Mag-log inLeonThe first clear pulse of terror through the bond nearly drove me to my knees.I was still on the northern boundary when it hit, sharp, white, and full of panic that did not belong to me. Edric. The connection, which had been only mildly muted all morning, suddenly screamed. Fear. Confusion. A desperate attempt to push images toward me that arrived broken and frantic: unfamiliar hands, a sweet chemical smell, the interior of a moving vehicle, trees that were not ours.Then distance.I felt him being carried farther away with every second. The bond stretched like something alive being pulled apart.The curse, which had been relatively quiet for weeks, tore open inside my chest like a living thing with claws. Rage followed so fast and so complete that rational thought burned away in an instant. Heat flooded my veins. My vision narrowed. I turned from the beta who had been speaking to me about border markers and began running. Trees blurred past. My body was already shifting partiall
EdricThe morning felt ordinary at first.Leon left early for the northern boundary inspection, pressing a lingering kiss to the bond mark on my neck before he went. Through the connection I felt his residual unease from the night before, but it had softened into something more like caution than alarm. He told me to stay close to the east wing with Aria and that he would be back by early afternoon.I believed him.Aria and I spent the first hours in her sitting room. She was stronger again, color better, and she had started asking more practical questions about pack life; what the different ranks meant, why certain wolves avoided us, whether the full moon would change anything visible in the house. I answered what I could. The mark on my neck throbbed quietly the entire time, a warm reminder of Leon’s presence even at a distance.Around mid-morning we decided on a short walk in the private garden directly behind the east wing. It was enclosed, patrolled, and close enough to the house
Third PersonThe private meeting took place well after midnight in a windowless chamber beneath the main council hall, an old stone room that had been used for sensitive decisions long before any of the current elders had been born. The walls were thick enough to swallow sound, and the single iron door had been locked from the inside with two heavy bolts. Only seven people were present: Elder Elara, two of the more hardline elders, Seraphina Vale, her father Commander Marcus Vale, and two trusted enforcers who had already proven their willingness to act outside official channels.A single oil lamp burned on the long table, its flame steady in the still air. The light carved deep shadows into the faces around the table and left the corners of the room in near darkness. The air smelled of cold stone, old paper, and the faint metallic trace of anxiety that even disciplined wolves could not entirely suppress.Elder Elara stood at the head of the table, hands resting flat on the surface. H
EdricWord traveled faster than I expected.By the next morning the entire pack house seemed to know. Conversations stopped when Leon and I entered the dining hall. Eyes fixed first on my face, then dropped unerringly to the side of my neck where the bond mark sat above the collar of my shirt. Some looks held reluctant respect. Most held open disbelief or thinly veiled disgust. A few of the older wolves stared as if I had grown a second head.Aria felt the shift too. She stayed closer to me than usual at breakfast, her earlier cautious curiosity replaced by quiet protectiveness.The summons arrived before midday.A formal notice, sealed with the council’s mark, requested the Alpha and his… bonded companion… to appear in the council chamber at once. The deliberate pause before “bonded companion” was impossible to miss.Leon read it once, jaw tightening, then looked at me. Through the bond I felt a flare of cold anger mixed with steely resolve.“We go together,” he said. “Stay beside me
EdricAria wanted to walk again.Two days after the bond had formed, the mark on my neck still throbbed with a low, constant heat. I had kept it covered with high collars and scarves, uncertain how to explain the permanent scar that was already settling into my skin. Leon had been almost unbearably attentive since then, checking the mark several times a day, sending quiet pulses of reassurance through the bond whenever my thoughts drifted toward anxiety.“You’re hovering,” Aria said as we stepped onto the gravel path behind the east wing. She was stronger today, color better, though she still moved carefully. “I’m not going to break just because I know what everyone here is.”“I’m not hovering. I’m… accompanying.”She gave me a look that said she wasn’t fooled. We walked slowly, staying on the nearer paths Leon had declared safest. The air was cool and carried the scent of pine and damp earth. For a short while it almost felt normal.That feeling ended when we rounded the corner near
EdricThe knot held us locked together for a long time.I lay beneath Leon, chest against the mattress, his weight a heavy, living blanket over my back. Every small shift sent another throb through the place where we were joined. The bite on my neck pulsed in time with my heartbeat. It was hot, sore, and strangely alive. I could feel something new under my skin, like a second pulse that didn’t belong only to me.Then the feelings started.At first I thought it was just leftover adrenaline. But the longer we stayed tied, the clearer it became. A low, fierce current of emotion that wasn’t mine kept brushing against the edges of my mind. Possessiveness. Protection. A deep, almost stunned satisfaction. And underneath it all, a bright, rising joy that felt completely at odds with the violence of the last hour.I inhaled sharply.Leon noticed immediately. “What is it?”“I can… feel you.” My voice came out rough. “Not just the knot. Something else. Like your emotions are leaking into me.”Hi
EdricI don’t go back to Luna Noir.I tell myself that like it’s a promise, like if I repeat it often enough it will turn into something solid… something I can stand on when my knees threaten to give out.The sun is barely up when I leave the apartment, the city still yawning awake. Queens feels di
EdricI thought Leon had been exaggerating when he asked me why I let the ‘vampire’ touch me. I thought maybe it was a kink in the club.That was the first mistake.After the night he dragged me into that private room, after the bruising kiss, the way his hands shook like he was holding himself bac
LeonThe night was already running hot.Luna Noir throbbed with its usual pulse, music vibrating through the obsidian walls, supernatural auras winding through the air like smoke, scents sharp and heavy with desire. My wolves worked the floor, the vampires stalked the balcony, and everyone knew the
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.I stood backstage at Luna Noir, the low thrum of the crowd vibrating up through the floor and into my spine. Even the air felt alive, humming with anticipation. The music leaked faintly from the speakers overhead, a dark, pulsing rhythm that seemed to sync with my he







