Chapter 22 Secrets in the Archives
Malia's POV
Walking into class with July and Freddy on either side of me is easier than going at it alone.
But it's still brutal.
I command the salaam to wipe every dirty look away. Whispers immediately break out — some pitying, some mocking, some simply inquisitive.
I hold my head up and walk to my usual seat, forcing myself not to react. You're better than this, I tell myself. Don’t let them catch you crumbling.
The day passes like a whirlwind of stares and whispers that hush when I move too close.
But I survive. Hour by hour, class by class.
By the time the last bell rings, I’m exhausted but still standing. Small victory.
—----
I’m due to meet Aiden in the restricted archives for our assignment that evening. Part of me wants to skip — I’ve taken enough emotional pounding for one week.
But we’re behind schedule, and Professor Davies doesn’t do excuses. So I trudge down to the library basement, my access pass in hand.
Aiden is already there when I get there, surrounded by opened books and scattered notes.
He looks up as I come in. "You came. "
"Did you think I wouldn't?"
"Honestly? Yes." He returns his attention to an especially ancient text. "Thought last night might have been too much."
There’s no judgment in his voice.
Just observation.
“It wasn't near enough in those days," I confessed, flicking the seat across the way from him. "But I'm still here."
"Good."
We both had our small intervals of silent work, and the now familiar tension that hovered between us was somewhat less oppressive than usual.
Maybe it was because we were both too exhausted to fight emotionally.
Perhaps it's just that something changed last night.
I’m elbow-deep in a chapter on ancient pack structures when a phrase pulls me up:
"...the banned process of hybrid bonding, considered too risky to allow..."
I stop reading, heartbeat racing.
Hybrid bonding?
I turn back a few pages, looking for more context.
There—an entire section reads: Hybrid Bonds: A Historical Prohibition
My hands are trembling a little as I read:
"Hybrid bonds, tenuous relationships between wolves of mixed blood and pureblood, were banned by the Grand Council in 1647, the same year it outlawed it. These bonds, forged out of previously unimaginable power and volatility, were perceived as threats to established pack hierarchies..."
I hurry, eager for knowledge.
“Contrary to the expected rules of conventional mate bonds, which are formed between wolves of comparable rank and bloodline, hybrid bonds are not-bound by normal mate rules. A hybrid could bond with an alpha, disrupting succession lines. In very rare instances, the Council acknowledged multiple bonds, considering such power structures as unstable and unpredictable…"
Multiple bonds.
My wolf stirs uneasily.
"They were labeled \\"unnatural\\" and \\"unhealthy.\\" Established bonded pairs were separated by force. Records were destroyed. The custom was scrubbed from official wolf history..."
“what are you reading?”
Aiden's voice startles me.
I look up to see him staring at me with an unreadable expression. "Just... research," I say, trying to sound casual. "Found something about hybrid bonds. Did you know they used to be a thing?"
He clenched his jaw. "That doesn't pertain to our assignment."
"But it's curious." It says here that hybrid bonds were deemed so dangerous because they imperiled pack hierarchies—"
"Malia." His voice is sharp. "Drop it."
I blink, caught off guard by his surprise. "Why?"
"Because it's nothing but a trivial historical detail, and it's not going to help our mission.”
“But—"
"I said drop it."He stands abruptly, gathering his books. "We should stick to the subject. Modern pack dynamics, not archaic superstition."
He's running. I can tell by the rigid set of his shoulders, by his refusal to look me in the eyes.
He knows something.
"Aiden—"
"I'm taking a break. Keep working if you want."
Then he's gone, disappearing into the stacks.
I sat there, looking at the empty seat across from me.
What just happened?
Why did the mention of hybrid bonds make him panic? I look back down at the text, reading more intently now:
"Signs of hybrid bonding were: over-the-top protective parenting, inability to tolerate the distress of the bonded pair, sense recognition above and beyond what is normally expected, and, in some situations, multiple wolves may share emotional resonance..."
My breath catches. Protective instincts.
Difficult to withstand worry. Scent recognition.
Like Aiden standing up for me at the gathering.
Like the way he reacted to the video of me failing.
Like his confession: Because watching her hurt you made me want to destroy something.
No.
That's ridiculous.
They were outlawed centuries ago.
They probably don’t even exist anymore.
And even if they did, Aiden Moonfall — future alpha, pureblood heir — would never be bonded to me.
