three

Chapter Three — The Blood Moon Bond

"Keep everyone away from me!" Kieran’s roar shook dust from the dungeon ceiling.

I heard the command through the corridor before the guards unlocked my cell. Their faces were pale, and one had blood running from his nose. The air smelled of storm rain and something burned.

"What happened to him?" I asked.

"Stay silent," one guard snapped, pulling me forward.

They dragged me upstairs and through a side passage into a chamber lined with old stone carvings. Kieran stood in the center, bent over with one hand braced against a table. Black veins crawled up his neck and vanished beneath his collar. His wolf pushed against his skin, making his shoulders jerk as he fought to keep control.

Cordelia watched from the doorway, her face hard with fear she would never admit. "The curse has never risen this quickly."

"Because of her," another man muttered.

Kieran lifted his head. His eyes were almost entirely silver. "Leave us."

No one moved.

"That was an order."

The room emptied in a rush, though Cordelia paused long enough to glare at me. When the door shut, Kieran staggered. I moved without thinking, catching his arm before he struck the table.

The instant my skin touched his, heat burst between us.

Light flared beneath my palm, white and bright as moonfire. The black veins recoiled from his wrist. Kieran sucked in a breath, and the pain in his face eased for a heartbeat.

Then the light vanished.

He seized my hand. "What did you do?"

"Nothing. I only—"

"You healed it." His voice sounded rough with disbelief. "No healer has ever stopped the curse from spreading."

I tried to pull away, but his grip tightened. The bond surged again, an invisible thread drawing us toward each other. I felt his fear, his fury, and a loneliness so old it seemed woven into his bones. The sudden intimacy frightened me more than his anger.

"Let go of me."

He released me as if the words had burned him. For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Outside, a bell began to ring. A guard shouted that the moon had cleared the clouds. Through the high window, red light spilled over the stone floor.

Blood Moon.

Kieran’s expression changed. His wolf rose behind his eyes, powerful and desperate. "No," he whispered, though I did not know whether he spoke to me or to the curse.

The bond pulled tight. I felt a sharp ache at the base of my throat, followed by a flash of white fur and a forest I had never seen. A wolf with luminous eyes stood beneath a white tree, watching me as if it had waited centuries.

Then the vision shattered. I fell to my knees, gasping.

Kieran caught me before I hit the floor. His arms locked around me, and the contact sent another burst of light through the room. The curse withdrew from his skin, but the bond became so strong that I could barely think.

"You are my mate," he said.

The words sounded like a sentence.

"No." I pushed at his chest. "I cannot be."

"My wolf has recognized you. The curse reacted to you. You healed me. Tell me what else you think it could be."

"I did not choose this."

"Neither did I." His voice was raw, but his hand remained firm around my wrist. "If the bond is real, it may be the only thing keeping the curse from killing me."

That truth did not comfort me. It made me feel trapped inside a life that had never belonged to me. Gareth had chosen my mission, Cordelia wanted my death, and now fate had apparently chosen my future without asking.

"I am not your cure," I said.

Kieran’s gaze flickered. "I did not say you were."

"You did not have to. Everyone in this fortress will look at me and see a tool that can keep their Alpha alive."

For the first time, he seemed to consider the possibility that his needs could become another person’s cage. Before he could answer, the door burst open.

Cordelia entered with the pack physician and three council elders. Their eyes went immediately to our joined hands, then to the fading marks on Kieran’s throat.

"The bond has formed," Cordelia said. It was not a question.

"It has not been completed," Kieran replied.

"The Blood Moon has chosen its witness. The council will not tolerate an unstable mate bond while the curse threatens the Alpha."

"The council does not decide what happens to me," I said.

All four elders turned toward me. Their surprise quickly became contempt.

"You are a prisoner and an attempted murderer," one elder said. "You have no standing here."

"Then stop talking about my body as if you own it."

Kieran’s gaze snapped to me. I expected him to silence me, but he looked back at the elders instead.

"She will not be harmed without my direct order."

It was not freedom. It was only a smaller cage, but the words still changed the room. Cordelia’s mouth tightened.

"You are letting instinct rule you."

"I am keeping control of my pack."

The physician approached Kieran, studying the marks on his skin. "The curse has receded, Alpha, but the bond is unstable. If it breaks violently, the backlash could kill you."

Kieran’s expression went still. He understood the threat. So did I.

Cordelia leaned toward the elders and whispered, but I caught enough to hear the word execution.

Then the physician looked at me with a new, calculating interest.

"There is another possibility," he said. "If the bond stabilizes, the Alpha may survive. But we need to know whether the girl’s healing power can be awakened deliberately."

I stepped away from Kieran. "No one is experimenting on me."

Kieran did not stop me. Yet when I reached the door, the bond tugged so violently that pain speared through my chest. He gasped at the same instant and gripped the table.

The physician went pale. "You cannot be separated for long."

Cordelia smiled without warmth. "Then the prisoner will remain beside the Alpha until we know how to control her."

Kieran looked at me, and for one moment the ruler disappeared behind the man trapped by his own bloodline.

"I will not force you to heal me," he said quietly.

Before I could decide whether to believe him, the physician opened a small case and revealed a vial filled with black liquid.

"Then we must discover what happens when the curse is given a reason to fight back."