Chapter 2: Bound to the Dark

 

The word hung in the freezing air of the chamber like a heavy physical weight.

Mate.

Lyra’s heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. The ancient, primitive pull of the fated mate bond raged through her veins, turning her blood to liquid fire. Her body wanted to melt against his chest, to tilt her head back and offer him her neck.

No! her mind screamed. If he finds out I carry the Sun-Marked bloodline, his pack will execute me to prevent a civil war!

"You're mistaken, Alpha," Lyra gasped, placing her hands against his broad shoulders and desperately trying to push his heavy frame away. "The silver poison is causing hallucinations. I am just your doctor."

Caelum’s response was a low, possessive growl that vibrated directly against her ribs.

Instead of releasing her, his large hand slid down from her throat, his long fingers wrapping tightly around her waist. He lifted her effortlessly off her feet, pressing her flush against his rock-hard body. The rigid heat of his thighs slammed against hers, trapping her completely.

"Do not lie to me, little doctor," Caelum rumbled against her lips, his breath hot and intoxicating. "I may be blind, but my wolf knows its Queen. Your heart is racing at a hundred beats a minute. Your pulse is screaming for my mark."

He lifted his free hand, his thumb tracing the soft curve of her lower lip, pulling it down slightly. Lyra gasped at the intense intimacy, her core aching with a sudden, overwhelming throb of wet desire.

Let me go." She whispered. Her voice betrayed her. It quavered. Fear and burning heat mingled together.

Caelum smirked—a dangerous, predatory curve of his sculpted lips. "Never."

He turned on his heel, carrying her across the shattered room as if she weighed nothing. Lyra gasped as he set her down on the edge of the massive, velvet-draped canopy bed at the center of the chamber. Before she could slide away, Caelum leaned over her, trapping her beneath his towering body.

"Marcus!" Caelum roared, his dominant Alpha voice echoing through the stone walls with enough force to shake the ceiling dust.

Outside the chamber, heavy footsteps sprinted to the door. "Yes, Alpha?" Marcus called out, his voice laced with shock.

"Initiate a level-one lockdown," Caelum commanded, his blind gaze fixed directly on Lyra’s face as if he could see every line of her trembling mouth. "Seal the mountain gates. Nobody enters the citadel, and no one leaves."

"Alpha?" Marcus hesitated. "What about the council meeting tomorrow?"

"Cancel it," Caelum growled, his hand sliding slowly up Lyra’s thigh, pushing her skirt up inches at a time, his calloused skin igniting sparks across her skin. "My mate is staying in my bed. Forever."

Lyra’s eyes widened in sheer panic. "Caelum, stop! You can't do this! I have patients—I have a life outside these walls!"

"Your life is with me now, Lyra," Caelum whispered against her ear, his sharp fangs brushing over her collarbone, teasing the sensitive skin where a mating mark belonged. "You came here to cure me... but you just became my only addiction."