Bonded By Thorns Novels & Stories

“I know what you did. I know you burned them.” Rowan stepped into the small space between the shelves. He didn't look angry. He looked bored. He reached down and snatched the folder out of my grip. I tried to grab it back, but he shoved me down with one hand. “I did what I had to do to keep this pack alive,” Rowan said. “The Thornes were weak. They were obsessed with old magic and true bonds. They would have led us into a war we couldn't win.” “You murdered them!” I yelled. My voice sounded thin and pathetic.

I screamed as my chest seared. My vision blurred. Flames raced up my arms, my neck, and my spine. The bond flipped like a blade in reverse, cutting from his soul back into mine. I fell to the ground. Hands spasming. My magic, trying to pull itself apart. And then— Thorne tackled me to the floor, muttering something in the Old Tongue. His voice cut through the fire. The bond pulsed once more— Then dimmed. Not broken. Not healed. Just… scarred.

My wolf froze, then howled inside me. Mate. The word slammed into me so hard I stumbled. Kael’s eyes darkened, and I saw the flicker of recognition in them. He felt it too. The mate bond. “No,” I whispered. “No, this can’t be.” Kael’s lips curved into something cruel. “Of all the wolves in the world, the Goddess ties me to a Thorn.” My stomach dropped. My father would burn the world if he knew. Thornridge and Blackthorn had been enemies for generations. Our blood feud had taken too many lives already. To be tied to him, the man who carried that feud in his name, was unthinkable.

Laws of blood and bond and magic that even they couldn't deny. I felt the claim like a physical touch. Like fingers closing around my heart. My wolf responded without my permission, a warmth spreading through my limbs, a recognition I couldn't suppress despite everything that had happened. He turned his gaze to Mirella. "You and I both know the bond still exists." His words laid bare the truth we'd all been dancing around. The bond remained — wounded but unbroken. A tether neither of us could sever despite our best efforts. Thorne bristled. "But it is corrupted."

His arms close around me, solid and real and safe, and the bond sings so loudly I can't hear anything else. It's rightness. Pure, undeniable rightness. Even as my mind spirals, even as the image of Emma's broken body flashes behind my eyelids, even as the guilt threatens to drown me, the bond is there. Anchoring me. Holding me together when I should be falling apart. Thorne carries me inside, his steps sure and steady. I bury my face in his chest, breathing in his scent, pine and smoke and something wild, and let the bond wrap around me like a blanket.

He trails a finger along the outside of my arm and it tingles, not unlike the feeling I get from my mate bond to Sly. "Thorne," my voice is shaking. "What are you doing?" "There is nothing like the connection between two witches, Apple,” Thorne traces my jawline, slowly moving lower to where Sly’s mark rests on the hollow of my neck. “We feed power to one another, through one another. It's why we search so long and hard for that special person to bond with." His gaze is rueful, and melancholy as he moves to see my face. My lips are trembling. I don't know how to feel. Nothing makes sense. What is happening?

Dominic snorted. “Marriage humbles us all, boss.” Finally, with a clumsy flourish, Dominic stepped back. “There. Perfect. Or at least, passable enough she won’t run away screaming.” Rafael shot him a death glare — which Dominic ignored cheerfully as he shoved a boutonnière into Rafael’s hand. A single white rose. Simple. Pure. A reminder, tucked neatly over his heart, of what — who — he fought for now. — Mrs. Holloway poked her head into the room, beaming.

The face and prestige of the Thorne family were known throughout the city and beyond. After enquiring at the reception, he was directed to Jessica Willows, who had been sent in in the early hours of the morning. Getting there, Ann was seated there, worry and concern etching every corner of her face. But they were both unfamiliar to themselves. Except that Ann recognized Liam Thorne of the Thornes. “... Excuse me. Is this the ward for Jessica Willows?” He asked firmly. “... Yes.” She replied curtly. Liam, without waiting another Second, swung the door open.

"I've heard of rejected bonds causing pain, but not like this. Not this... violent." "Elder Thorne thinks something is wrong with our bond. That it's been tampered with." Kade's head snaps toward me. "What?" "He came to see me yesterday. He's been researching, and he thinks someone might be using dark magic to manipulate the bond. To make it hurt more, to amplify negative emotions, to—" "That's insane." "Is it? Does any of this feel normal to you? The intensity of your hatred? The way the bond causes constant agony instead of comfort? The fact that you can barely stand to be in the same room as me even though every instinct should be pulling you toward me?"

And ever since the dark fae attack, he hasn’t let her out of his site. “I think I found something.” Cayd says, standing and bringing his book over to me. The others get up and come around to look. The Guardian bond is fragile, it can be easily severed with Angel’s Trumpet. “Angel’s Trumpet? Isn’t that poisonous?” I ask, not willing to risk Leander to sever my Guardian bond. “And since when is the Guardian bond fragile?” Lily asks.