Chapter 3 - THE MOON BOND“No.”
Alora stepped backward.
“I am not property.”
Kael immediately shook his head.
“That isn't what I meant.”
“You said I'm yours.”
“I said the bond chose you.”
“I don't care what chose me.”
Her voice trembled.
“I choose myself.”
Kael stared at her.
Then slowly nodded.
“Good.”
She frowned.
“Good?”
“A queen who cannot choose for herself should never wear a crown.”
He moved away from her.
That only made Alora more confused.
“What exactly is the Moon Bond?”
“It is the oldest bond between the royal bloodline and the wolves.”
“And what does it do?”
“It connects two souls.”
Alora crossed her arms.
“Convenient.”
Kael's expression hardened.
“It is not convenient.”
He looked toward the forest.
“If you are hurt, I feel it.”
Alora blinked.
“If you are afraid, I feel that too.”
“So if I stub my toe…”
“I might.”
She almost laughed.
She didn't.
“What else?”
“If one of us dies…”
Kael paused.
“The other rarely survives.”
Silence.
Alora looked down at her hands.
A pale silver mark had appeared around her wrist.
It hadn't been there yesterday.
“That's impossible.”
Kael came closer.
“It started when you touched me.”
She remembered the sack falling.
The golden eyes.
The moment her fingers brushed his neck.
A strange warmth.
A heartbeat that wasn't hers.
She covered the mark.
“How do we break it?”
“We don't.”
Her eyes snapped up.
“You don't know?”
“I have never seen it happen.”
Kael looked grim.
“Which means whoever arranged your death twelve years ago may have spent years trying to prevent this.”
A sound echoed outside.
Hooves.
Many of them.
Kael blew out the fireplace.
“Someone found us.”
Alora whispered.
“Where do we go?”
“Underground.”
He kicked a stone beneath the table.
A hidden staircase opened.
They descended into darkness.
As the door closed above them, voices filled the cabin.
“Search every room!”
“Burn it if you have to!”
Alora gripped Kael's sleeve.
“How did they track us?”
“The bond.”
Her face fell.
“They can track me?”
“Not perfectly.”
“Then we need to get rid of it.”
Kael looked at her.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because there is one advantage.”
“What?”
He leaned closer.
“I can hear their wolves.”
Alora looked into the darkness.
A moment later, his head turned.
“There are twelve men.”
“How do you know?”
“Because twelve human hearts are beating above us.”
She stared.
“That is terrifying.”
Kael gave her the faintest smile.
“Stay close.”
They moved through the tunnel.
It opened into a massive underground chamber.
The walls were covered in old paintings.
Alora lifted her lantern.
Her breath caught.
The paintings showed kings.
Kings standing beside wolves.
Then queens.
Then a young girl.
A girl with Alora's face.
She walked closer.
“That…”
Kael stopped beside her.
“It is you.”
“No.”
“It was painted before you were born.”
Alora looked at the figure.
Behind the girl was a black wolf.
Above her head was a broken moon.
At the bottom of the painting, an inscription had been carved in ancient letters.
Kael translated it.
“When the nameless king kneels before the nameless girl, the stolen crown will return.”
Alora's heart thudded.
“The nameless king?”
Kael stared at her.
“That was me.”
“And the girl?”
“You.”
The ground suddenly shook.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Kael looked toward the tunnel.
“They found the entrance.”
The chamber began filling with smoke.
Fire.
“They're burning the tunnel!”
Alora coughed.
Kael grabbed her hand.
“There is another way.”
He ran toward a stone wall.
His claws emerged.
He struck the wall.
It cracked.
Again.
Again.
The wall collapsed.
Cold air rushed in.
Beyond it was a giant cavern.
And inside that cavern stood something enormous.
A black throne.
Behind it was a frozen river.
Alora stared.
“This place…”
Kael's expression changed.
He dropped to one knee.
Not for her.
For the throne.
“Home.”
A deep growl echoed through the cavern.
Alora turned.
Two golden eyes opened in the darkness.
Then another pair.
Then another.
Hundreds.
Kael stood.
The wolves did not bow.
They stared at Alora.
Waiting.
One ancient white wolf stepped forward.
It lowered its head.
And spoke.
Not in words.
May you like
Inside Alora's mind.
THE QUEEN HAS RETURNED.
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