Chapter 3 The Bond I Can't Deny

I ran.

Branches slapped my arms. Thorns scratched my legs. But I didn't stop.

Not until the howl faded behind me and the safety of my pack's border loomed ahead. My lungs burned. My heart thundered. My wolf... silent again.

I collapsed behind a tree, gasping. What just happened?

He said I was his. That he'd waited eighteen years to claim me.

But how could a rogue be my mate?

It was impossible. Forbidden. Wrong.

And yet, every part of me remembered the feel of his voice in my chest. The way his eyes saw through me. The bond wasn't imagined - it was real.

I heard footsteps.

"Alera!" someone hissed.

I turned. My best friend, Kael, burst through the trees, his face pale.

"What the hell? You disappeared during the ceremony! Are you okay?"

I opened my mouth to lie - to say I got lost, or sick - but the words stuck.

Instead, I whispered, "I saw someone."

"Who?"

I hesitated. "A rogue."

Kael's eyes widened. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," I said, looking back toward the trees.

"He didn't hurt me."

But the truth was...

He could have.

He should have.

And still, I wanted to see him again.