Kael
Kael hadn't slept.
No matter how many times he closed his eyes, she was there—standing in the clearing, her scent wrapped around him like a curse he couldn't shake. It was wrong. It made no sense. And yet, the bond pulsed relentlessly beneath his skin.
He had spent years pretending she didn't exist.
Pretending her flinches didn't bother him. Pretending the way she went quiet when they laughed wasn't something he noticed.
Lies.
Now his wolf paced violently inside him, furious and demanding. Mine, it snarled. Ours.
Kael slammed his fist into the wall of his room.
"No," he muttered. "She's not."
But the bond answered anyway—hot, sharp, undeniable.
For the first time in his life, Kael felt fear.
Not of the pack.
Not of his father.
But of what he'd already lost… before he ever realized it mattered.
Riven
Riven welcomed the chaos.
He sat on the edge of the cliff overlooking the packlands, elbows resting on his knees, jaw tight. The wind carried her scent to him again—soft, wild, unmistakable.
He exhaled slowly.
He had felt it first. The pull. The heat. The way his instincts had surged when she collapsed during her awakening. His wolf had nearly torn free then and there.
He hadn't bullied her because he hated her.
He'd bullied her because she made him feel weak.
Because something about her quiet strength unsettled him. Because every time she looked at him without fear, something inside him cracked.
And now fate had laughed in his face.
"You're mine," he whispered to the wind, even as guilt coiled tightly in his chest.
His wolf growled in agreement—possessive, eager, dangerous.
Riven smiled grimly.
If the bond wanted war inside him, he would survive it.
But letting her walk away?
That was something he wasn't sure he could do.
Eryx
Eryx was the only one who hadn't spoken since the awakening.
He stood alone in the training hall, fists clenched, eyes closed. Control had always been his strength. Discipline. Distance.
The bond tested every bit of it.
He remembered every time she had been pushed too far. Every time he had looked away and said nothing. Silence had been easier than choosing a side.
Coward.
His wolf was quieter than the others, but no less intense. It didn't rage—it waited. Patient. Certain.
She is ours, it said simply.
Eryx opened his eyes, breathing hard.
"She hates us," he murmured.
She doesn't trust us, the wolf corrected.
That felt worse.
Because trust could be earned.
And Eryx wasn't sure any of them deserved it.
Lyra
I felt it before I understood it.
A restless energy hummed beneath my skin as I sat on my bed, staring at the wall. My wolf stirred uneasily, reacting to emotions that weren't mine.
Frustration.
Regret.
Hunger.
I hugged my knees to my chest.
"Stop," I whispered.
The bond didn't listen.
Images flickered in my mind—glimpses of tension, clenched fists, sharp breaths. I didn't see faces, but I felt them.
Three heartbeats.
Three pulls.
Three mistakes fate refused to undo.
Anger flared.
They didn't get to feel conflicted now. They didn't get to want me only after destiny forced their hand.
I stood abruptly, pacing the room.
"I won't be your punishment," I said aloud. "And I won't be your reward."
My wolf paused.
Then, softly, she pressed closer to the surface—not demanding, not pleading.
But they are bound, she said.
"So am I," I replied.
Outside, the moon climbed higher into the sky, watching silently as threads of fate tightened around all of us.
None of us had chosen this.
But choice was coming.
And when it did, someone was going to break.