Chapter 85: Shifting Bonds - Callista

He stepped forward, and I felt it before I fully processed. The bond responded to him immediately, flooding me with warmth. It was as if it had been starved of oxygen and finally had air again. It pulled sharply in my chest.

I slowly let my gaze drift to his face. My chest throbbed. It wasn’t painful, but it was intense enough that I had to steady myself so I didn’t reach for him.

I forced my gaze to stay level and on his face.

The Alpha King’s voice cut through the moment before I could make sense of it.

“Good,” he said, as if this awkward silence was exactly what he wanted. “Now that you are both here, we can begin.”

My fingers tightened slightly at my sides. I didn’t look at Riven again, even though I could feel him. I hated that I could feel him so clearly even when I was actively trying not to. I didn’t want to react to him. I didn’t want to feel anything through the bond at all right now, not when everything already felt unstable.

The Alpha King stood and gestured for us to follow. I did, because there wasn’t much of a choice, but I did cling to my bag a little too tightly. Not that it would save me should something happen. Riven was behind me, but I refused to turn around and confirm it.

The hallway we were led down wasn’t one I had seen before. It felt colder the deeper we went, not temperature-wise exactly, but in a way that made my instincts tighten. The kind of place that felt sealed off from everything else.

When we finally entered the training chamber, I slowed down without meaning to.

It was too large with stone floors, high ceilings, and markings carved into the ground that looked intentional rather than decorative. This wasn’t just a training space. It felt like something else.

The Alpha King turned, looking at us both in the eyes before motioning toward the space.

“Training begins immediately,” he said, his voice low. “You will learn control under pressure. Distance without disconnection. And what it means when the bond is tested.”

I glanced at him sharply at that last part.

“What does that mean?” I asked before I could stop myself.

He didn’t answer directly. Of course, he didn’t.

“You will understand soon enough.”

My jaw tightened, but I looked away before I said something I would regret. Instead, my eyes drifted briefly to Riven. He was already watching me. That alone made my chest tighten in a way I didn’t want to acknowledge.

I looked away first.

“Begin,” the Alpha King said.

And everything shifted.

At first, nothing obvious happened. We just stood there, but I could feel it immediately. The air in the room felt heavier, as if something had been pressed down over us that wasn’t visible. My breathing slowed slightly without my permission.

And then I felt it. The bond.

It wasn’t warm the way it used to be when we were close. There was no comfort. It was sharp and alert, reacting to something I didn’t fully understand. I felt Riven shift slightly, and the bond reacted harder. It tugged at me.

“What’s happening?” I asked, my voice trembling.

My fingers slowly unclenched from the bag and it slipped from my grip. It landed on the stone floor with a thud.

“A taste of magic. Should you leave before I want you to, this is what you will feel. It will make you believe that your bond is breaking and hurt more than this,” he murmured, then stepped forward. “Now that you know, I’ll show you to your rooms.”

I grabbed my bag and rushed out of the room, my heart thudding in my chest. When I stepped out, the feeling eased, and I breathed out a long breath. Riven was right behind me, his eyes wide.

I swallowed hard as I looked up at him. Whatever that was affected us both.

“Why did you do that? I thought training was beginning.”

“That was your training tonight. You learned not to leave before I said so,” he replied, a hint of smugness in his voice. “Now, to your rooms.”

He led the way, and it was quiet the entire way. We arrived at our rooms just as dread filled me. What had I gotten myself into?

“Now, dinner is at six. Don’t be late. You will want to go to bed by eight or so. Training will start early.”

With those words stated, he was gone in the next instant. I looked at Riven, my heart racing. I didn’t move yet, but stayed for a moment. Then, before Riven could say a word, I reached out and opened the door, stepping inside.

My hand stayed on the handle for a second too long, as if letting go would somehow make everything more real than I was ready to accept. I shut it the next second to keep the space between us. Even through the wood, I could still feel him.

It made my chest feel too tight. I forced myself to exhale and finally stepped away from the door.

The room behind me was quiet in that unnatural way big houses always were when they didn’t belong to you. Everything was placed with intention, nothing personal enough to feel lived in. It made me feel like I was borrowing someone else’s air.

I walked to the bed and sat down slowly, my fingers curling into the fabric beneath me. My bag sat beside me, untouched. I should have unpacked. I should have done something normal. But my mind wasn’t cooperating with anything that resembled normalcy.

Instead, it kept drifting back to the hallway.

To Riven, standing there. He looked at me as if he were trying to find the right words to say, but he was too afraid of what I’d say back.

I pressed my palm harder into my chest again, trying to steady the pull of the bond, but it only made it more obvious. And I didn’t know if that was better or worse.

A knock hit my door. I froze.

For half a second, my body reacted before my mind did, like it already knew who it was.

“Callista?” Riven’s voice came through the wood, lower than usual.

My breath caught. I didn’t answer right away.

Another knock, softer this time, as if he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to be here either. To be fair, we weren’t supposed to be in each other’s rooms at all.

“I just…” he paused. I could hear it even through the door, the hesitation sitting heavy in his words. “Honestly, I don’t like this.”

Something in my chest twisted at that. I stood slowly, but I didn’t open the door. Instead, I stayed on the other side of it, close enough that I could feel him more clearly through the bond.

“Neither do I,” I said finally.

Silence followed. I could feel him shift outside the door, as if my answer had done something to him. The bond responded immediately, flickering between us in a way that made my fingers tighten at my sides.

“I can’t tell what you’re thinking anymore,” he said quietly. “It’s as if you’ve shut the door in your mind and I can’t come back through.”

I let out a breath that wasn’t quite steady. “That’s kind of the point right now.”

That landed wrong. I felt it instantly.

The bond tightened, not painfully, but sharply enough that my knees almost locked.

“I didn’t mean—” I started, then stopped.

Because I didn’t know what I meant anymore either. There was a pause before he spoke again.

“I’m not your enemy, Callista. We’re mates.”

The way he said it made something in me ache, as if he were trying to convince himself as much as me.

“I know,” I said, softer this time. “But I don’t know what anything is right now.”

That was the truth. The only clean thing I had.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. I could feel him on the other side of the door, close enough that the bond kept reacting as if it wanted to bridge the gap on its own. It made my stomach turn slightly, because I didn’t know what would happen if it did.

Finally, I heard him exhale.

“I’ll be here,” he said, his voice trembling. “If you need me. I’m just next door.”

My fingers curled tighter into my palm.

“I know,” I whispered.

He didn’t move immediately. I could feel it. He was lingering and then, he finally stepped away.

The bond shifted with him, as if it hated the distance. And suddenly I was alone again.

I stayed standing for a while after that, just listening to the silence settle back into place. It didn’t feel peaceful. It felt watched.

Eventually, I turned away from the door and forced myself to breathe. Two nights. That was all this was supposed to be.

Two nights of training, two nights of control, and two nights of whatever the Alpha King thought he was doing to us. I sat back down on the bed, but I didn’t lie down. My mind wouldn’t let me.

Because even through the walls, even through the distance, I could still feel Riven.

And worse than that—

I could feel the bond reacting to the space between us as if it already knew separation wasn’t going to last. But it had to.