Chapter Ten: When the Bond Bleeds
Kael pov
The council chamber is carved deep into the mountain, old stone layered with history and authority.
Fourteen seats ring the obsidian table, each occupied, each voice weighted with power Kael has spent years learning to endure.
Seraphina sits to his left, spine straight, silver-streaked hair braided tight against her scalp. His aunt never wastes motion, never wastes words.
Lord Valerius occupies a seat across from him, broad-shouldered, his expression carefully neutral.
Isolade Valerius sits beside her father, posture composed, chin lifted, eyes sharp and watchful. She looks every bit the councilwoman she fought to become.
The others blur into a wall of expectations. Elders. Lords. Matrons. Wolves who believe they understand what leadership costs because they've survived long enough to speak about it.
They're discussing borders. Trade. A skirmish along the eastern ridge that Kael already knows about and has already resolved. The words wash over him, familiar, manageable.
Until they don't.
It begins as a dull pressure behind his eyes, not quite pain yet, just something deeply wrong.
Kael stills, fingers tightening against the armrest. His wolf shifts uneasily beneath his skin, restless, agitated.
The bond hums, low and insistent, not demanding closeness but screaming alarm.
Then it hits.
A sharp, metallic taste floods his mouth.
Blood.
Kael jerks forward slightly, breath catching. His vision blurs for half a second, the chamber tilting as if the mountain itself has shifted beneath him. His chest tightens violently, a crushing sensation that has nothing to do with his own body.
Liora's name slams into him with brutal clarity.
She's in danger—no, worse, she's dying.
His eyes snap up, glowing faintly, instinct bleeding through control. The room goes quiet. Words falter mid-sentence.
Seraphina notices immediately. Her gaze sharpens, locking onto him with unnerving precision.
Lord Valerius stiffens, his hand curling against the table.
Isolade's composure cracks.
Only for a moment, but long enough for Kael to notice.
Her breath catches. Her eyes widen, flicking away before she schools her expression again.
Kael sees it.
The council murmurs, confusion rippling outward.
"Alpha?" one of the elders asks cautiously. "Is everything—"
Kael stands.
The chair scrapes harshly against stone as he pushes back, the sound slicing through the chamber.
"I'm leaving," he says, his voice low and final.
"This meeting isn't adjourned," another voice protests.
Kael doesn't look at them. He's already moving.
The bond is screaming now, a violent, tearing sensation in his chest, like something vital is being ripped away piece by piece. He tastes blood again, thicker this time, his breath coming sharp and fast as he strides for the doors.
Seraphina rises halfway from her seat. "Kael—"
He finally looks at her.
Really looks.
And whatever she sees in his eyes makes her stop.
Kael doesn't wait for permission. The doors slam open under his hands as he storms out, boots pounding against the stone corridors.
Guards scramble to follow. Voices echo. Orders barked and ignored.
Kael runs, not like an Alpha maintaining dignity but like a man who knows he may already be too late.
---
Liora POV
Pain drags me back from the edge, rough and merciless, clawing through my body until I gasp for air.
My lungs burn as I gasp, my body convulsing violently as another wave of blood tears out of me. It splatters against the stone, dark and unmistakable.
Poison. I recognize it instantly, without hesitation or denial.
I've been here before.
My hands tremble as I press them to my chest, forcing myself to stay present. Panic will kill me faster than the toxin if I let it. I shut my eyes and reach inward, past the pain, past the dizziness, to the place I've learned to guard carefully.
The warmth answers immediately.
I feel it bloom in my chest, familiar and dangerous all at once. Controlled, measured, and unmistakably mine.
The warmth thickens, spreading outward in slow, deliberate waves. I grit my teeth as it sharpens, knowing what comes next.
Then the heat follows.
It surges under my skin, aggressive this time, burning hotter because my body is already compromised. I gasp as the fire ignites beneath my ribs, sharp and concentrated, lighting up places that already know this pain too well.
I don't scream.
I've learned better than that.
I press my palm harder against my side, breath coming in shallow pulls as the poison burns away under the force of my power. My vision swims. My limbs shake violently.
I've paid this price before.
Thirty times before… no, thirty-three now.
Thirty-three scars etched into my body like a ledger of survival. Every healing, every life saved, written permanently on my skin.
The first came when I was six, and the last three appeared only seconds ago.
When the heat finally recedes, I collapse back against the floor, sweat cooling rapidly against my skin. My chest rises and falls unevenly, my heartbeat erratic but mine.
The pain lingers as three new burns throb beneath my skin, already cooling and sealing themselves into scars I know will never fade.
I don't need to look to know they're there; I can feel them already.
I swallow hard and force my eyes open.
The maid stands frozen a few steps away, tray forgotten on the floor, face pale. Her hands tremble visibly.
I push myself up on shaking arms, anger cutting through the haze.
"Who the hell are you?" I demand, my voice raw. "Why would you do this to me?"
Her eyes flick toward the door. Fear floods her features, wild and absolute.
She opens her mouth… and I realize too late what she intends—
A shiver races down my spine as the bond roars inside me, claws and fire coiling through my chest and dragging my awareness toward him, toward Kael.
My pulse thunders in my ears, the echo of distant boots ringing through the corridor, and everything in my mind collapses into one suffocating realization—I can't stop this.