A hybrid. A scholarship student.
Someone so low that it’s comical but my wolf whimpers, unsure. Because something about this knowledge is important.
Personal.
True.
—----
I spend the next hour or so researching on my own. The texts are ancient, fragmented, manifestly censored.
But I rack up more details:
Hybrid bonds were volatile—sometimes mated with one wolf, sometimes many.
They weren't to be compelled or commanded.
They went their own way, without regard to station or pack politics. And they were powerful.
More potent than typical bonds, traditional bonds, as they connected two worlds: human and wolf, pureblood and hybrid. The Council feared them, because they were uncontrollable.
Because a hybrid bonded to an alpha could change everything. Could challenge the hierarchy itself.
I'm so engrossed in reading I don't realize how much time has passed.
Notice the library emptying out.
Don’t notice Mrs. Chen make her final rounds.
"Miss Reed?" Her voice startles me. "We are closing in ten minutes."
"Sorry, I'll pack up."
She nods and continues her rounds. I am beginning to collect my notes, but as I close the final book—a very old book, bound in cracked leather—something slips out.
A piece of paper, aged and yellow. I pick it up carefully. Written in faded ink, in elegant script: The bond chooses not the wolf. Fight it and you are fighting yourself. Accept it, and you accept destiny.
My heart races. That was not in the text from the book. Someone put it here! Recently or long time ago I can't tell but the message is to me.
Personal.
The bond chooses, not the wolf.
I read it three more times, to comprehend.
What bond? Whose fate?
I turn the paper over—blank. I turn the page over blank.
No signature, no date, no background.
I carefully slip it into my notebook and pack up.
—-----
Aiden is still not back when I get to the dorm.
Staring at the ceiling in bed with the words running through my mind the note from it.
The bond chooses, not the wolf.
What if the bond has already chosen?
What if that’s why Aiden is pushing me away — because he feels it too?
What if Rowan's compassion and Cian's tolerance are more then just friendship?
What if— No.
I’m overthinking.
Reading meaning into coincidence.
Hybrid bonds are extinct, banned, forgotten.
They are no longer among us. But my wolf doesn’t believe that.
She's pacing, she's restless, sensing something I can't quite put my finger on..Like she know’s a truth that I'm not ready to face. I pull out my phone and look at the note I took a picture of.
The bond chooses, not the wolf.
Then I think about the Moonfall triplets:
Aiden—who is terrifying because of what lies beneath his cruelty, whose idea of protection is lashing out against everyone he cares for.
Rowan—whose kindness feels like coming home, whose concern is steady and unwavering.
Cian—who's silence is louder than anything you can say, and whose empathy dismantles every wall.
Three brothers. Three kinds of love.
Three wolves who shouldn't give a damn about a hybrid, but somehow do.
Multiple bonds were reported in rare cases...
My breath catches.
No.
That's impossible.
Isn't it?
I'm still turning the thought over when Aiden finally returns, well past midnight.
He moves quietly, probably thinking I'm asleep.
But I turn slightly to look at him in the dark.
He pulls off his jacket, combs his hand through his hair, then takes a seat on the edge of his bed.
And for a second, even his wary, guard-up mindset takes a break.
He looks tired.
Lost.
Like he’s carrying something too heavy to hold up.
"Aiden?" I whisper.
He halts. “I thought you were asleep.”
"Couldn't."
Silence.
Then: “Me neither.”
I sit up slowly. “Can I ask you something?”
"You're going to anyway."
Fair.
“Why did you react like that? When I said hybrid bonds, you know?”
His shoulders tense. “I told you. That’s not material.”
"That's not the reason. You were... scared."
"I wasn't scared."
"Then what were you?"
He's quiet so long I think he's not going to answer. Then, barely audible: "Terrified."
The confession hangs in the dark.
“Of what?” I press.
"I'm afraid that you'll find out before I'm ready to deal with it."
My heart stops. "Figuring what out?"
But he doesn’t answer.
Just lies back on his bed, turning toward the wall.
"Goodnight, Malia."
Dismissal.
But this time it doesn’t feel like a no.
It feels like retreat. Like a person fleeing a truth too great to look at.
I lie down again, holding the photographed note on my phone. It is the bond that chooses , not the wolf.
And somewhere inside of me, my wolf howls softly, recognising something I’m only beginning to understand.