Chapter 10 Ten
Chapter 10 Ten
Aria’s POV
The first thing I felt was pain that didn’t belong to me.
It came sudden and sharp, like someone had driven a blade straight through my chest. My knees hit the floor before I even understood what was happening.
Then his name tore out of my throat.
“Kael!”
The echo bounced off the walls, too loud in the empty room. The pain didn’t fade, it pulsed, steady, rhythmic, alive. I could feel his heartbeat inside mine, fast and erratic, every pulse laced with agony.
I tried to stand. The world tilted. My hands shook so hard the glass on the table rattled.
“Miss Hale!” Mrs. Blake appeared at the door, pale and breathless.
I could barely form words.“Where is he?”
“You need to stay here.”
“He’s hurt.”
She moved closer, eyes wide.“You can’t go to him.”
The words made no sense.“He’s dying, I can feel it, ”
“That’s not dying,” she said quietly.“That’s what he is.”
I stared at her, but she didn’t explain. The pressure in my chest grew tighter, the pull stronger, dragging me toward the hall.
“I can’t stay,” I whispered.
Mrs. Blake reached out, catching my arm.“Aria, if you go down there while the curse holds him, he might not know who you are.”
“I don’t care.”
“He could kill you.”
“Then at least he won’t be alone.”
Something in my voice must have broken through her resolve because she let go.“Follow the east corridor. There’s a staircase behind the tapestry. But if you see him before he sees you, run.”
I didn’t answer. I was already moving.
The halls were darker than usual, the air thick with the scent of rain and metal. My bare feet barely made a sound against the marble. Every corner of the mansion seemed to hum, as if the house itself was holding its breath.
The pull in my chest guided me like an invisible thread. It hurt more with every step.
When I reached the tapestry, a woven image of a wolf beneath the moon, I found the narrow door behind it and slipped through. The passage smelled of stone and rust. A faint vibration ran along the walls, deep and rhythmic, like a distant growl trapped in the earth.
I descended the stairs, one hand against the cold wall. The deeper I went, the stronger the bond became.
It wasn’t just pain anymore. It was emotion. Rage, fear, confusion, and something else, recognition.
He knew I was coming.
The passage opened into a wide stone chamber lit by a few trembling torches. Chains hung from the walls, thick and scarred. The air shimmered with heat, and the scent of blood hit me before I saw him.
Kael was on the floor, half-kneeling, half-collapsed. His back rose and fell with uneven breaths. His hands, human again, were covered in blood, the skin around his wrists raw where the chains had snapped.
I stopped a few feet away.“Kael.”
His head lifted slowly. For a moment, all I saw were eyes glowing gold. Not the cold silver I remembered, but burning amber, wild and lost.
He growled, low, warning, not quite human.
“It’s me,” I said, forcing my voice to stay steady.
He flinched at the sound. The gold in his eyes flickered, struggling between beast and man.
“Aria…” My name came out broken, a sound dragged through too many teeth.
I moved closer.“You can stop fighting.”
“Get out.”
“I can’t.”
He tried to push himself up, but his strength failed. I caught his shoulder without thinking, and heat rushed through my palm like lightning. The bond blazed alive.
His body went rigid; mine did too. I saw flashes, his memories, his fear, the endless nights chained in darkness, the scream of a woman whose face I didn’t recognize. Then silence.
When the light faded, he was shaking.“You shouldn’t have touched me.”
“I had to.”
He laughed softly, bitter.“You have no idea what that cost you.”
“I think I do.”
He looked up, and for the first time since I met him, I saw tears mix with the blood on his face.“I felt you,” he said.“When the change started. I thought I was killing you.”
“You didn’t.”
He reached for my hand, hesitant, trembling.“You weren’t supposed to feel it.”
“Then why do I?”
“Because the curse isn’t mine anymore,” he whispered.“It found you.”
I should have been afraid. I wasn’t. The pain was fading, replaced by a strange warmth spreading through my chest. I tightened my grip on his hand.“Then we’ll fight it together.”
