I awoke to the cold dawn creeping through the fortress walls, the gray light washing over the stone floor like liquid iron. My side throbbed with the lingering pain of yesterday's battle, but my body's exhaustion was nothing compared to the storm raging inside me.
I had tried—tried to tell myself that I could leave. That I could run and hide, that I could escape Ronan Blackfang, the Lycan King who had effortlessly shattered every sense of safety I had left. And yet… the pull I had felt yesterday had not weakened. If anything, it had grown stronger, more insistent, tugging at my chest in ways that terrified me.
I pressed my hands against my temples, trying to push the invisible chains from my mind, trying to deny that the bond—whatever it was—was real. My wolf growled inside me, sharp and insistent, sensing the pull of the Alpha's presence before I even opened my eyes.
"Aria."
The voice was smooth, deliberate. Even in sleep, I recognized it, and my stomach twisted. I wasn't ready to see him, not yet. Not after the way he had watched me yesterday—calm, dominant, impossible to ignore.
"Go away," I muttered, my voice raw, cracking.
"I can't." The words came softly, impossibly close. "And you know it."
I sat up, wincing as the pain in my side flared. My eyes caught him standing there in the doorway, tall and unyielding, golden eyes fixed on me like molten fire. His posture was relaxed, but the intensity radiating from him pressed against my chest like a physical weight.
"I don't belong here," I whispered, my throat tight. "I'm leaving."
"You're not leaving," he said flatly. "Not until I say you can."
I rose unsteadily to my feet, taking a step toward the door, only for him to move with impossible speed, cutting me off without even a warning. The air shifted, and I felt his power press against me, as if the room itself recognized his presence and bent to his will.
"I don't need protection," I said, my voice shaking but defiant. "I don't need you, and I don't belong to you."
His gaze didn't waver. "You don't belong to anyone," he agreed. "But the bond doesn't care about what you want. And neither do I."
My wolf growled low, warning me of the tension in the air. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but the invisible tether between us tightened, pulling at my chest with undeniable force. I stumbled slightly, caught off guard by the strength of the connection, and he noticed.
Ronan tilted his head, expression unreadable. "You feel it, don't you?"
I pressed my hands against my chest, trying to silence the thrum that had suddenly taken over my body. "No," I said, even as my words betrayed me. "It's… nothing."
"It's not nothing," he said softly, stepping closer. His shadow fell over me, large and commanding, and my wolf pressed back instinctively. "It's the bond. It's stronger than any pack, any oath, any fear. And it will not break."
I wanted to scream at him, to refuse it, to tear away from this pull that terrified me more than any rogue or enemy ever could. "I won't be claimed," I said. "Not by anyone."
"You already are," he said, his tone almost casual, yet every syllable carried weight like iron. "You've been mine since the moment you stepped into my territory. You just refuse to admit it."
My pulse raced. My wolf pressed against the walls of my mind, restless, frustrated. I had run from Kalen, from the pack that betrayed me, from everyone who had ever promised loyalty and love and failed me. I wasn't going to run again. Not today.
And yet… I wanted to.
Ronan moved closer, until I could feel the heat radiating from him. The pressure was suffocating, yet magnetic. My heart pounded, my wolf growling in warning, and I realized with horror that the tether wasn't just pulling at my mind—it was reaching into my very soul.
"You think you can survive without me," he said, voice low and dangerous. "But the bond… the bond will not allow it. And neither will I."
I pressed my hands over my eyes, trying to block the sensation, the pull, the undeniable truth of what was happening. "I… I can't—"
"You can," he said sharply, and the single word carried authority, a weight that pressed against my chest, forcing me to straighten. "But not alone."
I opened my eyes. He was watching me, golden eyes glowing faintly in the dim light, and for a terrifying moment, I saw not just a man, but something ancient, something powerful, something unstoppable.
"You won't leave me," he said quietly, almost a statement rather than a question.
"I don't—" I began, but stopped. My wolf growled, pressing against my ribs as the bond tugged violently, refusing to let me lie.
Ronan's gaze softened… just slightly. It was enough to make my stomach twist, to make me feel both fear and fascination. "You can run from packs, from rogues, from everyone," he continued. "But you cannot run from me. Not from what you are. Not from what you will be."
I shook my head violently, my chest tight with frustration. "I… I will survive. Without you. I don't belong to anyone!"
His lips curved slightly, a shadow of a smile. "Belonging isn't the point, Aria. Survival isn't either. The point… is the bond. And it is not broken. Not by distance, not by denial, not by fear. You can fight it all you want—but the moon has already decided."
My knees weakened. My wolf whimpered inside me, desperate, restless, but helpless. Every instinct screamed that I had no choice. The bond pressed against me with undeniable force, invisible threads tightening in ways I couldn't fight.
Ronan stepped back, just enough to give me space, but the air still seemed charged with his presence, pressing down like the weight of the night itself. "Rest," he said finally. "Your body needs strength. And soon… you'll need more than strength to survive what's coming."
I swallowed, chest heaving, torn between defiance and an undeniable truth. I hated him. I feared him. And yet… I could not deny the pull, the thread, the bond that refused to let me go.
And somewhere deep, in the shadowed corners of my mind, I realized with a chill that I would never escape.
Not him.
Not the bond.
Not fate.