

"Lyra Odwolf," Marcus said, his voice echoing over the grounds. "You are released, not pardoned. Do not mistake this for freedom. You will live under the notice of the pack, at my orders. Any mistake, and you will be back in the dungeon, or worse."

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Some sneered. Some looked on in amazement. A few looked uncomfortable.

I said nothing.

A wicked smile spread across Marcus's face. "You ought to be thanking me, girl," he sneered. "A traitor usually dies in the dark." I finally found my voice. "I didn't betray anyone," I said, surprised it came out so steady.

The onlookers gasped. Some laughed.

Marcus's gaze snapped into sharpness. "Still clinging to falsehoods. Never mind. The truth is what I say it is.".

My fists clenched. My parents’ faces flashed in my mind. Their screams, the night they died. The warriors who dragged me away. The lies that followed.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to look away from him.

My eyes moved back to the young man beside him. Kael Maxmus. He stood straight, but his jaw was tight. His golden eyes burned into me like he was trying to figure me out.

I turned away in a hurry.

The guards pushed me among the group. Some wolves frowned, some stepped away as if I were infected with something.

"Be careful," one woman whispered to another. "Her kind brings trouble."

"Don't look her in the eye," a man warned. "She'll bring ill fortune upon you."

I would have liked to laugh at their ignorance, but I kept quiet.

The guards stopped me at the doorway, in front of the Alpha.

Marcus's voice was so mean. "Remember your place, Lyra Odwolf," he snapped. "I'm the reason you're alive. The reason you can walk. The reason you can even breathe."

My wolf stirred inside me, restless, angry. I contained her. Not yet. Not now.

There was a tension in the air. Too many watching, too many whispered words.

And then—everything changed.

It hit me like a shot of adrenaline. A jerk, fierce and brutal force of energy, coursing through every cell of my body. My wolf growled, and lunged forward, desperate.

My eyes flew up by themselves.

Golden eyes.

Kael Maxmus.

The bond between us snapped, and I felt it, bright as fire and impossible to ignore. His breath caught in his throat. His eyes went wide with shock, then darkened with anger. His wolf reacted instantly to mine, huge and distinct.

Whispers exploded around us.

"No… it can't be."

"She's his mate?"

"Fate is cruel."

Marcus's expression turned to stone, then to anger.

"Impossible," he growled. "You will reject her, Kael. Do it now."

Kael's fists were clenched so tight at his sides. He kept his eyes fixed on me, and I could feel his wolf struggling against the command, desperate to break free.

I was paralyzed, my heart pounding.

Seven years in the dark hadn't cracked me.

But this… this bond… this man…

It just might.