The physical chain connecting their wrists didn’t vanish entirely but turned transparent instead when the blinding crimson light faded, settling into a shimmering, blood-red bond that pulsed softly in rhythm with their beating hearts.
Every time Soren tried to pull more than three feet away in stubbornness , a searing shock of heat rippled straight through his veins, violently yanking him back toward Kaelen’s solid frame.
“If you keep dragging your boots, little spell-cutter, I’ll simply pick you up and carry you,” Kaelen growled, his deep baritone still thick with the raw, heavy aura of the newly recognized mate-bond.
“Touch me again without my explicit permission and I’ll ensure your next meal contains enough nightshade to rot your liver from the inside out,” Soren snapped back instantly.
His voice was crisp, sharp, and biting, even as his pulse slammed frantically against his ribs in an overbearing way
Meanwhile On the outside, Soren only maintained a facade of pure, arrogant stubbornness with a lifted chin, squared shoulders, and bright blue eyes glaring murder at the towering Alpha.
But internally, his mind was spinning into an absolute swirl of panic.
A true mate bond?
With Alpha Kaelen Vane?
That overbearing brute and the most feared predator on the entire continent.
Oh my goodness this is doom happening in broad daylight.
To make matters a hundred times worse, Kaelen’s strong blood-magic had twisted the soul-knot during the spell feedback earlier and turning it into the legendary Curse of the Three Moons leaving them with only Ninety days to find a way to sever the cursed bond within three full lunar cycles, or else the spell-backlash would burn both of their cores to ash and kill them.
While on the other hand, Kaelen completely ignored the death threat like it wasn’t anything serious, with a dark, dangerous smirk plastered on corner of his lips, he had dismissed his shocked guards with a sharp flick of his wrist, and those soldiers knew better than to break out the secret and awaken impending doom on themselves
Kaelen led Soren up the winding, torch-lit stone staircase of the main entrance while every step felt like a march toward an execution, but Soren refused to let his knees tremble, buckle or show the slightest bit of weakness.
After hours in the carriage they reached the highest tower of the fortress.
Alpha’s private quarters.
The oak doors, reinforced with dark iron bands, sealed behind them with a resounding thud that echoed off the stone.
Inside when it was closed shut after entering the room.
The interior was wide, clean and unexpectedly quiet with its high arched windows opened out toward the snow-capped mountain peaks of the Northern Reach, letting in the cool glow of the moonlight.
The chamber was warm, with the scent of pines, crackling fireplace smoke, and Kaelen’s overwhelming dark wolf aura.
Soren also sighted a massive bed with the sheets tucked in dark furs that dominated one side of the room, while tall, crowded rows of ancient, leather-bound grimoires statues lined the opposite wall.
“Welcome to your new cage,” Kaelen murmured softly while he leaned his back against the heavy wooden door, crossing his biceps over his chest.
His golden wolf eyes tracked every tiny movement Soren made, glinting like lit fires in the gloom.
“And for the next ninety days, you don’t leave my sight.”
Soren walked forward as far as the red chain allowed, his delicate fingers hovering over the dusty leather spines of the spell books on the bookshelf.
“This isn’t a cage, Alpha.
It’s a temporary inconvenience,” Soren retorted, turning his head to shoot Kaelen a cold glare.
“You need my blood-magic to research a way to unbind this curse without destroying your precious pack lineage.
And I need your ancient library to find the counter-spell so I can get my life back.
We are business partners, nothing more.”
“A truce, then,” Kaelen said, his tone dropping into a smooth, hypnotic rumble that vibrated through the floorboards.
He took two slow, deliberate steps forward.
The glowing red chain shortened between them, tugging Soren’s wrist forward until Kaelen’s towering shadow completely enveloped Soren’s small, slender frame while Kaelen leaned down slightly, and his hot breath brushing against the shell of Soren’s delicate ear, sending an unwanted, traitorous shiver straight down the spell-cutter’s spine and that close proximity also made him fight his wolf that was threatening to come out.
“Seventy-five gold pack credits a week,” Kaelen whispered, his golden eyes burning with absolute dominance.
“Complete, unrestricted access to my archives, and full Blackthorn protection from the High Council.
No enforcer on this continent will dare touch a single hair on your head while you are under my roof.”
Soren held his breath, forcing his body to stay completely still and composed despite the intense physical heat radiating off the Alpha.
Subtly, his right hand slid down toward his belt, his fingers curling around the hilt of his concealed dagger just in case the wolf lost his mind and attempted something funny.
“And my conditions?” Soren demanded, glaring directly into Kaelen’s amused glowing eyes.
“Name them, little spell-cutter,” Kaelen rasped, his gaze flickering down for a fraction of a second to Soren’s pale, parted lips.
“First, separate sleeping arrangements,” Soren said firmly, pointing a thin finger toward a long velvet couch near the fireplace indicating they would sleep separately and maintained boundaries.
“Second, you keep your feral wolf instincts strictly on your side of the chamber and to yourself and should incase you try to mark me, touch me, or force this mate bond while I sleep, I will use every drop of my blood-magic to make your life a living hell.”
Kaelen actually chuckled darkly and it vibrated directly against Soren’s chest.
The Alpha didn’t look offended at all actually and if anything, Soren’s arrogant stubbornness seemed to amuse him to no end.
“Agreed,” Kaelen murmured, leaning in just a fraction closer until their noses were barely an inch apart.
“For now, sweetheart.
But remember—the chain pulls both ways.”
Soren yanked his wrist back with a huff, turning his back on the Alpha with a sharp spin to inspect the nearest stack of spell books.
But as he turned away, his face flushed bright red against his pale face and his heart was hammering so violently against his ribs that he tried to keep it calm because he was terrified Kaelen’s sharp wolf hearing would pick it up and now he was trapped in the wolf’s den, bound by a fatal curse to a man who looked at him like he was a prize waiting to be claimed.
Ninety days sounded like a long time, but as Soren looked at the glowing red chain between their wrists, he had a terrifying thought that made the smooth hairs on his body stand in terrific attention.
And at this point maybe breaking the curse might turn out to be much easier than surviving Alpha Kaelen Vane.
Kaelen’s family bloodline carries an ancestral curse, and now Soren is caught right in the crossfire!
Even with a 90-day timer ticking away, Soren still managed to demand his 40 gold credits—we love a sharp, hustling king!
($~$)
To my readers: What do you think of Kaelen carrying Soren out of his ruined shop?
Will Soren survive staying with our strong alpha Kaelen’s warmth keeping him alive?
Chapter 4 is going to be full of tension!