First Blood

Mara's fist came at my face.

I ducked on instinct, stumbling backward. Her follow-up kick swept my legs out.

I hit the ground hard.

"Dead," Mara announced. "Three seconds. Pathetic."

Laughter rippled through the watching warriors.

I pushed myself up, ribs protesting.

"Again," Mara said.

"I need—"

"Morgath won't give you a second." She grabbed my arm and flipped me.

I crashed into the dirt.

"Dead again. You fight like prey. That's how you die."

"I'm trying—"

"Try harder." She offered her hand.

I took it. The moment I was up, she swept my legs again.

"Stop trusting people!" she snapped. "Even in a fight."

Rage built in my chest.

"Get up."

I got up. She moved to sweep me again.

This time, I jumped. Her leg passed under me. While she was off-balance, I shoved both hands into her chest.

She stumbled back two steps.

The warriors went quiet.

Mara's eyes gleamed. "Finally. Again."

We went again. And again.

By the tenth time, I was bleeding from my nose, my lip split, my knuckles raw. Every muscle screamed.

But I was learning.

"Better," Mara said, breathing harder. "You're starting to anticipate. That's how smaller fighters survive."

"I still can't beat you."

"You're not supposed to. You just need to survive long enough to use your power or run."

"Running is my specialty."

"Not anymore. Now you fight and run." She gestured. "Marcus, you're up."

Marcus stepped forward with that easy smile. "Try not to hurt me."

He attacked faster than Mara but with less power. I managed to block two strikes before he swept my feet.

"Dead," he said cheerfully, helping me up. "But you lasted longer."

We went three rounds. I lost all three.

"Enough," Mara called. "Water break."

I collapsed onto a bench. Everything hurt.

We're going to die, Ash moaned.

Probably. But at least we'll die trying.

"You're doing better than expected." Marcus sat beside me. "Most wolves give up after the first hour."

"How long have I been at this?"

"Four hours."

Four hours. Felt like days.

"Mara's tough but fair," he continued. "She's protective. Lost her own mate in the territorial wars. Kade's the closest thing to family she has."

Guilt twisted in my gut.

"Stop that," Marcus said.

"Stop what?"

"Feeling guilty." He bumped my shoulder. "You didn't ask for this. None of it is your fault."

"I chose to come here."

"You chose to save a life. That's not something to feel guilty about." He stood. "Now get up. Break's over."

The afternoon became a blur of pain and small victories. I learned to fall properly. Learned to use my size to slip past guards. Learned dirty fighting—eye gouges, throat strikes, groin kicks.

"Honor means nothing if you're dead," Mara repeated. "Fight to survive."

By sunset, I could barely stand.

"Enough for today," Mara announced. "Tomorrow we work on weapons."

I limped toward the guest house.

"Sera."

I turned. Kade approached from the main house. His eyes darkened seeing my split lip, the bruise on my cheek.

"Mara's training," I said quickly. "I'm fine."

"You're bleeding."

"It's nothing."

He closed the distance, hand gently tilting my face. His jaw clenched. "This is more than nothing."

"I've had worse."

"That doesn't make this okay." His thumb brushed below my split lip. "Come to my office. Let me clean these cuts."

"I can do it myself—"

"I know you can. But you don't have to."

The mate bond hummed between us.

"Okay," I heard myself say.

His office had been cleaned. The broken window boarded up.

Kade gestured to the couch. "Sit."

I sat, watching as he retrieved a first aid kit. He knelt in front of me.

"This might sting."

"I can handle it."

He dabbed antiseptic on cotton, then gently cleaned the cut on my cheek. His touch was impossibly tender.

"You did well today," he said quietly. "Mara told me you didn't quit."

"Would it have mattered if I did?"

"No. She'd have pushed harder." A slight smile. "But she respects you now."

He moved to my split lip. I held still, hyperaware of how close he was. How his scent surrounded me.

"Sera," he said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For staying."

"I didn't have much choice."

"You always have a choice. You could have run." His eyes met mine. "But you stayed anyway."

"Because you need help breaking the bond."

"Is that the only reason?" His hand stilled on my face, thumb brushing my jaw.

My breath caught. We were too close. I could see flecks of darker silver in his eyes.

"I don't know," I admitted.

"I do." He leaned closer, forehead almost touching mine. "You stayed because you feel it too. This pull between us."

"The mate bond—"

"Is more than just biology. I've felt it before. With Elara. I know what a mate bond feels like." His voice was rough. "And this is different. Stronger. Like fate is screaming at me not to let you go."

My heart hammered. "Kade—"

A knock at the door made us jump apart.

"Come in," Kade called, voice hard.

Elder Orin shuffled in. He took one look at us and his eyes gleamed with knowing.

"I'm interrupting."

"No," I said quickly, standing. "We were just—"

"I know what you were just. But this can't wait." He spread an ancient book on the desk. "I've found something about the false bond."

Kade was on his feet. "Show me."

"The false bond ritual requires three components," Elder Orin read. "The blood of the unwilling. An object of power. And the bond-breaker's death."

My blood ran cold. "What?"

"To make a false bond permanent, it must be sealed with a bond-breaker's death." His eyes met mine. "That's why Morgath hunts you. To use your death to seal Kade's bond forever."

"That's why she gave me three days," I realized. "She's going to kill me and make his bond permanent."

Kade's face went white. "No."

"If she succeeds, Kade will be bound to Lyanna until death," Elder Orin said grimly. "No escape. The bond will be absolute."

Kade slammed his fist on the desk. "Then we kill her first."

"She's too powerful," I said.

"Then we run. Both of us. Tonight."

"She'll follow. She'll destroy your pack."

"I don't care—"

"I do! I won't let innocent wolves die because of me."

"And I won't let you die!" His control shattered. "I will not watch you die."

The raw emotion stole my breath.

Elder Orin cleared his throat. "There is one possibility."

We both turned.

"If Sera breaks the false bond before the new moon, the ritual fails."

"But breaking it might kill her anyway," Kade said. "The fifth severing—"

"Unless the mate bond is strong enough to anchor her. A completed mate bond might sustain her through the severing."

Silence fell.

"Complete the mate bond," I said slowly. "Before we face Morgath."

"It's a risk," Elder Orin warned. "I can't guarantee it will work."

"But it's a chance," Kade said, eyes locked on mine.

The mate bond pulsed between us.

"Okay," I whispered. "Let's do it."

Kade's eyes darkened with something that made heat pool in my belly.

"Tonight," he said. "We complete the bond tonight."