Chapter 3 The Bonding Heat

The fever broke just before dawn.

Selene stirred awake to find Rhian sitting upright beside the fire, his shirt still open, bandages streaked with dried blood. He looked steadier now-eyes clear, breathing slow, pain settled beneath his skin like a bruise. He didn't speak. Just watched the flames move.

"You're alive," she said, groggily.

He glanced at her. "Not sure if I'm thankful yet."

"Try being grateful next time someone saves your life."

A flicker of something passed across his face. Regret, maybe. Or something heavier. He looked at her differently now-like she wasn't just some half-wild healer dragging him through the woods.

"Your hands," he murmured. "They were shaking when you dressed my wounds."

She pulled the blanket tighter around herself. "Because you were dying."

"No. You were scared."

Selene bristled. "Of course I was."

"Not for yourself," he said. "For me."

She didn't respond. She wasn't sure she could. She stared at the fire instead, watching the sparks spit upward into nothing.

He shifted his weight slowly, wincing as his muscles flexed.

"I don't think I've felt something like this before," he said. "Not just pain. It's like... a tether. Between us."

She swallowed hard. "It's the bond."

"I didn't claim you."

"You didn't have to."

They sat in silence.

She reached for the pot of water she'd hung above the fire and poured two cups into clay bowls. He took his with a nod and sipped.

"You should be dead," she said quietly. "Whatever they hit you with-it wasn't just meant to kill your body. It was meant to weaken your wolf. Burn it out."

"I know."

"Whoever did it... wanted you to suffer."

Rhian stared at his cup. "My own kind."

Selene didn't ask him to explain. She knew betrayal. Not the kind whispered behind backs-but the kind written into bloodlines. The kind that left you cold even when surrounded by heat.

"I don't belong anywhere either," she said. "If that helps."

He looked up. "You're not in a pack?"

"Not since I was a child."

"Why?"

She hesitated. Then: "Born under a cursed moon. They feared me before I could even shift. So they left me outside the gates. Said I'd be safer out here. Said they would too."

"You ever go back?"

She met his eyes. "Would you?"

His jaw flexed, but he didn't answer.

They sat together for a long time after that, neither pushing for more. Just breathing the same air, listening to the fire crackle and the wind shift.

Finally, she stood.

"There's a cave just east of here. Deeper shelter. We should move before someone else finds you."

"You mean before someone else finds you."

She gave a soft, bitter smile. "I've been hiding for years. I'm good at it."

Rhian didn't smile. Just pushed himself to his feet with a groan and leaned on her shoulder without asking. She was smaller, barely up to his chest, but she didn't falter under the weight.

Together, they walked into the trees.

The cave was carved from river stone and hidden behind thick vines. She'd discovered it years ago while running from one of the patrols that used to come looking for her. It was dry, silent, and safe.

Rhian collapsed against the back wall with a grunt.

Selene lit a fire from memory. No sparks. Just the slow burn of moss and dry bark.

"I'll hunt," she said.

"You shouldn't go far."

"I never do."

She returned an hour later with rabbit and wildroot. He didn't speak while she cooked, didn't ask questions when she tossed him the meat. They ate in silence, chewing through exhaustion.

When she reached to take his bowl, their fingers brushed.

Heat.

But not just from the fire.

He stared at her hand. Then her face.

The air thickened.

Selene stepped back first. Not because she was afraid-but because she wasn't ready. Not for what came with that kind of look. Not when she barely knew who she was.

He said nothing.

And that was enough.

That night, she dreamed again.

Of fire.

Of wolves with glowing eyes.

Of her standing alone in a circle of ash, a hundred voices chanting her name, not in praise-but warning.

Selene.

The Crimson One.

The Unclaimed.

The Reborn.

She woke with sweat dripping down her back.

Rhian was awake too. Sitting at the cave's mouth, watching the sky lighten.

"You should sleep," she said, voice hoarse.

"Can't."

She joined him.

"Nightmares?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yours?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, he looked out into the forest like it might speak.

"I lost my mate," he said at last. "Three years ago. She was carrying my child."

Selene's heart clenched. "I'm sorry."

"She died in childbirth. Both of them. The healers said the birth was cursed. That she was never meant to carry. They blamed me."

She swallowed hard. "You left?"

"No. I stayed. I burned for a while. Then I stopped."

He turned to her, gaze heavy. "And then I came here. To die, maybe. Or to run. I don't know."

Selene didn't speak. Just sat beside him, close enough to feel the grief coming off him in waves.

And he didn't cry.

But the silence between them did.