Chapter 2 The Unbidden Bond

The dawn broke reluctantly over the borderlands, a dull gray light filtering through the canopy as mist clung to the forest floor. Aria's breath clouded in the chilly air as she worked, her hands stained crimson as she pressed cloth against a deep gash in the wounded Alpha's side.

It had been hours since she found him, and still the bleeding hadn't fully stopped. Whatever battle he'd been in, it was unlike anything she'd seen , the wounds ragged and unnatural, as though something darker than wolf claws had left them.

"You're stubborn," she muttered, wringing out a blood-soaked rag in a nearby stream. "Most wolves would've been long dead."

He stirred again, a low growl vibrating through his chest. Aria glanced down just as his human form began to break through the surface of his wolf skin , bones reshaping, fur retreating, until a man lay before her.

And what a man.

Even battered and bloodied, Kade Varyn was a storm made flesh. Dark hair plastered to his forehead, strong jaw shadowed with stubble, skin bronzed and marred by fresh wounds and old scars. His chest rose and fell with shallow, pained breaths.

Aria knelt beside him, brushing damp strands from his forehead. She hesitated, then let her fingers linger a moment longer than necessary.

That's when it happened.

A spark.

A strange, electric pull shot up her arm, curling low in her belly. Kade's eyes snapped open, and for a single heartbeat, time stopped.

Amber met stormy gray.

Aria recoiled, her hand falling away as though burned. "What the hell..."

Kade groaned, attempting to push himself up. His gaze locked onto hers like a predator scenting prey. "Who are you?"

His voice was raw, rough like gravel, but beneath it lay a force that could command armies.

Aria's pulse jumped. She couldn't tell him the truth , that she was a healer in exile, a descendant of a bloodline hunted for centuries. That her mother had died in these very woods saving rogues like him. It wasn't a story anyone survived telling.

"I'm... no one," she answered, focusing on binding a wound across his ribs. "A healer. That's all you need to know."

"Bullshit," he growled. He grabbed her wrist , not with enough strength to hurt, but enough to stop her moving away. The same spark leapt between them again, sharp as a blade's edge. His brows drew together. "I know that scent."

Aria's stomach dropped. Her bloodline bore a distinctive scent only the most ancient wolves could detect , and Alphas like Kade, old magic running in their veins, might sense it.

"You don't know me," she forced out.

His grip tightened slightly. "I've known death long enough to know what stands between it and me. You're not ordinary."

"I never said I was," she shot back, yanking free.

But the damage was done. The pull between them had settled like a taut string, neither able to cut it. Aria hated the way it made her chest tighten, hated how his eyes followed her every move.

"You should rest," she muttered, gathering her things. "If you try shifting again too soon, you'll bleed out."

"I don't answer to you," Kade growled, but his voice had lost its venom.

Aria knew the type , alphas drowning in their own power, certain the world bent to their will. She'd spent her life avoiding them. So why was she risking everything for this one?

Because you felt it too, something inside whispered.

No. She couldn't afford such weakness.

"I'll come back with supplies," she said stiffly. "You'll live."

"Wait."

She paused, half-turning. His expression had softened, the aggression dulled by pain and... something else.

"Your name," he demanded. "Tell me your damn name."

Aria considered lying but found herself saying, "Aria."

No surname. No hint of her lineage.

Kade let the name roll over his tongue, as if testing its weight. "Aria."

It sounded different when he said it , dangerous, somehow.

"I owe you my life," he admitted, though it seemed to pain him more than the wounds.

"I didn't do it for a debt," she said, and vanished into the trees before he could answer.

Later That Night

The forest around Aria's cottage was alive with uneasy whispers , wind stirring branches, distant howls carrying messages she could no longer decipher. She set her satchel down and leaned against the door, heart pounding.

She'd felt it.

A bond.

Not the destined kind sung about by elders, but something raw and unfinished. Unbidden.

And if she was right... it was with a man who could destroy everything she'd fought to protect.

As she boiled water for more salves, a knock sounded at the door. Not a knock, precisely , three sharp raps, a pause, then one more.

Her blood turned to ice.

No one used that signal but one man.

Eryx.

The Moon Priest from the night before stepped inside, his scarred face grim.

"You found him."

Aria didn't pretend ignorance. "He won't survive the night without help."

Eryx nodded. "Then help him. But you need to be gone by dawn. If the Council finds him here, they'll burn this place to ash with you inside it."

"And what of the bond?" she asked quietly.

Eryx's jaw tightened. "Pray it breaks. Or pray you're strong enough to survive it."

And just like that, he was gone again.