Chapter 4: The Mate Bond Strikes
The silence between them stretched like a chasm.
Lucian's fingers still wrapped gently around Aria's wrist, but something had changed something elemental. The moment she stepped into the sacred chamber with him, heat surged beneath her skin, not from fire, but from instinct.
Something ancient.
Something awakened.
The orbs above them flickered. The room pulsed with the rhythm of two matching heartbeats.
Lucian's voice deepened to a whisper. "You feel it, don't you?"
Aria swallowed hard. Her throat was dry. "I do not know what I feel."
But she did.
Every breath Lucian took felt like it tugged at her lungs. Every shift of his body rippled through her skin as if she was tethered to him by an invisible thread.
The Mate Bond.
Not a myth. Not a fantasy.
It was real. It was searing.
And it was claiming her.
He led her deeper into the chamber. Torches ignited as they passed, casting warm amber light over the carved stone.
They stopped before an altar ancient, cracked, and humming with power. Symbols etched into its base glowed faintly, reacting to her presence.
Lucian stepped close, so close she could feel the heat radiating off him. His voice was low, reverent.
"This is where the first Bloodbound were joined. Not just as lovers. As fated beings."
She tilted her head. "Bloodbound?"
"Our kind. Vampire and shifter. Born of two worlds, torn by war, cursed by the gods… saved by a bond deeper than blood."
His gaze bore into hers.
"You are both fire and fang. Witch and wolf. You were born to bridge our worlds. To rule them."
Aria took a step back, overwhelmed. "I do not wish or want to rule anyone."
He did not move. "You already do. You rule me."
The truth in his voice soft, dangerous, broken shattered her breath.
Something in her stirred. Power, yes. But also desire.
Not lust alone. Longing. Recognition.
Like her soul had been waiting for his voice, his scent, his skin.
The pendant might be gone, but another kind of bond was forming.
Her voice shook. "Why me?"
Lucian stepped closer, lifting his hand slowly giving her time to pull away.
But she didn't.
His knuckles brushed her cheek.
"Because the moon chose you. And because I remember the taste of your name on my lips, even in death."
Aria trembled. "I don't remember… us."
He pressed his forehead to hers. "Then I will help you remember. Not through words. Through touch. Through fire."
The air thickened.
She felt her body react before she gave it permission. Her breath quickened. Her skin flushed.
He leaned in slowly, giving her every chance to escape.
She didn't move.
When his lips brushed hers, it wasn't a kiss it was a promise. A spark that ignited everything inside her.
Then the kiss deepened.
Slow.
Savage.
A claiming.
Her fingers gripped his coat. She pressed into him, desperate, unthinking. All fear drowned beneath the roar of instinct.
Lucian groaned against her mouth. "You don't know what you do to me…"
He lifted her easily, placing her atop the altar as if she belonged to it. His mouth never left hers.
Her legs wrapped around his hips as heat flooded between her thighs.
Aria gasped. Her body ached no, burned for more.
Lucian's hand slid along her waist, reverent, worshipful.
"We don't have to go further," he whispered against her neck. "Say the word, and I'll stop."
She didn't say a word.
Instead, she pulled him closer.
And the Bond struck.
It wasn't just pleasure.
It was awakening.
Every nerve in her body flared as he kissed down her throat, tasting the skin that belonged only to him.
When he sank his fangs gently not to pierce, just to rest them against her Aria shivered with anticipation.
Then he paused.
"Once I mark you, there's no turning back. Your soul will remember me. Even in death."
She met his gaze.
"I want to remember."
He bit.
A rush of pain.
Then ecstasy.
Her moan echoed in the chamber, raw and wild.
As his blood mingled with hers, as his hand slid beneath her tunic, her entire world changed.
She arched beneath him, consumed.
He kissed her again, deeper this time, his tongue demanding entrance, his fingers exploring places untouched.
And when she climaxed
It wasn't silent.
It wasn't soft.
It was fire and stars and rebirth.
Lucian kissed her temple as she came down, trembling.
"You are mine now," he whispered. "And I am yours."
They lay together beneath the glowing torches, their bodies tangled, her heartbeat matching his.
Aria traced the scar his bite left on her neck.
She felt… complete.
And yet, afraid.
"What happens now?" she asked.
Lucian turned toward her.
"Now, we prepare for war."