Morning never truly reached Kane's estate. Even with the sun climbing, the light that touched the mansion's walls felt filtered muted by the dense canopy of trees and the lingering scarlet of the night before.
Aurelia woke to the echo of the bond, a rhythmic pull beneath her collarbone. It was quieter now, but constant, like the ocean's tide pressing against the shore. She could feel Kane somewhere in the building, awake and restless.
The fire in her room had burned low. She rose, bare feet on the cold marble, and walked to the window. The forest beyond shimmered with dew and mist, beautiful and dangerous. Somewhere in that wilderness, her sister was still free or hiding.
A knock came.
When she opened the door, it wasn't Kane. It was a tall, sharp-eyed woman in uniform black. "The Alpha requests your presence in the training hall."
"Requests?"
The woman's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Orders sound less polite."
Aurelia followed her through the twisting corridors. The walls carried faint vibrations magic, machines, and something older humming beneath the stone.
The hall itself was enormous, part temple, part armory. Light spilled in from high windows, catching on the dust that hung like smoke. Kane stood at the center, sleeves rolled, blades glinting at his side.
He looked different in daylight: less untouchable, more human and somehow more dangerous.
"You brought me here to fight?" she asked.
"To learn," he said. "Your power's awakening, but it's unrefined. The bond amplifies it. If you don't control it, it will control you."
Aurelia folded her arms. "And you'll teach me out of the goodness of your heart?"
A flicker of a smile. "Out of self-preservation."
They circled each other across the floor. The air shimmered faintly, carrying heat and the scent of metal. Kane drew one blade and spun it lazily in his hand.
"Again," he said.
She lunged. Instinct guided her, fast and sure, but he sidestepped easily, catching her wrist. The contact lit the bond like fire.
"Too angry," he murmured. "Anger burns out fast."
She pulled free. "Maybe that's the point."
"Not when you're hunted."
He moved again, too fast for her to see, the flat of his blade pressing lightly against her shoulder before she could react. "You think survival is just strength. It's balance. Control."
Something inside her snapped. The mark flared, and a gust of wind burst outward, scattering the weapons on the rack. The torches along the wall guttered and flamed higher.
Kane didn't flinch. "Better. But you let the bond lead you."
"Because it's yours?"
"Because it's ours," he corrected quietly.
The words lingered between them. She could hear his heartbeat through the silence. It matched hers.
Kane stepped closer, the scent of smoke and steel surrounding him. "You feel it too."
"I feel a curse," she said, though her voice faltered.
"Then why don't you break it?"
Aurelia met his gaze. The air seemed to vibrate, a low hum that crawled over her skin. He raised a hand but didn't touch her his fingers stopped just short of her throat, tracing the air above the mark that bound them.
Heat rippled outward. For a breathless second, it felt as if the world had narrowed to that invisible line between them one movement, one heartbeat, and everything would change.
A sound shattered it: the sharp chime of a bell echoing through the hall.
Kane stepped back at once, expression shuttered. "The Council's messengers. They never wait long."
He turned away, but she caught his sleeve. "Tell me what sealing means."
He hesitated. "It's the completion of the bond. Mind and power joined. Forever."
"And if it's severed?"
"One of us dies."
Aurelia's hand dropped. "Convenient for them."
He gave a faint, humorless laugh. "Exactly."
Guards entered the hall and bowed. "Alpha, the emissary requests your audience."
Kane nodded, then looked at her. "Stay close, no matter what you hear."
The audience chamber was smaller than the great hall but colder. Mirrors lined the walls; in each reflection, the crimson mark on Aurelia's collarbone glowed faintly. The emissary waited a young man draped in council red, eyes pale and sharp.
"Alpha D'Lyric," he said with a thin smile. "The Council grows impatient."
"I assumed as much," Kane replied. "Impatience is their only virtue."
The emissary's gaze slid to Aurelia. "So this is the anomaly."
Aurelia stiffened. "She has a name."
Kane's tone sharpened. "Watch your words."
The emissary ignored him. "The Council demands her presence at the equinox conclave. The bond will be judged."
"Judged?" she repeated.
"Confirmed or condemned," the emissary said. "Those are the rules."
Aurelia's pulse hammered. Kane's silence said he already knew.
The emissary turned to leave but paused at the door. "For what it's worth, Alpha, some of us expected you to be more…practical."
When he was gone, the chamber felt suddenly smaller.
"They want to make an example of us," Aurelia said.
"They always do."
"Then why not fight back?"
Kane's eyes were dark. "Because rebellion without power is suicide. And power comes with a cost you don't yet understand."
He walked to the window, staring out at the mist-shrouded gardens. "The last Alpha who defied them lost everything."
"Your father."
He didn't answer, but the muscle in his jaw tightened.
Aurelia stepped beside him. "They'll kill us both if we wait."
"Then we don't wait."
He turned to her, closer than before. "The only way to stand against them is together. The bond is our weapon, if we learn to wield it."
Her breath caught. "You want to train me to fight them?"
"To survive them."
The air between them changed again something electric, inevitable. He reached for her hand, slower this time, giving her a chance to pull away. She didn't.
His fingers brushed hers, light as a whisper. The mark on her skin answered with a surge of warmth.
"We'll start tonight," he said. "Under the moon."
Night fell quickly. The mansion's torches burned low, replaced by the silver wash of the rising moon. In the courtyard, the air shimmered with latent power.
Aurelia stood opposite Kane, the bond alive between them. He spoke softly, words older than memory, and the ground answered, glowing faintly red.
"Let it guide you," he said.
She closed her eyes. The world expanded heartbeat, air, the hum of distant life. When she moved, shadows followed. She could feel every motion of his energy weaving with hers, two lines converging.
Kane stepped closer, voice a low murmur. "You're learning."
Her eyes opened. The moonlight carved his face into silver and shadow. The pull between them was almost unbearable now. She didn't step back.
"Kane…"
He lifted a hand, brushing her cheek with the back of his fingers. "Don't speak."
The bond surged llight blooming briefly between them like a flare. For one breath, they stood caught in it, not touching, yet bound completely.
Then the ground trembled. A ripple of dark energy spread through the courtyard. The light snapped, severed.
From the edge of the forest, a single howl rose familiar, furious. Lysandra.
Kane's expression hardened. "She's inside the barrier."
Aurelia's heart lurched. "She's here for me."
He drew a blade. "Then we're out of time."
The crimson moon hung heavy above them, the bond still burning on their skin, as the first shadow crossed the courtyard and the night itself seemed to split open.