Kanah didn't think.
She couldn't think.
The hunger inside her wasn't a whisper anymore—
It was a command.
A living instinct, coiled under her ribs, snapping forward with one need:
Feed.
Her vision tunneled.
Owain's scent—warm, familiar, painfully intoxicating—
hit her like fire.
Her father watched with cold interest.
Ilai screamed her name.
The chains embedded in the walls rattled from the force of her lunge.
But all Kanah saw—
all she wanted—
was Owain's throat.
Her teeth grazed his skin.
And Owain—
Owain didn't flinch.
He didn't jerk away, didn't push her off, didn't bare his claws.
He leaned in.
His voice was low, steady, trembling with pain and devotion.
"Take it, Kana."
Kanah froze against him, breath shuddering.
Her hands trembled against his chest, nails digging into his skin.
"Don't—don't say that—don't make this worse—"
His breath brushed her ear.
"I trust you."
That single sentence broke something inside her.
Her hunger slammed forward—
Bite. Claim. Feed.
—but beneath it, somewhere deeper, softer—
He trusts me.
Her jaw clenched with agony.
"I can't— I'll kill you—"
"Then I'll die loving you."
Kanah's knees buckled.
A strangled sound tore from her throat—half-sob, half-snarl.
Her father's voice drifted across the chamber like a cold wind.
"She will not kill you.
The bite will only bond her hunger.
If she bites you, she completes her awakening.
You become her anchor—her prey, her mate, her tether."
Owain didn't look at him.
"Good."
Kanah's breath shattered.
"No—Owain—no—you don't understand—Devourers don't bond like wolves—our bite is—"
"Instinct," he said gently, cupping her trembling cheek. "So is mine."
Her body shook violently.
Her fingers twisted into his shirt, pulling him closer even as she whispered,
"I don't want to hurt you—"
"You won't."
"How do you know?"
Owain lowered his forehead to hers.
"Because you love me."
Kanah's vision blurred.
Her father sighed impatiently.
"This is pointless. Hunger always wins. The body obeys. Finish it, Kanara."
Something inside Kanah snapped at the sound of that name.
Kanara.
Not hers.
Not really.
Not who she chose to be.
Owain's voice cut through her spiraling panic.
"Kanah."
Her name.
Her real name.
The one she claimed.
"Kana.
Come back to me."
Her tears fell—hot, shaking—against his skin.
"Owain… I can't hold it anymore…"
He whispered,
"Then don't hold it.
Do it with me."
He pulled her gently—so gently—against his neck.
Kanah sobbed once—
And bit.
THE BITE
Her teeth sank in.
Heat exploded across her tongue.
Not blood.
Not just blood.
Resonance.
It burst like sunlight and iron and warmth flooding through her mouth, her bones, her stomach. The hunger howled in triumph.
But something unexpected happened.
The moment she tasted him—
not as prey—
but as Owain—
everything… shifted.
The hunger didn't devour.
It recognized.
It folded back.
It submitted.
Kanah whimpered against his skin, the taste overwhelming.
Owain shuddered, gripping her waist.
"Good girl," he breathed.
Her knees nearly gave out.
The scent, the taste, the warmth—they didn't feed her hunger.
They filled it.
For the first time since the awakening began—
She wasn't starving.
She wasn't drowning.
She wasn't losing herself.
She was here.
Breathing.
Alive.
Anchored to him.
Her father's eyes widened slightly.
Ilai covered her mouth with both hands, tears streaming.
Owain held Kanah through the tremors, his hand stroking her back.
"That's it," he whispered. "Take what you need."
Kanah's hands fisted weakly in his hair.
Her breath stuttered as her instincts quieted, her muscles slowly uncoiling.
When she finally released his neck, her lips trembling, she gasped for air.
"Owain…I didn't… I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Owain brushed a thumb across her cheek.
"You grounded yourself."
He smiled, tired and soft.
"And you didn't kill me, so that's a bonus."
Kanah choked on a laugh that was half a sob.
She leaned into him, her forehead against his shoulder.
"I'm so tired…"
He tightened his hold on her protectively.
"I've got you."
Her father observed with a sharp, unreadable expression.
"So. She bonded her hunger to a wolf."
Kanah's jaw clenched.
Ilai whispered, shaken:
"She chose him."
Kanah's father stepped forward slowly.
"Interesting. Perhaps defective… but interesting."
Owain's snarl ripped through the chamber.
"Take one more step and I'll show you defective."
Her father stopped.
He glanced at Kanah, eyes narrowing.
"The hunger has quieted. But it will return. Stronger."
Kanah glared weakly at him.
"Then I'll fight it. Again."
"You cannot."
Owain growled, stepping in front of her.
"She doesn't have to. I'll fight it with her."
Kanah's father tilted his head.
"You assume the bond will protect you. You assume this is love."
Owain's claws extended, glowing faintly with Kanah's resonance.
"It is."
Her father smirked faintly.
"Then prove it."
He snapped his fingers.
The chamber shuddered.
Chains shot from the walls, slamming toward Kanah like snakes.
Owain reacted instantly—
But Kanah acted faster.
Her instincts, newly stabilized, surged.
A blast of black-gold energy erupted from her chest, cracking the floor and hurling the chains back.
Her father raised an eyebrow.
"Promising."
Owain caught her as she staggered.
"Kana—"
"I'm fine," she breathed. "I… I think I'm fine."
She wasn't fine.
But she was herself.
Her father finally turned away, cloak sweeping behind him.
"Awaken fully or die trying. It makes no difference to me."
He began walking toward the doorway.
Ilai flinched.
Kanah rasped, "Where are you going?"
"Preparing for the next stage."
He paused.
"And, of course… to inform Veylor that the hunt begins at dawn."
The door slammed shut behind him.
Ilai cursed softly. "We're out of time."
Owain pulled Kanah closer.
"We're getting out of here."
Kanah whispered, voice trembling but firm:
"Yes."
For the first time since the awakening began—
She felt something other than fear.
She felt fire.
Hers.
Not his.
Not her father's.
Her own.
She lifted her chin.
"Let's run."
Owain smiled, a feral flash of teeth.
"I thought you'd never say it."
Kanah took his hand.
Ilai stood beside them.
And together—
they turned toward the dark corridors of Veylor Fortress.
Toward escape.
Toward war.
Toward whatever waited next.
But this time—
Kanah wasn't running from the hunger.
She was running with the wolf.