When the Bond Turns Against Me
The forest did not calm after Iron Claw retreated.
If anything, it grew sharper.
Every sound felt too loud. Every breath scraped against my lungs as if the air itself had turned heavy. The moment Darius vanished into the trees, the pull in my chest twisted violently, no longer distant or restrained.
It surged.
I gasped, stumbling as pain lanced through my ribs.
"Aurelia."
Lucien caught me before I hit the ground, his arms locking around me with brutal strength. The world tilted, the basin blurring as white sparks danced across my vision.
"This is wrong," I whispered. "It should not hurt like this."
Alaric was instantly at my side, his expression grim. "It is backlash."
Lucien looked at him sharply. "Backlash from what."
"From denying bonds that have already awakened," Alaric replied. "And from forcing dominance onto an Alpha whose wolf recognized you."
I clenched my teeth as another wave hit, sharper than the last. It felt like invisible hooks tearing through my chest, pulling in opposite directions.
Lucien's grip tightened. "Tell me how to stop it."
Alaric hesitated.
That alone terrified me.
"You cannot," he said finally. "Not completely."
Lucien snarled. "There is always a way."
"There is mitigation," Alaric corrected. "But not avoidance."
My legs gave out.
Lucien lowered me to the ground, kneeling beside me as my body shook uncontrollably. Light leaked from beneath my skin in fractured pulses, uncontrolled and erratic.
Wolves in the clearing backed away, fear rippling through them.
"I can feel them," I gasped. "The bonds. They are pulling. Demanding."
Lucien brushed damp hair from my face, his voice low and steady despite the storm raging around us. "Focus on me. Stay here."
His presence anchored me, silver calm cutting through the pain just enough to keep me conscious.
Alaric crouched on my other side. "The backlash will worsen if another Alpha approaches."
Lucien's eyes flashed. "Then I will tear apart anyone who comes near."
"That will not help," Alaric said evenly. "Violence feeds the pull."
I laughed weakly, the sound breaking. "Of course it does."
Another surge hit.
This one dragged me inward.
The world vanished.
I stood in darkness lit only by moonlight.
Not the forest.
Not the basin.
A vast, endless plain stretched before me, its surface cracked like old bone. Above, the moon loomed impossibly close, filling the sky.
Chains of light extended from my chest.
Five of them.
They pulsed, each one tugging in a different direction.
One burned silver and steady.
Lucien.
One glowed cold and deep, threaded with authority.
Alaric.
One thrashed violently, jagged and raw.
Darius.
The remaining two were distant. Dormant. Watching.
"No," I whispered. "I did not agree to this."
The chains tightened in response.
A presence stirred behind me.
"You cannot unmake what was written," a voice said.
I turned.
The Sovereign Luna stood there, her white hair lifting in a wind I could not feel. Her eyes were not cruel, nor kind. They were honest.
"They are not meant to cage you," she continued. "They are meant to test you."
"Test me how," I demanded. "By tearing me apart."
"By forcing you to choose who you are," she replied.
I clenched my fists. "I choose myself."
The chains pulsed brighter.
The Sovereign Luna smiled faintly. "Good."
The ground cracked beneath my feet.
"Then endure," she said. "Or the bonds will decide for you."
The plain shattered.
I screamed.
My body arched as agony ripped through me, far worse than before. The light bursting from my skin flared blindingly, forcing every wolf in the clearing to retreat.
Lucien roared, his wolf pushing violently against his control.
"Aurelia," he shouted. "Look at me."
I tried.
His silver eyes locked onto mine, fierce and unyielding.
"Breathe," he ordered. "You are not alone."
His dominance wrapped around me, not crushing, but shielding. The pain dulled just enough for me to gasp in air.
Alaric moved behind me, placing a hand over my heart.
"This will hurt," he said quietly. "But it will stabilize you."
I barely managed to nod.
The moment his palm made contact, something shifted.
The chains inside me went taut.
Pain flared, sharp and clean, then began to settle into something bearable. My breathing steadied in ragged increments as the light leaking from my skin dimmed.
Lucien exhaled shakily. "What did you do."
"I aligned the bonds," Alaric replied. "Temporarily."
I lay there, exhausted, my limbs heavy as stone.
The world slowly returned.
The basin.
The kneeling wolves.
The dawn creeping higher into the sky.
Lucien did not release me. His arms remained firm around my shoulders, as if afraid I might vanish if he loosened his hold.
"You scared me," he said quietly.
I managed a weak smile. "Good. Now we are even."
He huffed a short, humorless breath. "Do not joke about this."
Alaric rose, scanning the treeline. "The Iron Claw Alpha will not be the last. Others will come."
Lucien's jaw tightened. "Then we fortify."
"No," I said softly.
Both men turned to me.
I pushed myself upright despite the lingering ache in my chest. The chains inside me were quieter now, but not gone. Waiting.
"We cannot meet every Alpha with force," I continued. "That will only accelerate the bonds."
Lucien frowned. "Then what do you suggest."
I looked at the wolves gathered around us, at the ones who had chosen hope despite fear.
"We build legitimacy," I said. "Not dominance."
Alaric's eyes gleamed. "A council."
"A gathering," I corrected. "Where they come to listen, not submit."
Lucien studied my face, then nodded slowly. "That will draw enemies."
"It will also draw those who remember the old ways," I replied.
A sudden sharp ache twisted in my chest again.
Not pain.
Recognition.
I froze.
Lucien felt it immediately. "Another pull."
"Yes," I whispered.
Alaric's expression hardened. "One of the dormant bonds has stirred."
The air shifted.
From far beyond the forest, a presence brushed against my senses. Calm. Calculated. Dangerous in a different way than Darius.
Not violent.
Strategic.
My breath caught. "This one is not coming to claim."
Lucien's eyes narrowed. "Then what does he want."
I swallowed.
"To negotiate," I said.
The chains inside me hummed softly, awakening.
And I knew, with a certainty that sent a chill down my spine, that the next Alpha would not try to force me to kneel.
He would try to make me choose.