Rage Of The Bonded

Tristan’s POV

The moment her scent hit me, it was like fire in my lungs—wild jasmine and smoke. Reya.

She stood on the training grounds like she owned the earth beneath her. Drenched in sweat, her blade slick with crimson, eyes hard and unyielding. Not the girl I left. Not the Luna who wept for me. This was a weapon.

Mine.

The word thundered through my chest before I could stop it.

She hadn't even looked at me yet, but my wolf Liam clawed to the surface, restless. Furious. Desperate.

"Control it," I muttered, my voice gravelled with restraint as my claws began to lengthen.

Beside me, Isaac, the Riverdale Beta, gave me a wary glance. "You sure coming here was a good idea?"

I didn’t answer. Because it wasn't about good ideas. It was about survival. Mine. Hers. Ours.

Reya turned.

Her eyes locked with mine across the bloodied arena.

Time shattered.

All the years. All the pain. All the guilt. Gone.

For one breathless moment, the mate bond surged alive. Like it had never died.

And then—

She turned her back to me.

The rejection slammed into me harder than any dagger could. My wolf howled inside my mind.

Claim her. Now.

"Tristan Price," came a familiar voice, arrogant and cool.

Xander.

The Lycan King stood on the observation platform, expression unreadable, but there was steel in his posture. His hand rested lightly on the hilt of his blade. Possessive. Protective. of her.

I forced a smirk. "Long time, Xander. Didn't know you'd taken to babysitting broken warriors."

The audience around us tensed. Every eye in the arena was watching. The contestants. The packs. The rogues.

And Reya.

She didn’t flinch.

Xander took one step forward, his aura thick with dominance. "You lost your claim on her the moment you shattered her bond."

The words pierced deeper than I expected.

I looked down at Reya again. She was whispering to a female soldier. Calm. Detached. Unshaken.

It burned.

So I did the one thing that never failed—I made her feel something.

"You never really stopped being mine, did you, Reya?" I said, loud enough for the arena to hear.

Her head whipped toward me. Eyes ablaze. There it was.

Rage. Pain. Heat.

She stalked toward me like a storm in motion.

"You have no right to speak to me," she hissed, voice deadly calm.

"Maybe not. But the bond says otherwise."

"You broke the bond."

"You think a piece of magic severs what we were? I still feel you. Every. Damn. Night."

Her lip curled. "That’s your guilt, not love."

The crowd shifted; breaths held. The contest was forgotten. The King watched without interrupting.

Xander was letting this play out.

Dangerous man.

I stepped closer. The mate bond stretched taut between us, singing.

"I came to take you back."

A sharp inhale.

Reya's hand shot out, slamming her blade against my chest. The flat side. A warning. "Touch me again, and I’ll put this through your ribs."

I grinned. "That’s the girl I remember."

"I’m not your girl."

Then she walked away.

Again.

But this time, I followed.

Later that night, I cornered her in the forest near the barracks. The moon sliced silver through the trees. Her aura was wild. Her back was to me.

"Stop following me."

"You smell like war and betrayal, Reya. It doesn’t suit you."

She spun. "And you smell like regret."

"I didn’t come to fight."

"No? Then why did you follow me into battle grounds, announce your intent like a brute, and stare at me like you still own me?"

"Because I do."

Her laugh was bitter. "You’re delusional."

I stepped closer. The air thickened with tension.

"Why did you lock eyes with me in the arena, then? You could’ve ignored me. You didn’t."

"Because I wanted to see if you still had the guts to lie to my face."

I reached out.

She slapped my hand away.

"Don’t. Touch. Me."

I couldn’t hold it back anymore. My wolf surged, claws erupting, voice raw.

"I still feel you in my blood! Even now! And you're standing there pretending none of it mattered?"

"It didn’t matter when you threw me to the rogues."

“ It didn’t matter when you choose the love of your life, Chloe.”

Silence. Heavy. Awful.

I whispered, "I thought I was protecting you."

"You were protecting your title."

Her voice broke.

"You let me believe I was unworthy. You left me in chains, Tristan. You hurt me."

I staggered back like she’d punched me.

"I would burn the world to fix that."

"But you can’t."

She turned again, but my voice caught her.

"Tell me you don’t feel the bond anymore. Look me in the eyes and say it."

She hesitated.

That was all the answer I needed.

The next morning, the challenge list was posted.

My name was across from Xander's.

I didn’t write it.

He did.

He was forcing my hand.

A public fight for Reya.

She stood between us on the dais, expression unreadable. But her fingers trembled.

"You think I’ll just let you challenge my King?" she hissed at me after the announcement.

"I think you’ll realize I’m the only one who truly loves you."

"He never left me."

"He’s using you."

"And you broke me."

She stepped closer.

"If you lose, he’ll kill you."

I didn’t flinch. "Then make me want to live."

For a heartbeat, she faltered.

Then Xander descended the platform.

He didn’t touch her.

But he stood close enough to mark his territory.

"One fight," he said. "Winner gets the right to stay. Loser leaves. Forever."

The silence in the arena was suffocating.

I nodded. "Deal."

Reya said nothing.

But I saw the terror in her eyes.

She wasn’t afraid for Xander.

She was afraid for me.

The arena was packed.

Moonlight. Blood. Fury.

Xander lunged first.

He was stronger.

But I was faster.

Blades clashed. Fangs bared. Wolves rippling beneath skin.

Each strike echoed through the stone amphitheater.

I fought like I had something to prove.

He fought like he had nothing to lose.

And Reya watched. Silent. Pale.

"She was never yours!" Xander roared.

"You only have her because I let her go!"

"She chose me!"

I slashed across his chest.

He sank a punch into my ribs.

We were equals.

Until he said the one thing that made my control snap:

"She took a blood oath. She's mine now."

Rage exploded inside me.

I shifted.

My wolf ripped out of me with a roar that shook the sky.

The crowd screamed.

Xander shifted too.

Two monsters. One prize.

We collided.

Fangs tore flesh. Claws raked bone.

But I was losing.

My side split open. My leg snapped. My wolf whined.

Reya screamed.

"Enough!"

Magic burst from her palms, raw and burning.

The ground cracked.

We both froze.

She stood between us.

Her voice was thunder. "You want me like a trophy? Then neither of you deserve me."

She turned her back.

Again.

But this time, the arena knew:

She was the one in control.

I lay in the infirmary, wrapped in gauze, rage eating me alive.

Isaac stood at the door. "She left."

I snapped up. "Where?"

"Into the rogue lands. Alone."

Madness.

I tried to rise. Pain exploded in my ribs.

"Let her go," Isaac said. "She made her choice."

But I couldn’t.

Not now.

Because her scent still lingered in my lungs.

Because I still loved her.

Because she was mine.

And this time, I wouldn’t let go.

Not without a fight.