ZARA POV
My feet weren't touching the ground anymore.
Kael had me thrown over his shoulder like a sack of grain, and I was screaming—screaming so loud my throat burned—but he didn't slow down. Trees blurred past us. His pack ran alongside us like silver ghosts, their eyes glowing in the darkness.
"Put me down!" I pounded my fists against his back. "I can't breathe! Please!"
He didn't answer. Just kept running, his muscles moving beneath me like a machine that couldn't be stopped.
Then I felt it again—that horrible connection that had exploded between us. His emotions crashed into my mind like a tsunami. Anger, hot and sharp like broken glass. Fear, cold and deep like drowning. And underneath it all, betrayal so painful it made my chest ache.
I didn't mean to hurt you, I thought desperately.
His body tensed. He'd heard me. Through this weird bond thing, he'd actually heard my thoughts.
"Stay out of my head," he snarled.
"I don't know how!"
The forest opened up suddenly, and we were standing in front of a massive cave carved into a cliff face. Torches burned at the entrance, casting dancing shadows on the stone. Wolves emerged from the darkness—more of his pack—and they all stared at me with eyes that promised death.
Kael didn't stop. He carried me straight into the cave, down a tunnel that smelled like earth and smoke, and threw me into a small chamber. I hit the ground hard, my palms scraping against rough stone.
"Stay here," he commanded, blocking the entrance with his massive body. "Don't move. Don't speak. Don't even think about running."
"Wait!" I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the pain. "You can't just lock me up! I need answers! I need—"
"You need to be quiet before someone decides to kill you." His frost-blue eyes glowed in the darkness. "The only reason you're still alive is because killing you would kill me too now. Congratulations. You made yourself my problem."
The guilt crashed through me so hard I almost fell again. Through the bond, I could feel exactly how much he hated this. Hated me. Hated being trapped.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I keep saying it, but I really am. I didn't know what would happen. I just touched you and—"
"You bonded me." His voice was ice. "You marked me as your mate without permission. In my world, that's worse than murder."
My stomach twisted. "Mate? Like... married?"
"Worse. Married people can separate. Bonds are forever. Soul to soul. Heart to heart. I'll feel every emotion you have for the rest of our lives. When you're happy, I'll feel it. When you're sad, I'll feel it. When you die—if you die—I die too."
The weight of what I'd accidentally done crashed over me. This wasn't just about me anymore. I'd trapped someone else in my nightmare.
"How do we break it?" I asked desperately.
"We don't." He turned away from me. "Bonds can't be broken. You made sure of that when you activated Tamer magic nobody's seen for three hundred years."
Three hundred years? I'd barely been here three hours and I'd already destroyed someone's entire life.
Through the bond, I felt his exhaustion. His fear. His desperate wish that none of this was real.
Me too, I thought. I wish this was just a bad dream.
His shoulders stiffened, but he didn't respond.
Footsteps echoed in the tunnel. A younger wolf-man appeared—the blonde one from the forest who'd wanted to kill me. His amber eyes were full of hurt as he looked at Kael.
"The Council's been summoned," he said quietly. "They want her brought to trial at dawn. Finn says... Finn says they're going to execute her for forbidden bonding."
My blood turned to ice. "Execute?"
"She forced a sacred bond," the blonde wolf continued, still talking to Kael like I wasn't there. "The punishment is death. You know the law."
"I know the law, Ryder." Kael's voice was tired. "I also know that if they kill her, they kill me. And I'm not ready to die for someone else's mistake."
"Then what do we do?" Ryder asked.
Before Kael could answer, pain exploded through the bond—not mine, his. Something was wrong. His hand flew to his chest, clawing at the marks I'd put there. He gasped, falling to one knee.
"Kael!" I rushed forward, but Ryder blocked me with a growl.
Through the bond, I felt it—like someone was trying to rip our connection apart from the inside. The marks on my arms burned, turning from gold to black, spreading like poison under my skin.
Kael screamed.
"What's happening to him?" I cried. "What's happening to us?"
Ryder's face went pale. "Someone's attacking your bond. Someone with dark magic."
The cave entrance exploded in purple light. A woman stepped through the smoke—sleek and beautiful, with leopard spots running down her neck and jade-green eyes that promised death.
"Hello, little Tamer," she purred, her voice like poisoned honey. "I've been waiting three hundred years for one of you to return."
She raised her hand, and dark energy crackled between her fingers. The marks on my skin burned hotter, and Kael collapsed completely, blood running from his nose.
"Stop it!" I begged. "You're killing him!"
"That's the idea." She smiled, revealing fangs. "See, when a bond is torn apart before it fully sets, both bonded die screaming. And since you're the last Tamer alive, your death means no one can ever stop what's coming."
The darkness around her hand grew brighter, hungrier.
"The question is," she whispered, taking a step closer, "how much can you watch your wolf suffer before you let me end it?"
Through the bond, I felt Kael's life fading like a candle in the wind.
And I realized with absolute horror that I had exactly ten seconds to figure out how to save someone I'd accidentally doomed.