"I don't want to do this," I said flatly.
"Too bad," replied Rylan.
He crouched in front of me bare-chested, sleeves pushed to his elbows and his dark skin softly shimmering in the firelight. Between us was a black stone bowl containing water, mashed leaves of moonvine, and a single drop of my blood.
I sat facing them, arms folded.
This ritual is illegal in all territories," I told him. "Bond magic is sacred. You interfere with it, you undo it.
He didn't lift his head. "This doesn't violate anything. It reveals. If your bond was severed completely, nothing will happen."
"And if it weren't?"
"Then your wolf will not be able to lie."
I swallowed hard.
"Last chance to change your mind," he said.
I should have.
But instead, I whispered, "Do it.".
He lit the herbs with a match, and the bowl sent up a violet flame that sizzled.
Smoke curled upward in a lazy spiral.
Rylan then leaned out and gently placed two fingers on my pulse.
"Calm down."
His fingers were warm.
Not possessive—clinical.
But nevertheless…My skin tingles.
He closed his eyes. His voice dropped low, near chanting. "Blood to scent, soul to bond. Show what is hidden behind the mask. If the thread survives, let it burn. Let it burn. Let it burn… "
The smoke thickened.
And then I felt it. Like claws under my flesh tugging, scraping.
There's something loose from inside my chest.
I gasped, but Rylan pressed harder on my pulse point to soothe me.
"Don't resist," he snarled through clenched teeth.
The fire crackled, and I saw it. In the smoke above the bowl—a thread. Silver, glowing, flickering like a nerve exposed to air.
It came at me fast, and I yelled when it hit my chest. Pain like I'd been branded. I doubled over, gagging.
My wolf screamed within me.
And Rylan… staggered. He let the bowl fall, and it shattered. There was ash and blood on the ground.
He stared at me with wide eyes.
"You're still bonded."
I gripped my chest firmly. "That. wasn't Darius.
No," he said quietly. "It wasn't.".
Far, far away, Alpha King Kael woke from sleep, his breath trapped in his throat.
His wolf was pacing.
Growling.
Scent in the air. 'Friendship.' He stood and started to hunt.
I curled up and trembled back in the camp.
"What did you see?" I asked.
Rylan didn't respond.
He gradually sat, leaning his elbows on his knees and staring into the vacant space.
"I witnessed the bond," he clarified after a pause. "I witnessed it burning within you like fire. It was as if it wished to incinerate the lie surrounding it."
"Which means it's real."
"Yes. But it's unstable. Dangerous. If it returns to full strength, and you're not ready."
"What?"
"You might get hurt by the reaction."
I looked at him.
"But that's not what frightens you," I said slowly.
Rylan looked at me then—and for a change, he showed a gentler expression.
No," he said. "What scares me is who's on the other side."
Kael.
I stepped away from the fire.
I needed air.
I needed to think.
But when I turned—A shadow was already waiting.
It wasn't Rylan.
It wasn't a wolf.
It was something different.
Wrapped in skin like cloth, eyes that shone black-blue like oil in water.
"Hello, little Luna," it said in a voice that sounded like broken glass. "We've been waiting for you.".
The individual moved like a living shadow.
Too tall. Too still.
It was among the trees, just past the dying coals of the campfire, looking at me with its shiny, black eyes.
Its face was nearly human-nearly—but off, like a painting that runs when wet. It had smooth, shiny skin with no breath, no smell, and no soul. Its fingers were too long, terminating in gleaming claws, and it had something resembling a cloak, which seemed to write upon it.
I reached for my knife.
Its voice stopped me.
*Do not sharpen your blade. I am not meat."
I froze.
Rylan stayed behind me, recuperating from the bonding ritual. I did not wish to call him.
I didn't want him coming between me and… this.
"What are you?" I stammered, my voice shaking.
The thing tilted its head.
"I am what remains."
"What about?"
"These are the first wolves. They recall before there were bonds. Before they could smell."
My heart was racing in my ears. "You're not a wolf.".
"You are not either. Not entirely."
I took a step back.
It followed.
"You bear something holy," it growled. "Taken. Concealed. You were meant to shatter. But you burned instead."
I shook my head. "You're not making sense.".
It raised a hand.
And I felt it.
A pulse under my skin—beating like a second heart. A dormant thread. Not the mate bond. Something older. Deeper.
My wolf awakened.
She didn't growl.
She whimpered.
"You are a vessel," whispered the Watcher. "And your awakening has begun."
My voice was extremely soft. "Waking up to what?"
It didn't respond.
Instead, it dropped something on the floor between us — a snarled knot of silver hair tied with red string.
I recognized it instantly.
Cassia's hair.
The Watcher moved back into the darkness.
"He comes," it said. "But he is not alone. The Kings desire you. The Kingdom is afraid of you. And the Goddess… still watches."
It just vanished.
Like mist in moonlight.
"AYLA!"
Rylan shouted as he ran up behind me, his shirt practically torn off and knife in hand.
He grabbed my arm, his eyes frantic.
"What occurred? Who was that man?"
I don't know," I whispered.
He looked around. "I didn't see anyone."
I lifted up the braid.
He stared.
"That's Cassia's," he said. "I saw it in her hair the other day. When she disappeared from court."
I blinked. "Gone?"
He nodded. "She left Kael's lands after you broke free. She left with twenty-four guards. No one has seen her since."
I spun around in a slow circle.
The Watcher's words rang in my mind.
"He is coming… but not alone."
I looked at Rylan. "We have to go."
"Now?"
"Yes. If Kael's nearby, the others will be as well."
He stopped. "Others?
I gazed straight into his eyes.
"More Alphas come to me. And not for the mate bond."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the royal borderlands…
Kael stood at the border of the Outlands, breath misting in the chill. His wolf stirred in his skin, restless, growling.
"She's close,"
he replied. His Beta stepped closer. "Cassia's gone dark. Her trail comes here as well."
Kael's jaw tightened. "So she knows." He turned his attention to the trees. Toward the divine scent blooming like wildfire in his blood. She's mine," he snarled. He entered the forest.