Bound By Duty Novels & Stories

Bound By Fate Copyright © 2020 Armeia Aguilar & Dei Orduna No part of this story may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted copyright law.

Raven clenched her fists. He was tightening his grip. Luca’s eyes found hers once more. “And you.” Her pulse quickened. “You don’t go anywhere without me.” She gritted her teeth. “I don’t need a damn babysitter.” Luca took a slow step forward. “Then stop acting like a reckless child.” Heat flared in her chest, but before she could snap back, Luca’s expression darkened. “This is bigger than you, Raven.” Something in his voice sent a chill down her spine.

he roared. Brendan sat up, but stayed on the ground and said nothing. There was nothing he could say to defuse the situation. Through the bond, Suki could sense his attempt to contain his bubbling annoyance and rage. “There are rules in place that you must follow for a reason, one of those was to stay away from the children of high-ranked families, the only exception being Zale.” “What?” Suki gasped. “There was a rule in place saying that he could never come near me?”

“What would you have me do? Pretend your hands are clean? Ignore the blood you spilled before we met? I am the Alpha King. I have a duty to my people.” “And what about your duty to this?” Riven gestured between them. “To the fire that has been burning since the moment we met? Or does that only matter when it is convenient? When you want to grip me and pull me close but not when it requires you to accept all of me?” The room fell deathly silent. The lords exchanged uneasy glances. General Thorne cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should give you both some privacy.” “Stay,” Kael ordered sharply. He looked at Riven, voice low and strained. “This is not personal. It is necessary.”

“Explain and I don't need to what it is used for. I want to why you are using it.” She sighed softly, pulling the blanket a little higher around herself. “We’re not married,” she said. “Well, not really.” “That hasn’t changed.” “Exactly,” she replied. “And this—” she gestured slightly, though her back was still to me, “—this is a contract. Not…an actual relationship, so let's respect each other's boundaries.” Her voice softened at the end. Like she didn’t want to define it or couldn’t. I watched her quietly.

Then he says, flat as stone, “It doesn’t matter what I want.” And that, more than anything else, makes my chest ache. Because I can hear it beneath his cool voice: duty like a chain. Responsibility is like a weight he never sets down. My fingers curl tighter around the canteen. “Right,” I murmur because I don’t know what else to do with that. Adrian steps back half a pace, as if he’s done enough softness for one day. But before he turns away, his gaze flicks to my forearm again, where he touched me.

He looked at her. "You asked in our first meeting what would happen. I told you restricted duty, not exile, because Remy's service to this pack is real and that debt doesn't cancel." She looked at him directly. "I mean it the other way too. The restricted duty is real. You don't shortcut it. You don't perform rehabilitation—you do it." She paused. "A year from now this council will look at what you actually did with that year, not at how sorry you looked while doing it."

But I’d remember this. Above me, Callum’s voice was sharp, cutting through the tension like a blade. “That’s enough, Duke,” he said, his earlier amusement gone. “We don’t need to throw her around like some common criminal.” Ravenscroft didn’t reply, but I could feel his anger radiating from him. Slowly, I pushed myself back to my feet, refusing to look at the duke as I did so. Instead, I focused on Callum, meeting his gaze with a cold defiance. My knees throbbed, my arms ached, but I wouldn’t show weakness.

“You’re a liability. He’s going to get distracted because of you, and in our line of work, distractions get people killed.” Bella’s breath caught, the weight of Taylor’s words sinking in. “Our line of work”. The hint of danger in her tone sent a chill down Bella’s spine, but she refused to back down. “If I’m such a liability, why are you here? Why not just let me fail?”

“If the pact connected my life to Rue’s long ago, then this is also mine to repay.” Dr. Virel looked angry. “You keep turning love into duty.” I looked at him. “Duty is the only thing I can give her without asking for anything back. I have no right to demand affection or warmth from her, so steady, quiet devotion is all I’m worthy to offer each passing day.”