All Chapters of Bound and Burned by the One I Loved: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

Smoke filled my lungs—thick, black, choking.Five months pregnant, I woke to the scent of burning pine and sacred oak smoldering.Through the haze, I saw her: Eira, my fated mate’s foster sister, his “little sister of the pack,” pouring accelerant on our den threshold.I didn’t call him.Last life, I screamed through our bond.Cassian—my fated mate, my Alpha, the wolf I’d loved since we were six—came for me. Pulled me from the flames while Eira burned to charcoal behind us.For the remaining months of my pregnancy, he played the perfect expectant father, arranging the finest care, attending every checkup, his devotion unwavering.But on the fourth night after our daughter was born, he dragged us to the Blood Moon altar. He stood on the High Rock and gave the order.Pin me to the pyre. Light the flame beneath our daughter’s body first, then mine.“You let Eira burn,” he’d said, while smoke choked my lungs. “So you burn with what you loved.”When I opened my eyes, I was back on the floor

Chapter 2

In my dream, I slipped back to the first time I ever laid eyes on Cassian.It was at a pack gathering. He stood beside the sacred flames, his face carved from ice, his silver eyes gleaming like winter stars. His lethal hunting skills and commanding presence had already captured the hearts of half the females in the territory.I was no exception. After that single glimpse, I started hunting for every scrap of information about him.Back then, I was nothing but a Beta trainee from the outer territories. He looked right through me.To earn his attention, I worked myself to the bone.Once I finally earned my place as a full pack member, I invited him to a feast of fresh prey under the guise of giving thanks.That night, I caught the shift in his gaze—the way his eyes lingered.I seized that opening and pursued him with everything I had.Fresh rabbits, polished wolf-fangs, rare healing herbs, golden wild honey.I never spared a single gift.Finally, I got what I wanted. He accepted my court

Chapter 3

Cassian clearly never expected me to be the one to propose severing the bond.He froze for an instant, then rage erupted across the link. Before he could snarl another word, I severed the connection.Immediately, my pack-link exploded. Message after message hammered through, each one burning with his fury.Where are you? Asha , have you lost your mind? I spared you because you carried my heir, and now you push further?You think being pregnant protects you? I’ll dissolve this bond so fast you’ll be crawling on your knees begging me to sign the birth papers when you deliver!And the news on the public channel—retract it now! Don’t force me to expose your true face to the entire territory!I didn’t read another line. I purged every message and blocked his signature completely.Even though I’d died by his hand in the previous life, this fresh betrayal still sent a blade through my heart.The healers entered to change my dressings, gossiping freely, unaware of my expression."The Alpha dow

Chapter 4

I dragged myself upright on the cold stone, movements stiff and broken. Blood dripped from my forehead into my eyes, but I didn’t wipe it away. I clutched my satchel tight against my flattened abdomen—hiding the tomb where my daughter had been—and fixed Cassian with a gaze dripping with black venom."The pup?" My voice was a rusted blade. "How touching. The territory’s beloved guardian—the compassionate Alpha—concerns himself with a bastard whelp? Your worry is wasted. She’s ash. Died in the fire while you were playing hero with your foster sister.""Congratulations on your union, by the way. Enjoy your happiness while it lasts. Soon enough, you’ll visit your beloved through the bars of an enforcer’s cage."Cassian’s face twisted, fury warping his handsome features into something grotesque. "Must you speak with such poison? I am the Alpha—protecting the pack is my sacred duty. I didn’t press charges against you for arson. I saved Eira. And now you blame me?""You have no right to speak

Chapter 5

I walked alone.The den I had shared with Cassian for five years was ash and cinder. I did not look back. I found a chamber in the outer rim—a cramped, cold space with walls that smelled of mold instead of pack scent—and paid three months’ rent with the last of my savings.Then I went to the enforcer’s station.The investigator at the desk recognized my face immediately from the public channel. His lip curled. “The arsonist. Come to confess?”I said nothing. I placed two items on his desk: the security crystal from my den’s threshold, and my pack-link pad.“Play the crystal,” I said. “Read the messages.”He sneered, but he played it.The projection flickered to life. Eira, clear as moonlight, pouring accelerant on my threshold. Striking the spark. Running.Then the messages. Eira’s voice, dripping venom: “Last life you couldn’t win. This life, you’re still the loser. Accept it—your bastard was never meant to be born.”The investigator’s sneer vanished. His face went pale, then red with

Chapter 6

Three days.I polished silver and gold until my claws bled, until the master grunted approval. I wore a mask to hide the healing burns, but nothing could hide the flatness of my abdomen beneath the work tunic. The other workers ignored me, whispering traitor when they thought I couldn’t hear.Then they walked in.Eira’s scent hit me first—jasmine and poison. She wore a silk dress that cost more than this shop earned in a month. Cassian’s arm was draped around her waist, possessive, triumphant.She saw me immediately. No surprise in her eyes. Only hunger."Mate," she purred, holding up a delicate golden chain. "Look how this shines on me."Cassian nuzzled her ear, loud enough for the entire shop to hear. "My Eira looks radiant in anything. Like it? It’s yours. I earn only to spend on you."I turned away, reaching for a polishing cloth, but Eira’s voice snapped like a whip."Attendant. Fetch me the moonstone ring. The large one."The other workers vanished. Cowards.I cursed silently an

Chapter 7

I walked out of the goldsmith’s shop with blood dripping from my chin, but I did not go home. I went to the healers. The receptionist took one look at my face—the glass shards embedded in my forehead, the bruises blooming purple across my jaw—and her eyes went wide with recognition.“You’re the one from the network,” she whispered.“Treat me or don’t,” I said flatly. “But if I die in your waiting room, the scandal will ruin this establishment.”She treated me.As the healer stitched my forehead, I sent a message to the investigator. Three words: Confirm the time. The reply came immediately. Moonrise. Three days hence. The Grand Hall.I smiled through the pain.For three days, I hid in my rented chamber, watching their projections glow across the public channel. Cassian and Eira at the tailors, selecting white silk. Cassian and Eira at the florists, choosing moon-blooms for the altar. Every image was a blade, but I let them cut me. I let the hate sharpen into focus.The night of the cer

Chapter 8

The interrogation chamber was cold stone and dim light.They played the security crystal. Cassian watched Eira pour the oil—his foster sister, his "little sister," striking the spark with a smile. He watched it three times. Four. On the fifth viewing, his hands began to shake. He gripped the stone table until his claws cracked, his knuckles white as bone. When the crystal showed Eira running from the flames while I lay bleeding, he made a sound—a wet, broken gasp, like a wolf taking a death blow to the throat."She was reborn too," he said finally. His voice was dust and ashes. "She remembered. She burned us twice. She let me burn you both times."I said nothing. I stood in the shadows, watching him shatter.Eira, in the adjacent chamber, screamed. Not with pain—with desperation. She threw herself against the bars, her perfect silk gown torn and soiled, her face streaked with mucus and tears. "Asha !" she howled, crawling on her knees toward the dividing wall. "Please! Please! I confes

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