Updated Sep 16, 2025 • ~2 min read
The days after the attack blurred together in a tense rhythm. Wolves repaired barricades, villagers whispered in fear, and Mira tried to hold herself apart from it all. But the bond gave her no peace. It tugged at her every hour, pulling her toward the one man she wanted to avoid most.
She found herself watching him without meaning to—how his muscles shifted as he trained, how his voice carried when he commanded. The worst part was how her body responded, heat curling low in her stomach, shame threading through her veins.
One evening, while gathering supplies in the storage hut, she sensed him before he appeared. The air thickened, the tether at her wrist sparking alive. She turned, and there he was—filling the doorway with his broad frame, his golden eyes locked on her like a predator that had finally cornered its prey.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” Darius said, his voice low.
Mira’s pulse stuttered. “I’ve been busy.”
He stepped closer, the small space shrinking around them. “Busy pretending this bond isn’t consuming you?”
Her chest tightened. “You think it’s only me?”
His jaw flexed, his eyes darkening. “No. It’s tearing me apart too.”
The admission hit her harder than she expected. She pressed back against the shelves, trying to put space where there was none. But he closed the distance anyway, the heat of his body searing through the air.
“Mira,” he murmured, her name a plea and a warning. His hand hovered near her cheek, trembling with restraint.
Her breath caught, the bond thrumming so fiercely she thought it might split her in two. She wanted to shove him away. She wanted to drag him closer.
At the last second, she turned her head, breaking the spell. “Don’t.”
The word cracked in the air, sharp and fragile.
For a long moment, he stood there, fighting some war she couldn’t see. Then, slowly, he dropped his hand, stepping back with visible effort.
But his voice was raw when he said, “You can’t run from this forever.”
Mira swallowed hard, her body trembling as the bond burned on. Shadows of desire haunted her long after he left the hut, whispering truths she wasn’t ready to face.
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