Ruthless Bond Novels & Stories

“A bond is a bond.” Kol looks away as if he cannot bear to meet my eyes. “Demons do not love gently,” he says after a moment, and the quiet truth in his tone slices through me. “When we claim, we hold too tightly. When we rage, we burn everything around us. When we bond…” He stops again, swallowing hard. “When we bond, we live and die with that person. There is nothing soft about it.” “Maybe I don’t want soft,” I whisper.

By the time I finished, my mother was shaking with rage. "That absolute bastard! My daughter gave him five years of her life, and he lets an outsider treat you like this?" "And that Clara girl—so young and already so manipulative. She has no shame!" She wiped her eyes and cupped my face with her hands. "My poor girl, why didn't you tell me sooner? You've been going through all of this alone..." I leaned into her, my voice muffled. "I didn't want to worry you guys. Besides, I left the papers. Once Ryan signs them, our mate bond will be severed for good. I don't need him anymore."

The old monster turned his golden eye toward Bardolph, and his smile deepened with disgusting satisfaction. “Good,” Adolphus said. “The failed groom still carries enough bond-fire to make Rudina’s seal open faster.” Bardolph went still, and I felt his horror through the bond before his face fully showed it. He had not come as a weapon. But his bond could still be used like one. That was the cruelty of every tie left unfinished. It could become a rope in the wrong hands. “Stay back,” I told him, forcing the words through the pain rising from my shoulder.

He looked at my hand, then slowly lifted his gaze to mine. That look alone made my chest tighten. “Your father wasn’t just an accountant, Nora,” he said quietly. My breath caught. “What?” “He was hired three years ago to audit offshore companies,” Adrian continued. “What he didn’t know was that those companies were tied to the Vanguard Syndicate.” The name hit me like a shock. I had heard of it before. Not clearly. Not openly. Always in whispers. Something powerful. Hidden. Dangerous. “That’s not possible,” I said slowly.

"It makes you bonded. The mate bond isn't something you can simply turn off, no matter how much distance you put between yourself and your mates." "Which is exactly why she can't fully commit here," Ruth said. "She's torn. Half in, half out. That's dangerous for all of us." "Why is it dangerous, Ruth?" Elder Thaddeus's tone was pointed. "Because if they're searching, they could find this place. Lead Zunter here. Compromise everything." "And if Inka severs the bond completely? Destroys the phone? Commits fully?" "Then she's safe. We're safe."

"I can't. I've used all my severances. I can only look. See what's there. Tell you the truth about what I see. Nothing more. I promise." She searched my face for the lie, for any sign of deception. Then, slowly, reluctantly, she nodded. I opened my bond-sight. The world shifted. Colors bled into threads of light. And there—wrapped around Elena like chains—was the bond. Gold. Thick. Pulsing. But wrong. "Oh no," I breathed. "What?" Reeves demanded. I stared in horror. The bond wasn't just false. It was parasitic. Feeding on Elena's life force, draining her, making her dependent while it killed her.

“Every single one. Your fear didn’t weaken me, little one. It reminded me why I chose this. Why I’ve been preparing for months. Councilor Elara still remembers the winter I pulled her unit out of that northern pass—half-frozen, outnumbered, but alive because of the claiming rites I taught them on the march. She owes me her life, and she’s already signed the statement swearing she witnessed the moment the bond formed. Dean Hargrove owes me for keeping his son’s indiscretion with that delta omega quiet last term—no scandal, no headlines, just quiet handling. One word from him and any anonymous scent complaint vanishes from the records. Professor Thorne in Advanced Shifting will swear these ‘tu

“I know I messed up. You don’t have to keep listing it.” Colt moves to the chair across from me. Sits. “Can I tell you something?” he asks. “Do I have a choice?” “No.” He leans forward. “Rhea found out about the bond the moment we arrived. Four months ago.” “I know that—” “Let me finish.” His voice is firm. “She felt it immediately. And what did she see? Her mate walking around with another female on his arm. Sleeping with that female. Being affectionate with that female. For MONTHS.”

"Only truth, freely given, at the precise moment truth is needed most. I have watched bonds fail for lack of exactly that, far more often than for lack of courage." "Then we make certain there is no lack of either," Rhen said, straightening despite the exhaustion visibly pulling at her shoulders, and I heard in her voice the same fierce resolve that had first drawn me to her in a kennel full of blood and broken rules, the resolve that had never once, in all these months, asked permission to exist.

"Old man, if you do not take her out right now, I'll blow your brains out. She belongs to our family now, and you agreed to that, so stop being a bitch and bring her." "Making her cry and breaking her heart in one day wasn't part of the deal, Kessler." "Oh, please. You sold your own daughter because you're a failure. You've always been one, and you'll forever be one." Sebastian's calm voice filled the room. He didn't even look bothered by the fact that Noah had a gun pointed at my father. "Bring her to me right now, or I'll leave everything to my chaotic brother."