Todos los capítulos de Bound In Darkness : Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

FAYE'S POVThe main hall transformed as if by magic, though I knew it was just the work of two dozen servants moving with practiced efficiency. Silver silk draped from the vaulted ceiling in elegant waves, caught at intervals by iron hooks shaped like crescent moons. Torches had been lit despite the afternoon light still streaming through the high windows—their flames would be more impressive after sunset, but for now they added warmth to a space that always felt cavernous.I'd been tasked with arranging flowers in the ceremonial urns that lined the perimeter of the great hall. Long stems of winter jasmine, pale roses that must have been imported from somewhere warmer, and deep purple hellebores that looked almost black in certain light. The florist—a grey-haired woman from the eastern territories—had shown me exactly how to position them. "Asymmetrical," she'd instructed, placing my hands where she wanted them. "No perfect symmetry. It's too rigid. We want beauty that looks natural."

FAYE'S POVThe stairs down from the gallery were narrower than I'd remembered, and darker. By the time I reached the landing that opened onto the upper corridor, my heart had begun to hammer with something that wasn't quite excitement anymore. It was edging into panic—the particular flavor of anxiety that came with knowingly breaking rules I'd spent my entire life following.The frayed shawl I'd brought with me—a grey thing that had been old when my mother wore it—hung heavy across my shoulders. I pulled it tighter, arranging it so that it covered not just my arms but the upper portions of my shoulders as well. The scars beneath the fabric ran in parallel lines, silvery against pale skin. Reminders of a night three years ago when a rogue wolf had made it past the pack's outer guards and into the servant quarters.I'd been nineteen. The rogue had been looking for supplies, food, anything of value. What he'd found instead was me, alone, fetching water from the well after dark.The scars

FAYE'S POVI stepped out from behind the column.It was a small movement—just a few steps that brought me from the shadows into the peripheral light of the torches. Nothing dramatic. Nothing that should have drawn immediate attention in a hall filled with hundreds of people.But my wolf knew. On some level deeper than conscious thought, she seemed to believe that this small act of visibility was all that was necessary. That stepping into the light would be enough to make him see her. To make the bond snap into place, undeniable and absolute.I moved toward the open space at the edge of the dais, my grey dress catching the candlelight just slightly. Around me, I could feel the magic in the hall reaching a crescendo—other bonds were forming, I realized distantly. Other fated mates were recognizing one another. The ceremonial magic was working, drawing wolves to their destinies.Ethan's head turned.For just a moment—one perfect, crystalline moment—his eyes found mine across the crowd.A

FAYE'S POVI didn't plan the escape. There was no careful consideration of routes or timing or what I might need for survival in the mountains. There was only the knowledge that if I stayed in that room, waiting for Mrs. Thorne to arrive with whatever punishment had been decided, something inside me would break in ways that couldn't be repaired.My wolf had already broken. Now it was just a matter of keeping my body functioning long enough to find somewhere to collapse.The servant quarters were emptying as the night deepened—staff filtering back from their various ceremonial duties, moving toward rest, toward the normalcy of sleep and tomorrow. I waited until the corridor was relatively quiet, then pulled on the heaviest cloak I owned and slipped out into the night.No one tried to stop me. Why would they? I was invisible, and the invisible don't warrant observation.The main doors of the fortress were unguarded on the service side—only the grand entrance received formal security at

FAYE'S POVThe fall lasted longer than I expected.Time seemed to dilate as I dropped, my body tumbling through cold air, the sound of the wolves' snarls fading behind me as the distance increased. There was a moment—just a fragment of consciousness—where I almost felt peaceful. Almost grateful. The rejection, the humiliation, the broken bond, the hunters—all of it fell away with me, suspended in the space between the cliff edge and whatever waited below.My wolf was silent. Completely, utterly silent. As if she'd finally accepted what my body was choosing.The water hit like a physical blow.It wasn't the graceful dive into a pool that I'd somehow imagined in that strange, detached moment before impact. It was a violent collision with something that felt solid, that knocked the air from my lungs and sent lightning-bright pain through my left side where my ribs had already been damaged.The water was shockingly cold—cold enough that it felt like my skin was being stripped away, cold e