Chapter 6 Mate bond
Sera's Pov
I didn’t stop running until the trees swallowed me whole.
Branches slapped my arms, dirt kicked up behind me, lungs burning, not from exhaustion, but from panic. Pure, stupid panic.
Why did he say her name?
Why did he say my name?
I didn’t shift. Didn’t tap into wolf speed. I just ran like a human with a death wish.
Because if I shifted or If I let my power out, there’d be no hiding. I wasn't normal. I have always been different, but Sera, she felt different…strong. Unlike how I felt when I was Selene
I ducked behind a tree, pressing my back into the bark, forcing my breathing to slow.
Footsteps thundered behind me, fast and it was getting even closer.
Caden wasn’t even trying to hide the chase.
Branches cracked. Leaves rustled. His wolf was practically dragging him forward.
“Sera!” his voice echoed through the trees. “You can’t hide from me!”
Oh, the irony. I have always wanted him to notice me in the past.
He stopped somewhere behind me, close enough I could sense him, far enough he couldn’t see.
A long, shaky exhale.
“Selene…” he whispered.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Stop saying that. Stop remembering Selene. Stop letting your wolf feel what it shouldn’t.
His voice broke. “Why do I feel her in you?”
You can’t, the Goddess said something like this can't happen.
“I know you’re here.” His steps shifted direction. “I can smell you.”
Great. Sweat and fear had never betrayed me before.
He came closer, too damn close. I stepped onto a root, and slipped.
Caden’s head snapped toward me.
“Got you,” he said, and sprinted.
I darted away, but he was too fast. He tackled me down, pinning me against the forest floor with his hands locked on my wrists.
We weren’t touching skin, thank the Goddess, but his grip was tight. His face hovered inches above mine, breath heavy and eyes pitch-black.
“Sera,” he whispered, “why did you run?”
“Because you’re insane,” I snapped, thrashing. “Get off me!”
“Not until you tell me the truth.”
“There is no truth!”
His eyes flicked down to my lips, then back to my eyes.
“Then why do I smell her on you?”
“You don’t.”
“Don’t lie to me!”
His voice cracked with something raw, something broken, and that alone froze me. Does he miss Selene?
He lowered his head. Not to kiss me. To breathe me in.
His wolf growled deep in his chest.
“Same scent,” he whispered. “Same pull. Same reaction. When I touched you today, what was that?”
“I don’t know,” I said quickly. Too quickly.
He clenched his jaw. “You do.”
I didn’t respond. I knew I didn't want to say too much before I slipped too much information.
He stared at me like he wanted to rip the world open just to see what was inside me.
“Tell me who you are,” he whispered. “Please.”
His plea cracked me worse than his anger.
“I’m Sera,” I forced out. “Just Sera. Not Selene. Not your mate. Not anyone to you.”
His hands tightened reflexively, then loosened like the words physically burned him.
He swallowed hard. “My wolf disagrees.”
“Your wolf is confused.”
“He’s never confused.”
“Well he is now.”
Caden shut his eyes like he was in pain. “Why are your eyes like hers?”
“Coincidence.”
“Bullshit.”
He opened his eyes again, and the look in them terrified me more than his temper.
He believed I was her.
He believed I came back.
And if he believed it hard enough…He’d never leave me alone.
“Caden,” I said softly, “you need to let go.”
“No.”
“If you don’t, I’ll—”
“What? Run again?” he said bitterly. “Lie again?”
He lowered his head until his forehead almost touched mine.
“Don’t run from me,” he whispered. “Not you.”
The world tilted. The bond was dead, broken, impossible, flickered like someone breathing life into an ember.
My heart hammered.
His eyes widened. He felt it too.
“What—was—that?” he breathed.
“Nothing,” I said quickly. “Adrenaline.”
“That was not adrenaline.” His grip tightened again. “That was a bond.”
“No,” I insisted, panic rising. “No it wasn’t. You killed the bond. You rejected—”
I froze.
Shit.
Caden’s eyes sharpened.
“What did you say?”
“I—”
“How do you know I rejected her?”
I tried to push him off. He didn’t budge.
“Sera,” he growled, “tell me.”
“Let go,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Tell. Me.”
The air around us buzzed with aggressive wolf energy. One wrong word and he’d tear the forest apart.
“Fine,” I snapped. “Everyone knows, rumors and gossips spread like wild fire,”
His eyes narrowed. “No one knows. Only the elders. Only my beta. No one at school should know. So how did you know?”
Dammit.
He leaned in so close I felt his breath on my cheek.
“Who are you?” he whispered.
I looked away, knowing my voice would betray me if I spoke.
He grabbed my chin lightly and forced my eyes back to his.
“I’m losing my mind over this,” he said. “I can’t sleep. I can’t train. I can’t think. Every time I see you, my wolf goes crazy asking where he knows you from.”
His voice dropped. “Don’t make me lose it more. Tell me.”
I stared at him, forcing steel into my voice.
“I. Am. Not. Selene.”
Something broke in his expression, anger, hurt, something else I didn’t want to name.
He stood abruptly and stepped back like the ground under him shifted.
“I don’t believe you,” he said.
“You don’t have a choice.”
“I do,” he said darkly. “And I’m going to find out who you are, no matter what it takes.”
He turned and walked off, steps unsteady like the emotions were dragging him in different directions.
I exhaled shakily.
A cold voice spoke from behind me.
“You really should’ve told him.”
I spun around.
An elder stood between the trees. He was Brielle’s father.
He smiled, “I think it’s time we had a talk… Selene.”
My blood ran cold.