The room was quiet again, too quiet. Kael hadn't moved from where he stood—his body tense, arms crossed, eyes burning holes into the wall. I sat at the edge of the worn-down mattress, fingers threading through my hair as I tried to steady my breathing. My wolf still buzzed under my skin, pacing, restless, unsettled.
And yet, in this strange silence, something unspoken hung in the air between us.
A tether.
A bond.
Something ancient… and terrifying.
"I didn't mean to hear your thoughts," I blurted finally, voice cracking. "It just… happened. I didn't even know I could."
Kael's head turned slowly. His eyes—those haunting eyes—searched mine with a sharpness that made my chest tighten.
"It wasn't just that," he said. "You felt my wolf."
I swallowed, heart thudding.
"Yes."
Kael stepped closer, the floor groaning beneath his weight. He stopped just short of me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off him.
"You heard my wolf call to you, didn't you?" His voice was low, like it was wrapped in smoke and shadows. "He recognized you."
I nodded slowly.
But I didn't tell him everything.
Not about the way my vision had blurred, how my heart had skipped like it was pulled from two places at once. Not about how I'd felt my own wolf howl back—soft but real, awakening in a way she hadn't before. She was no longer just a presence inside me. She was alive now. Alert. Watching him.
"It doesn't make sense," I whispered, looking up at him. "I'm unmarked. I've always been unmarked. The elders said that meant I'd never find a mate."
His jaw twitched, and something unreadable flickered in his eyes.
"They were wrong."
"But why now? Why you?" My voice wavered. "We've never even met before."
Kael's silence was heavy. He stepped back, running a hand through his thick, dark hair. For a second, he looked like he might walk away again. Like he couldn't bear to be near me.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But I've been feeling it too. Ever since I saw you in the woods. There's this... pull. Like I've known you before. Like I've waited for you."
I felt the words like a tremor in my bones.
The pull.
It wasn't just mine.
He'd felt it, too.
The space between us was charged—like the air before lightning struck. And even though my mind screamed that I barely knew him, my body... my wolf... knew him on a level that defied logic.
Kael took a slow breath, then lowered himself to one knee in front of me.
"I wasn't supposed to be here, Aria," he said, voice softer now. "I was sent on a patrol, a border run. I wasn't supposed to find anyone. But I did. I found you."
I stared at him, unsure of what to say. The heat in the room rose again, the bond vibrating between us.
"You're not just a rogue," he added, reaching out, hesitating only an inch from my hand. "You're something else. Something powerful."
My fingers twitched.
"Touching you… it could seal the bond," he said, almost to himself. "But if we're not ready, it could destroy us both."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
Kael met my gaze.
"You don't know what kind of mate bond this is yet, do you?"
I shook my head, too stunned to speak.
"There are many types of bonds," he continued. "Some soul-deep. Others based only on lust, on the wolf's desire. But what I feel with you… it's not either. It's older. Rarer. A true fated bond."
A shiver ran down my spine.
I'd heard the stories. Read the whispers in the old journals buried in the ruins near the Eastern Ridge. Fated bonds didn't just connect hearts—they connected pasts, lifetimes, magic.
Kael's fingers brushed mine.
And the world tilted.
A golden thread lit up in the space between our skin. It was faint, but there. Pulsing. Alive.
We both gasped.
His hand gripped mine instinctively, like he couldn't stop himself.
The thread sparked brighter.
My wolf howled.
And suddenly—memories that weren't mine flashed behind my eyes.
A different forest. A war. Blood on Kael's face. My voice calling his name—no, not mine, someone else's—but it felt like mine.
Then darkness.
I ripped my hand away, gasping for air.
Kael stumbled back like he'd been struck.
"What the hell was that?" I choked.
He looked shaken. Pale.
"I—I don't know. But I saw it too."
We sat in stunned silence. My fingers tingled, my skin still buzzing. Whatever that was… it wasn't normal. It wasn't just a bond.
It was a history.
A cycle.
"Do you think we've met before?" I asked softly.
Kael nodded slowly, his voice rough.
"In another life… I think we died for each other."
Night had fallen fully now, casting eerie shadows through the cracked window of the abandoned cabin. I stood at the edge of the room, arms wrapped around myself, watching Kael as he paced.
We both needed answers.
But first—we needed to survive the night.
The wolves would be hunting soon. The Alpha of the Ashfang Pack wouldn't take lightly to Kael disappearing during a patrol. And if they found me with him… well, they'd call it betrayal.
But what scared me more than being hunted… was the thought of what this bond truly meant.
What it would cost.
Kael finally stopped pacing.
"We have to leave," he said. "Now. Before they find us."
I nodded. I didn't want to run again. I was tired of hiding, tired of being prey. But staying here, tangled in a mystery that was too big for either of us—it wasn't safe either.
He offered his hand again, not forcing, just offering.
This time, I took it.
As our fingers laced together, the golden thread reappeared—brighter now. Warmer.
And this time, I didn't let go.