Chapter three

Athena

The bond doesn’t roar to life.

It snaps.

Sharp and sudden, like a chain pulled tight around my chest, dragging every breath from my lungs. My knees threaten to buckle as Tristan’s grip steadies me, his hand firm around my wrist, grounding and unyielding.

The world narrows to him.

His scent floods my senses smoke, leather, rain soaked earth, and the unmistakable power of an Alpha who has survived too many wars. My wolf slams against her cage, frantic and furious, demanding answers. Demanding him.

“You feel it,” he says quietly, not a question.

I wrench my hand from his grasp, stepping back even though every instinct screams not to. “Feeling something doesn’t mean I owe you anything.”

His jaw tightens. “I know.”

That stops me.

Tristan Blackwood has never been known for restraint. Never for patience. Yet here he stands, hands open at his sides, posture deliberately non-threatening even as the bikers behind him shift, sensing the tension crackling in the air.

“I didn’t come here to take,” he continues. “I came here to face what I broke.”

I scoff, crossing my arms over my chest like armor. “You don’t get to rewrite the past because it’s inconvenient now.”

“I’m not trying to,” he says. “I’m trying to own it.”

Orion clears his throat nearby, drawing both our attention. My brother’s expression is sharp, Alpha to Alpha, but there’s confusion there too. He can feel the bond humming beneath the surface, the truth pressing against the pack.

“You should explain,” Orion says carefully. “Both of you.”

Tristan nods once. “Fair.”

The Razorback MC members dismount, forming a loose perimeter, respectful but alert. Pack wolves watch from the treeline, tension rolling through the territory like a coming storm.

“This isn’t the place,” Tristan adds, glancing around. “Too many ears. Too many enemies.”

Enemies.

The word sends a chill down my spine.

“Then talk,” I say. “Right now.”

His gaze returns to me, intense and searching. “Five years ago, I felt the bond lock into place. Not just attraction. Fate. And it terrified me.”

I swallow hard, throat tight.

“I was already knee deep in MC wars. Blood debts. Threats that don’t stay contained,” he continues, voice low and heavy. “Anyone tied to me became a target.”

“So you decided rejecting me was safer,” I say bitterly.

“I decided leaving you unclaimed was better than dragging you into hell.”

My wolf snarls, furious at his logic and the painful truth beneath it.

“You don’t get to choose for me,” I snap. “You took my choice away.”

“I know,” he repeats, rougher this time. “And I’ve paid for it every day since.”

The bond pulses, aching through me, pulling memories, desire, and fury together into something sharp and unrelenting.

“What changed?” Orion asks, voice cautious but insistent.

Tristan exhales slowly. “The war followed me anyway.”

Silence drops like a blade.

“I spent years cleaning up the mess I helped create,” he continues, eyes never leaving mine. “Burning down enemies. Ending threats. Making sure no one could use her against me.”

Her.

Me.

“And now?” I ask, voice barely more than a whisper.

“Now I’m strong enough to protect what’s mine.”

The word mine vibrates through the bond, possessive and unapologetic. My wolf surges forward, responding before my mind can catch up.

I hate how much of me believes him.

“This doesn’t erase what you did,” I say, forcing my body to stay rigid. “It doesn’t fix the damage.”

“I’m not asking for forgiveness,” Tristan replies, his voice low and absolute. “I’m asking for the chance to prove I deserve it.”

A sudden shout erupts from the edge of the territory.

“ALPHA!”

One of the sentries runs toward us, breathless. “Riders approaching fast unmarked bikes.”

Tristan’s posture changes instantly. The biker Alpha steps forward, power radiating from him like a living storm. His MC moves as one, hands drifting toward concealed weapons, engines roaring back to life.

Orion shifts beside me, wolf on high alert, teeth flashing beneath his lips.

“Take Athena back,” Tristan orders one of his men without looking away from the treeline.

“I can stand my ground,” I snap, chest rising, wolf surging forward instinctively.

His head turns sharply, gold eyes flashing with steel. “Not today.”

Something in his voice absolute, unwavering makes my wolf still.

“This is exactly what I was protecting you from,” he adds quietly. “And exactly why I won’t let it touch you now.”

The distant growl of engines grows louder, echoing across the trees, vibrating beneath my feet.

Orion steps in front of me, but Tristan’s attention flicks back to me one last time.

“This isn’t over,” he says, voice low but commanding. “The bond won’t allow it.”

“Neither will I,” I reply, heart pounding, wolf screaming in agreement.

A corner of his mouth lifts, dangerous and unapologetic. “Good.”

Then he turns toward the threat, Alpha authority flaring, commanding both biker and wolf alike. The Razorbacks move with lethal precision, forming a wall between danger and pack territory.

I watch him go, heart hammering, bond blazing like a brand beneath my skin.

Five years ago, he ran from fate.

Now?

Now he’s standing in front of it guns loaded, wolf unleashed, and eyes burning with a promise he doesn’t intend to break.

And no matter how much I fight it…

Some part of me knows this is only the beginning.

Because fate doesn’t give second chances lightly.

And when an Alpha claims what he lost…

He does it with everything he has.

Every scar. Every battle. Every broken rule. Every heartbeat.

I feel it in my bones, the wolf inside me howling with a fierce clarity: this is the man I was always meant to face, the Alpha who will never run from the bond again.

Every instinct screams, every nerve ending aches. My wolf surges, tethered to him, yearning for completion we both denied ourselves for too long.

Not now. Not ever.

And I know if he fails, the cost won’t be just mine. It will be the destruction of everything I’ve tried to protect since the night he abandoned me.

But right now… right this second… all I can do is watch, heart pounding, wolf burning, as the Alpha I love steps fully into the claim he tried to deny.