Caius POV
My wolf is screaming at me to protect our mate while I'm fighting three Shadow Beasts at once.
This is not going well.
I rip out one beast's throat and spin to face the next, but two more are slipping past me, their red eyes locked on Isla. She's backed against the cave wall, clutching that useless rock like it'll save her.
"ISLA, RUN!" I roar, but where can she run? The forest is burning. Shadow Beasts circle us. And she can barely stand without collapsing.
Then something impossible happens.
Isla's eyes flash amber—my color—and she moves faster than any unmated female should. She dodges the first Shadow Beast's lunge, slides under the second, and somehow ends up beside me.
"I said yes!" she gasps, and I smell it—the beginning of our bond, raw and unstable, crackling between us like lightning.
"You accepted an incomplete bond?" Horror floods through me. "Isla, those can kill—"
"Better than those things killing us!" She grabs my arm, and power surges where we touch. Her fear slams into me through our new link, so intense it steals my breath. But underneath the fear is something else: trust. She trusts me to keep her alive.
My wolf howls in triumph and rage. PROTECT. DEFEND. KILL EVERYTHING THAT THREATENS HER.
The incomplete bond amplifies everything. My strength doubles. My senses sharpen until I can hear her heartbeat over the chaos. But I can also feel her pain—the hunger gnawing her stomach, the cold biting her skin, the exhaustion dragging at her bones.
She's dying, and I've been too focused on threats to notice.
"Stay behind me," I growl, shifting fully into my wolf form. The incomplete bond makes me bigger, stronger, more feral. I tear into the Shadow Beasts with renewed fury, but there are too many. For every one I kill, two more appear through the smoke.
Then Isla does something that stops my heart.
She runs toward the fire.
"ISLA!" My howl shakes the earth, but she doesn't stop. Through our bond, I feel her terror—but also determination. She's planning something.
I watch in horror as she grabs a burning branch and swings it at the nearest Shadow Beast. The creature shrieks and backs away. Fire. They're afraid of fire.
My brilliant, insane mate is using the forest fire as a weapon.
"Caius!" she screams. "Drive them toward the flames!"
I understand instantly. Instead of fighting them here, I herd them like prey—snapping at their heels, forcing them toward the wall of fire spreading through the forest. The Shadow Beasts panic, trapped between my teeth and the flames.
One by one, they flee into the darkness.
When the last beast disappears, I shift back to human form and run to Isla. She's swaying on her feet, the burning branch slipping from her fingers.
"That was the stupidest, bravest thing I've ever seen," I gasp, catching her before she falls.
She laughs weakly. "I'm a marine biologist. We're good at understanding predator behavior. Even nightmare monsters have to be afraid of something."
Marine biologist. I still don't know what that means, but pride swells in my chest. My mate is clever. Strong. Perfect.
Then I feel it through the bond—her body shutting down. The incomplete bond is draining her life force instead of strengthening her. She needed a complete bond, and I gave her half of one.
I'm killing her by trying to save her.
"Isla, we have to finish the bond. Now." I lift her into my arms. "The incomplete connection is tearing you apart."
"How do we finish it?" Her voice is fading.
"The traditional way." I carry her back to the cave, away from the spreading fire. "But you're weak. It might be too much."
"Everything's too much." She touches my face with trembling fingers. "But I trust you, Caius. You've earned that."
Something cracks open in my chest. In my world, trust is rarer than females. She barely knows me, but she trusts me. Through our bond, I feel the truth of it.
I lay her gently on the furs and start to explain what bonding fully means, but she presses her fingers to my lips.
"I know it's permanent. I know it's serious." Her honey eyes hold mine. "I also know I'm dying right now, and you're the only reason I'm still breathing. So stop being noble and save my life. Please."
My wolf wants to howl. She's begging me to complete the bond—the one thing I've been holding back to protect her choice.
"After this, you're mine," I warn her, my voice rough. "Forever, Isla. No taking it back. No regrets. Even when you bond with six other males, I'm the first. The foundation. The one your soul will always recognize."
