All Chapters of The Binding: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The BetrayerThe snow beneath our bare feet is deeper tonight. It swallows Eira’s feet with every step, clinging to the bottom of her cloak, her eyelashes, the edges of her breath as she stumbles through the trees, but through it all she doesn’t complain. She never does. But I can see the tremble in her hands, the way her body curls around the weight of our unborn babies. Protecting them, always.They’re close now, too close. The wind claws at my skin like a punishment. It carries their howls through the trees, low and guttural.My former packmates, my brothers. The men I once led into the dark of winter, through blood, ash, and tradition.Now they hunt me. They think I’ve betrayed them. And to an extent, I kind of have. But they don’t understand–I wasn’t trying to betray the pack. I was breaking the chains that were strangling it.“Alpha kasper!” one of them roars through the trees, “You know! You know this is wrong, that’s why you’re running.”I don’t look back, I can’t. Eira’s hea

Ghost of the PackThe first thing I notice when I wake is the quiet. No forest whispering in my ears, no dream fragments clawing at my skull. Just warm sheets, with the faint scent of cedar and something like smoke. It takes me a moment to remember where I am. The bed is empty, my fingers brushing over the warmth left behind, and for a split second, I wish I could disappear back into the comfort of last night. Into Eirik’s arms, into forgetting. But the world doesn’t wait around for grief or revelations, it just keeps moving.I sit up slowly, still sore. The weight of everything pressing down on my chest like a stone. I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and stand, padding barefoot down the quiet hallway. There’s something strange about being in a house full of wolves and feeling safer than I ever did with my own family. The scent of breakfast leads me into the kitchen.Eirik’s mother is already there, sleeves rolled up, humming softly as she stirs something over the stove. The

The Threads We CarryEirik hasn’t let go of my hand since his father began speaking. The entire house has gone quiet–so quiet it feels like the entire world is holding its breath outside, waiting for something to shift. Leif’s story still clings to the corners of the kitchen, and I can feel it wrapped tight around my ribs, tight as a ribbon, drawn to snap.“I need air,” I whisper, pushing back from the table, withdrawing my hand from Eirik’s.But he stands with me, and I see the hesitation in his eyes. “I’m okay,” I lie. “Just a second.”He lets me go. I step outside. The late afternoon light cuts through the trees like gold threading through green, and I wrap my arms around myself as if I could keep all of this from spilling out. The weight of my fathers legacy, the lies, the prophecy, the mating bond pulsing like wildfire in my chest–its all just too much. And then I feel something, a familiar tingling at the base of my spine, like my head was being tugged. A heartbeat later, the wi

Unraveling The pages of the book lay open between us on Eirik’s kitchen island, the brittle paper catching the morning light. Gran sat across from me, a cup of tea untouched in her hands, her eyes tracing the ink like it still haunted her.“I don’t really understand this symbol,” I said, tapping the edge of the page. “It keeps showing up, even in the parts I think my mother wrote. What does it mean?”Gran leaned in, her eyes narrowing. “It’s a binding sigil–weaver magic. Not just protection, but control. Your mother crafted it to keep certain parts of you two dormant.”“Two? She bound Elias in the exact same way?”“Yes.”“Because we were dangerous?”“Because she knew the two of you would be powerful,” she corrected gently, “Too powerful for newborns. The kind of magic you guys carry–your lineage–it doesn’t mix together. But she.. Eira was a different kind of weaver.”My pulse fluttered. “And what about our father? I know it was him that called you the other night..”Gran hesitated. “

The forest beneath her skin *continued*A sharp, bone-piercing howl split the air, my head snapping towards the sound.Eirik.The realization struck me with a visceral jolt–he was calling for me, not with worry but with the desperation of a wolf not being able to find their mate.My chest seized, my wolf shoving forwards.The shift came without warning. Heat bursting behind my eyes, rushing through my veins like molten silver. My muscles tightened, bones snapping, reforming with a fierce grace that should’ve shattered me–but it didn’t. It felt like stepping into my own skin for the first time. My human voice cried out only once before my throat elongated, muzzle forming, fur rippling along my back in shimmering silver-white strands streaked with gold. Well that’s new.I landed on all four–massive paws digging into the soft earth. I looked down, heart hammering. This is me, this is her. This is us.I took one last look at Elias, then ran.The forest blurred as I raced for Eirik. I coul