The moment my paws hit the forest floor, the pain tore through me again. It hit like a sudden spear to the ribs, sharp and fierce, and it almost dropped me where I stood. I forced myself forward, muscles trembling, breath coming out rough and uneven.
It was her.
It was always her.
Zuri.
The farther I ran from River Court, the worse it got. My wolf snarled inside my chest, trying to drag me back the way I came, toward her, toward the bond neither of us was supposed to have. Toward the girl I was certain was human.
"Karros! Focus!" my father barked from ahead, his voice strict and irritated.
I snapped back to the present, pushing air out of my lungs in a shaky exhale. I forced my legs to keep moving even though everything in me screamed to turn around and run to her. I knew that if I so much as tried, my father would be on me instantly.
He slowed until he was beside me, his eyes sharp in the moonlight. "You are unfocused. Again. What could possibly be so important on the other side of that forest that you cannot be present for one simple run?"
I swallowed hard. The bond twisted deeper, making my heart thunder painfully. "Nothing. I am fine."
"You are lying," he said calmly but with clear annoyance. "You think I cannot smell it on you. You think I cannot read you. I have watched you since you were a child. You are hiding something."
"I am not," I said.
He stopped running, forcing me to stop as well. His voice dropped lower, colder. "We have practiced this ceremony for years. You will stand beside the Vesperian heir next moon. You will accept the bond for the sake of your clan and your people. You will not embarrass me. Whatever this distraction is, you will cut it off. Now."
My jaw clenched. My chest ached so violently I almost bent over. "I said I am fine."
He stared at me like he could peel my skin open and inspect the truth inside. "We will continue. Do not fall behind again."
He took off before I could respond, and I released the breath I had been holding. My legs shook. My wolf growled furiously, slamming against my ribs as if to break free and sprint back to Zuri.
I whispered under my breath, "I know. I feel it too."
Bron found me after the run ended. We were supposed to be resting by the fire, but I could not stop pacing. Every few minutes I felt Zuri's presence tug at me like a hook imbedded in my sternum. It hurt to breathe.
Bron watched me with a frown. "Your father will notice if you keep twitching like that."
"I cannot help it. It feels like my whole chest is boiling."
"That is the mate bond trying to choke you," Bron said quietly. "And we need to hide it before your father gets suspicious."
I rubbed a hand over my face. "He already is."
Bron sighed and glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to hear us. "Then we need to start now."
"Start what?"
"Covering your scent," he said. "Masking the pull. Making sure no one can smell what is going on inside you."
"And how exactly do you plan to do that?"
Bron hesitated before answering. "Wolfsbane."
I froze. "You are joking."
"I wish I were. But it is the only thing strong enough."
"But all the wolfsbane in River Court was destroyed years ago. My father and the Vesperians made sure of it."
Bron lifted a brow. "Not all of it."
I stared at him. "What do you mean?"
He motioned for me to follow him deeper into the trees. When we were far enough from the others, he spoke.
"Last year, after a run, I went swimming near the riverbank. While I was drying off, I saw a bloom of wolfsbane growing between a cluster of rocks."
"You should have reported it."
"I know," he said. "Every werewolf is supposed to. But I did not."
"Why?"
Bron slowly exhaled as though the memory was a weight he had been carrying alone. "Because my parents were poisoned with wolfsbane. A lethal dose. From a wandering pack. They died screaming. I was twelve."
I turned to him fully, stunned. "Bron. I did not know."
"Of course you did not," he said with a shrug. "It is not something people want to ask about. But after they died, I started studying chemistry. I wanted to understand what killed them. And how to reverse it. So when I saw that bloom, I kept it. I hid it. I experimented with it."
I blinked hard. "You have been handling wolfsbane in secret? For a year?"
"Yes."
"That is insane."
He gave a tired smile. "It is painful. But not insane. I needed to know if I could create a cure. Something that could counter a lethal dose before it shuts the body down." He paused. "The plant weakened me a lot. I lost weight. I lost strength. But I learned how to dry it properly and how to crush it without killing myself."
I felt guilt slide through my spine. "I should have noticed something was wrong."
Bron shook his head. "It is not your fault. I hid it well. And I never expected I would need to use it. Until you started acting like your insides were being ripped apart."
My voice was low. "I cannot let my father know about her. He will never allow a matebond. Not after what he did to my mother."
Bron nodded. "I know."
Images flashed behind my eyes. My mother's face. The night she refused the marriage contract between the Lykos and Vesperian clans. The way she refused to sell her only son into a political union with the enemy. The way my father exiled her for it. Called her disloyal. Said she would destroy our clan's future if she stayed.
I clenched my teeth until it hurt.
Bron put a hand on my shoulder. "Then we do what we must."
That night, when the entire camp was asleep, Bron slipped away silently. I waited for hours, pacing the edge of our tent. My chest throbbed in a steady, brutal rhythm. Zuri. Zuri. Zuri. Like her name was carved into my bones.
When Bron finally returned, he staggered inside carrying a tightly wrapped cloth bundle.
He dropped it on the ground and whispered, breathing heavily, "Found it."
"You were gone for too long."
"I had to sneak into my apartment without waking the neighbors," he muttered. "And carrying this thing hurts like being stabbed repeatedly."
I knelt beside him. "Are you alright?"
"I will live," he said through gritted teeth. "Let us get this done."
He opened the cloth.
The dried wolfsbane plant inside was purple and brittle. The second the air hit it, my skin prickled painfully.
"Careful," Bron warned. "Even touching it will burn."
"I know."
We used stones to grind the plant. Every time a leaf shifted, Bron hissed. Once, the stem brushed his finger and he bit back a curse, shaking his hand violently.
"You good?" I asked.
"No," he groaned. "But I am committed to your bad decisions."
"This is not a bad decision."
"It feels like one."
We worked for almost an hour. The air filled with a bitter, metallic scent that made my throat sting. At one point the powder drifted too close and brushed my wrist. The burn shot through me so sharply my vision blurred.
"Karros," Bron hissed. "Stop touching it."
"I am not trying to."
"Well stop anyway."
We kept grinding, sweating, swearing, trying not to die.
Finally, Bron exhaled. "That is it. That should be enough."
I nodded. "Thank you."
Bron leaned back against the tent pole, exhausted. "You owe me food. A lot of it."
"I will get you anything you want."
"Good," he muttered. "Because this," he pointed at the powder, "better be worth it."
"It will be," I said.
He nodded once before closing his eyes, too drained to speak again.
I sat in the dark, clutching my aching chest.
I whispered to myself, "I am coming back to you, Zuri."
My wolf growled in agreement.
The bond pulsed once.
Then twice.
Then steady.
Pulling me home.