Kael Draven was in the middle of ripping apart a business plan when the fire hit.
The papers spread across his desk as he doubled over, his chair crashing backward.
Pain burst through his chest like someone had shoved a burning spear between his ribs.
His wolf roared inside him, clawing to get out, desperate to find the source of this pain.
The mate bond.
"No."
The word came out as a growl that shook the windows of his office. "Not now. Not ever." But even as he rejected it, he could feel her. Somewhere out there in the wilderness, scared and alone.
The bond pulsed with her fear, her desperation, and it made his wolf pace like a caged animal.
His Beta, Ronan Vale, burst through the door without knocking.
"Alpha, what happened?
I felt your" "Get out."
Kael's voice was barely human, more beast than man. Ronan's eyes widened as he took in the scene. The wrecked desk. The way Kael clutched his chest. The raw rage radiating from his Alpha like heat from a forge.
"Sir, if this is about the mate bond"
"I said GET OUT!"
The roar broke the glass paperweight on his desk. Ronan stumbled backward, his face pale, but he didn't leave. Stupid, loyal Ronan never knew when to run.
"Alpha, you need to listen to me.
The link won't just disappear because you're angry about it. You have to" Kael moved faster than lightning. One second he was behind his desk, the next he had Ronan pinned against the wall by his throat. His fangs had lengthened, and his eyes blazed gold with his wolf's rage.
"I don't have to do anything," he growled.
"I am Alpha of the strongest pack in these areas. I bow to no one. Not even the Moon Goddess." Ronan didn't fight back, even though Kael could crush his windpipe without effort. Instead, he met his Alpha's eyes calmly.
"The tie is already there, Kael. Fighting it will only make it worse."
Another wave of fire coursed through Kael's veins. This time it came with pictures. A girl with dark hair and sad eyes, running through the forest. Her fear crashed into him through their link, making his wolf howl with the need to protect her.
He released Ronan and stumbled backward.
"I won't accept this. I can't." "Why?" Ronan rubbed his throat, his voice hoarse.
"What's so bad about having a mate? Most wolves would kill for what you've been given."
Kael laughed, but the sound was bitter as poison.
"Most wolves don't have my... complications." Ronan's face softened. He knew about Kael's past. About the woman who had torn his heart out and left him bleeding. About the vows Kael had made never to let anyone get that close again.
"This is different," Ronan said quietly. "A mate bond isn't like" "It's exactly like that!" Kael slammed his hand into the wall, leaving a crater in the plaster.
"Another weakness. Another way for someone to destroy me from the inside out."
The bond pulsed again, stronger this time. Through it, he felt his mate's tiredness. Her hunger. She was living rough, barely managing. His wolf whined, demanding they go to her, care for her, protect her.
Kael gritted his teeth against the urge. He wouldn't be controlled. Not by magic, not by destiny, and definitely not by some random girl the Moon Goddess had decided to throw at him.
"Find her," he said suddenly.
Ronan blinked. "Sir?"
"Find my... find the girl. Bring her here."
"You want to accept the bond?" "I want to end it." Kael's voice was ice-cold.
"I'll reject her properly, face to face.
Then this nightmare will be over."
Ronan looked like he wanted to argue, but he knew better than to push Kael when he was in this mood.
"How do you want me to find her? We don't even know who she is."
"I can feel her." Kael pressed his hand to his chest, where the bond burned like a brand.
"She's northwest of here, maybe thirty miles out. In the deep forest."
"That's rogue territory."
"Then she's a rogue." Kael's lip curled in disgust. Perfect. His mate was some wild wanderer with no pack, no family, no worth. The Moon Goddess really did have a sense of fun.
"Take Kellan and his team," Kael continued. "Track her down and bring her back. Alive and unhurt."
"And if she refuses to come?" Kael's eyes flashed gold. "She doesn't get a choice. I am her Alpha now, whether she likes it or not. She'll obey." Ronan paused at the door.
"Kael... what if rejecting her isn't as easy as you think? The mate bond is precious. There could be consequences"
"There are always consequences." Kael turned to look out the window at his territory spread below. "But I'd rather face them than spend my life chained to someone I never chose."
After Ronan left, Kael tried to focus on his work. But every few minutes, the bond would flare with his mate's feelings. Fear. Sadness. A bone-deep loneliness that made his chest ache. Stop it, he told himself. She's nothing to you. Just another problem to solve.
But his wolf wasn't convinced. It paced restlessly, sending him images of what it wanted to do when they found her. Claim her.
Mark her. Make her theirs forever.
"Never," Kael growled out loud. His phone buzzed. A text from Kellan: Found her tracks.
Moving in now. Good. Soon this would all be over. He'd look this girl in the eye, say the ritual words of rejection, and be free. She'd probably be relieved. What rogue would want to be tied to someone like him anyway?
Another pulse through the bond, this one different. Not fear or sadness, but... running. She was running, her heart pounding with fear. His wolf snarled, angry that their mate was in danger.
But Kael pushed the feeling down. Kellan's team wouldn't hurt her. They had strict orders to bring her back unhurt.
The bond flared again, and this time he felt her distress as she realized she was trapped. Surrounded.
Caught. It's for the best, he told himself.
She'll understand once I explain. But even as he thought it, something twisted in his gut. Something that felt suspiciously like guilt. His phone rang. Kellan's gravelly voice filled his office.
"We have her, Alpha." "Good. Bring her straight to me." "There's... something you should know, sir." Kael's grip tightened on the phone.
"What?" "Her name. It's Aria Thorn." The world stopped spinning. Thorn. As in Alpha Victor Thorn. As in the pack that had been their friends for generations. As in the family that had suffered a terrible loss ten years ago when their youngest daughter died and their eldest...
"The sister-killer," Kael whispered. "Yes, sir. The one who got her sister killed and was removed for it. She's been living as a rogue ever since." Kael closed his eyes, pieces clicking into place. No wonder she was alone in the woods. No wonder she radiated such pain through their tie. She wasn't just any rogue. She was the girl who had destroyed her own family.
"Sir? Your orders?" Kael opened his eyes, his face hardening. If anything, this made his choice easier.
A girl who could get her own sister killed was exactly the kind of person he needed to stay away from. She was scary. Cursed. Perfect for rejecting.
"Bring her to me," he said. "Tonight." "Understood, Alpha." Kael hung up and returned to looking out his window. Soon, Aria Thorn would be standing in his office. He would look into the eyes of the sister-killer, speak the words that would break their bond forever, and send her back to whatever hole she'd crawled out of. Simple. Clean. Final.
So why did his wolf whimper like it was being torn apart?
The bond pulsed one more time, bringing with it an echo of his mate's broken sobs as Kellan's team forced her to run toward her fate.
Toward him. Kael turned away from the window and began preparing for the most important rejection of his life.