"I know." She pulls me down to her. "Now stop talking and bond with me before I die of suspense."
I kiss her, and the incomplete bond roars to life. Power floods between us—her strange foreign energy mixing with my wolf essence. It should be gentle. First bondings are supposed to be careful, slow.
But there's nothing gentle about this.
The bond is trying to complete itself too fast, burning through both of us. Isla cries out in pain, and I feel it echo through our link. I try to slow down, but my wolf won't let me. CLAIM. COMPLETE. MAKE HER OURS FOREVER.
"Caius," Isla gasps. "Something's wrong. The system is—"
Her eyes roll back. She goes limp in my arms.
"ISLA!" I shake her, but she's unconscious. Through the bond, I feel her life force flickering like a candle in the wind.
A blue light explodes around her body. That strange spirit guide magic, glowing brighter and brighter until I have to shield my eyes.
Words appear in the air, written in light:
[CRITICAL ERROR]
[INCOMPLETE BOND + MALNOURISHED HOST = FATAL COMBINATION]
[EMERGENCY PROTOCOL INITIATED]
[DRAINING WOLF MALE'S LIFE FORCE TO STABILIZE HOST]
[WARNING: THIS WILL SEVERELY WEAKEN CAIUS]
"Take it!" I shout at the magic. "Take whatever you need! Just save her!"
The light intensifies. I feel my strength pouring out of me, flowing through the bond into Isla. It's like bleeding out slowly—my power, my life force, everything that makes me strong draining away.
I don't care. She's my mate. I'd give her my last breath if she needed it.
The process lasts hours. Or maybe minutes. Time stops meaning anything. When the light finally fades, Isla's breathing steadies. Color returns to her cheeks. Through the bond, I feel her life force stabilize.
But I can barely stand.
I collapse beside her on the furs, my body heavy and weak. The bond is complete now—I can feel her inside my soul, permanent and perfect. But the cost was everything I had.
Footsteps crunch outside the cave.
No. Not now. I can't fight. I can barely lift my head.
A massive shape fills the entrance. Through blurry vision, I see brown fur and yellow teeth.
Brutus.
"Well, well," the bear Alpha rumbles. "Looks like someone overdid the bonding ritual. You're supposed to strengthen each other, not kill yourself for a female, you fool."
I try to shift, to defend Isla, but my body won't respond. I've given her everything.
Brutus steps closer, grinning. "Three days, the little female said. But she didn't say you'd be conscious for those three days. So here's what's happening: I'm taking her now. You're too weak to stop me. And when you recover—if you recover—you can try to take her back. Should be entertaining."
"No," I growl, but it's barely a whisper.
He reaches for Isla's sleeping form.
That's when her eyes snap open—glowing amber. My wolf's eyes.
She looks at Brutus, and her voice comes out doubled, layered with my growl beneath her words.
"Touch me," she says with deadly calm, "and find out what happens when you threaten a bonded wolf's mate."
Power explodes from her body—my power, amplified by her strange magic. The force throws Brutus backward out of the cave. He crashes into a tree hard enough to crack it.
Isla stands, and she's glowing with silver light. The complete bond didn't just stabilize her. It awakened something else.
Something that makes even Brutus back away in fear.
"What are you?" he whispers.
The system answers for her, words blazing in the air:
[FIRST BOND COMPLETE: WOLF ABILITIES UNLOCKED]
[BONUS: HIDDEN GODDESS BLOODLINE PARTIALLY AWAKENED]
[WARNING: PARTIAL AWAKENING ATTRACTS ANCIENT ENEMIES]
[SOMETHING VERY OLD AND VERY ANGRY KNOWS YOU EXIST NOW]
Thunder crashes overhead even though the sky was clear seconds ago.
In the distance, something roars—deeper than any beast, older than the mountains.
Isla's eyes widen. "What was that?"
Through our bond, I feel her fear spike.
Whatever just woke up, it's coming for her.