Chapter 5

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The Bite That Binds

The night was too quiet.

Liana lay wide awake, wrapped in the heavy silence of Kael’s stone prison. The room was luxurious—velvet sheets, carved wood furniture, a fireplace that flickered low—but it felt like a coffin dressed in silk.

She hadn’t seen Kael in hours. Not since the outburst. Not since the moment he almost—

She shivered, and not from cold.

Suddenly, she sat up. Something was wrong.

She could feel it—like static in the air. A pulse. The hairs on her neck stood up. There was movement beyond the walls. Heavy. Fast.

Then—

CRASH.

The door exploded inward.

Not Kael.

This creature was bigger. Bulkier. Eyes blood-red, fur matted with filth. A werewolf—but not like Kael. Wrong. Twisted.

Liana screamed as it lunged.

She scrambled over the bed just as claws ripped through the mattress where she’d been seconds before. Wood splintered. The beast snarled, drool dripping from jagged fangs.

Oh god oh god oh god—

She ran.

Down the hall.

Barefoot.

No plan. Just survival.

The mansion was a blur of stone and shadows. She turned a corner—another crash behind her. The rogue wolf was faster.

It would catch her.

I’m going to die here.

Then—

A blur of silver and muscle slammed into the beast with a bone-cracking force.

Kael.

Half-shifted. Eyes glowing, teeth bared. He tackled the rogue, claws slashing, snarling like a demon unleashed.

Liana froze as they rolled across the marble floor, locked in a brutal, primal fight. Blood sprayed. Jaws snapped.

Kael overpowered the rogue in seconds. Slammed it into the wall. Then drove his clawed hand through its chest with a sickening crack.

The rogue fell.

Dead.

Silence returned—except for Kael’s ragged breaths and the blood dripping from his fingers.

Liana pressed against the wall, trembling.

Kael turned to her slowly. Still half-beast. Still glowing. Still dangerous.

He stepped toward her. She backed away.

“Don’t,” she whispered.

“You’re hurt.”

“I’m fine—”

But her ankle gave out. She dropped to her knees.

Kael was there in an instant, crouching. “You’re bleeding.”

“It’s just—glass,” she stammered. “From the broken door.”

He reached for her.

She flinched.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said quietly.

But his hands were trembling.

“I didn’t send that rogue. They’re getting bolder. Smarter.”

She looked up at him. “You said I wasn’t a prisoner.”

“You’re not.”

“Then why haven’t I left?”

“Because if you had,” he said darkly, “you’d be dead.”

He exhaled, trying to stay calm—but she could see the war in him again. The wolf and the man.

“Your blood,” he whispered. “It’s calling to every rogue for miles.”

“What?”

“You don’t know what you are yet. But they do.”

She stared at him, heart pounding.

Then—

A sharp sting bloomed in her leg. Blood. The rogue had scratched her deeper than she thought.

Kael’s eyes locked onto the wound.

“No,” he said. “No—”

“What? What is it?”

He looked at her like she was a lit fuse.

“You’re going to turn,” he said. “Unless I stop it.”

“Stop what?!”

“Rogue venom—it’s tainted. You’ll become one of them unless it’s neutralized.”

Liana blinked. “How?”

He didn’t answer.

Then—

He leaned in.

His lips brushed her thigh, just above the wound.

“What the hell are you—”

“Forgive me.”

Then he bit her.

Not hard. Not cruel.

But deep.

She gasped—pain and heat mixing in a way that made her entire body lock.

Kael’s teeth sunk in just enough to draw blood. To mark her.

She felt it immediately.

A pull. A rush. A fire in her veins that wiped out the sting of the venom and replaced it with him.

Kael. His scent. His heat. His presence filling every inch of her.

Then he pulled back. Blood on his lips. Eyes glowing.

“It’s done,” he whispered.

“What did you do to me?” she whispered back.

“I saved you,” he said. “And I claimed you.”

Liana stared, stunned.

He’d marked her.

And her soul would never be hers again.

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