He shook his head.“You don’t understand. This bond, it doesn’t heal, it consumes. It ties you to my blood, my pain, my rage.”
“And your heart?” I asked.
He blinked, startled.“What?”
“If it ties me to everything dark inside you, does it tie me to that too?”
He couldn’t answer. The silence between us said enough.
I brushed a streak of blood from his jaw. His skin was burning hot.“You’re still fighting it.”
“I’m trying not to hurt you.”
“Then let me help.”
I pressed my other hand against his chest, right over his heartbeat. The moment I touched him, the rhythm steadied. The wolf inside him stirred, restless but calm.
He drew in a shaky breath.“How are you doing that?”
“I don’t know.”
The torches flickered, their light falling across the chains scattered on the floor. Each one had been bent or broken by strength no human could possess.
“Kael,” I whispered,“when you changed, what stopped you?”
He hesitated.“You did.”
I swallowed hard.“I wasn’t here.”
“You were,” he said, eyes closing.“In my head. I heard your voice.”
The words hit something deep inside me. The bond pulsed again, softer now, almost tender.
He leaned forward until his forehead rested against my shoulder.“It’s quiet now,” he murmured.“For the first time, it’s quiet.”
I held him, careful not to pull him closer than he allowed. His breathing slowed, the tremors easing from his hands.
When he finally spoke again, his voice was barely a whisper.“If I lose control again, don’t follow me next time.”
“I will.”
He gave a faint, broken laugh.“You’re stubborn.”
“You like that.”
“I do.” His voice caught on the last word.
We stayed like that for a long time. The air smelled of stone and smoke, but beneath it was the faintest trace of pine, the scent that always followed him.
When he pulled back, the gold in his eyes was gone. Only gray remained, tired but human.“You shouldn’t see me like this.”
“I think I needed to.”
He studied me, as if searching for fear and not finding it.“You have no idea what you’ve done.”
“Maybe I just gave you a reason to stop running.”
His hand came up, fingers brushing the side of my neck. The touch was light, almost reverent.“You make the monster quiet,” he said.“No one’s ever done that.”
“You’re not a monster.”
“Tell that to the bodies I’ve buried.”
“You’re still trying to save someone,” I said.“That’s not what monsters do.”
He closed his eyes, shaking his head.“You don’t understand what happens now. The bond will keep pulling us together. Every time I change, it will drag you into it. You’ll feel everything I feel.”
“Then I’ll survive it.”
“And if you don’t?”
“Then at least you won’t be alone.”
He looked at me for a long time, the fight in his eyes fading into something softer. Then he whispered,“You don’t know how dangerous mercy can be.”
“Maybe I’m tired of being safe.”
That made him smile, small, sad, but real.
I helped him to his feet. He leaned against me more than he wanted to, and I pretended not to notice. Together we walked toward the narrow stairway. His hand stayed in mine the entire time, our fingers locked as if the bond itself demanded it.
When we reached the top, he stopped at the door.“Go first.”
“Why?”
“In case I lose control again.”
“You won’t.”
He didn’t argue.
The hall outside was dim, washed in the fading light from the torches below. For the first time, the mansion didn’t feel like a cage. It felt like a place that might learn to breathe again.
We stood there, neither of us speaking, until he finally said,“You shouldn’t have come.”
“I had to.”
He looked down at our joined hands, his thumb tracing the faint pulse at my wrist.“Next time the bond calls, don’t answer it.”
“I will,” I said.
His jaw tightened, but his eyes softened.“I know.”
He let go of my hand slowly, as if the act itself hurt.“You should rest.”
“So should you.”
He turned away, shoulders tense, as if every step took a piece of him.
“Kael,” I said before he disappeared down the corridor.
He stopped.
“It’s not the curse keeping you here,” I whispered.“It’s me.”
He didn’t answer, but I saw it, the small tremor in his shoulders, the way his head bowed just enough to betray the truth.
When he was gone, the bond still pulsed faintly inside my chest. It no longer hurt. It felt alive.
And for the first time since I’d stepped into this house, I didn’t feel trapped.