Soul Binding

Soul Binding
Elowen POV

The knock came soft, almost respectful. My stomach clenched three day old tacos were trying to explode out of me. Bram glanced at the door from where he leaned against the wall. Vaelrix was still toweling sweat from his hair. Daxon sat beside me, brushing his knuckles gently along my thigh like he could feel the static crawling under my skin.

He leaned in. “Want me to send them away, moonshine?”

I bit my lip. “No. Let ’em in.”

Daxon didn’t call out. He just stood, strode to the door, and cracked it open. Alpha Draven and Luna Aelira entered quietly, regal and composed… but their eyes were soft. Worn. Almost… guilty.

And behind them, trailing like a shadow stitched with shame, was Soria. My jaw tightened so hard it ached.

Luna Aelira reached me first. Her arms were around me before I could blink, her familiar scent hitting like a wave, wildflowers and wolf. “Oh my heart,” she whispered, voice cracking. “We thought we lost you. Gods, Elowen!”

I hugged her back stiffly at first, but something in her broke me open. I let her hold me. Alpha Draven placed a calloused hand on my shoulder. “You are your father's daughter through and through. Strong. Steady. And forged in fire.”

I blinked fast, because I wasn’t ready to cry again.Then Soria stepped forward. Silent. Pale. Eyes glued to the damn floor like she couldn’t bear to look at me. But I stared at her. I made her feel it.

She cleared her throat, shaky. “I… I’m sorry. I was cruel. I was jealous. And I was wrong.”

She glanced up. Met my eyes for the first time. “I see now what I didn’t before,” she said. “And I’ll live with that. I don’t expect forgiveness.”

The air thickened. Everyone else stayed quiet. And then Daxon was beside me again, whispering low against my temple, “You owe her nothing, moon. Not even a word.”

But Lyssira wasn’t so calm. “Bitch thinks sorry fixes it? Let me shift. I’ll fix her.”

I swallowed the fire in my throat. My hands curled into the blanket. “I don’t forgive you,” I said, voice like ice on glass. “Not today.”

Soria flinched.

“But I will. Eventually. Because I have to let this shit go, or it’ll rot me worse than Raelith ever could.”

Soria’s lips trembled. She nodded once and turned sharply, walking out without another word. Luna Aelira lingered long enough to kiss my forehead. “You are more queen than they’ll ever be ready for.”

Alpha Draven just gave me a deep nod. “We’ll be here when you’re ready.”

And then they were gone. The door shut, and silence settled again. I let it sit there for a second before I exhaled, sharp and shaky.

Bram crossed the room and kissed the top of my head.

Vaelrix pulled up a chair. “That was fucking brave.”

“No,” I muttered. “That was fucking exhausting.”

The door swung open again like it had been kicked by joy itself, and in strode Lachlan and Ashrian with their arms full of food. “Brought sustenance, mo ghrá,” Lachlan grinned, dumping a tray of fresh pastries and bacon stuffed rolls onto the table beside the bed. “Before yer stomach starts threatening to murder someone again.”

Ashrian chuckled, setting down a crystal carafe of fresh juice. “And before your wolf starts chewing on Daxon for funsies.”

“No promises,” Lyssira purred.

I sat up straighter, eyes lighting up like a fucking kid at Yule. “You brought the good rolls!”

Lachlan leaned down, brushing my lips with a soft kiss. “Only the best fer my battle scarred beauty.”

Ashrian winked and handed me a mug. “And I made your tea just how you like it, one leaf from murder and two drops from sleep.”

Daxon cleared his throat as he dropped back into the chair beside me, still eyeing the food like he might fight someone for the bacon.

“So… I told Bram earlier…” he started, glancing between the others, “that it’s time. You and me and Ashrian and Lachlan are bonded. But Bram and Vaelrix aren’t yet. I think we should fix that.”

I nearly spit my damn tea. “Wait, what? Right now?!”

He nodded, his eyes soft but serious. “If you’re strong enough, moon. We’ve been through hell. It’s time we all feel each other. Permanently.”

“I want it,” I said immediately, reaching for his hand. “Fuck yes. I want that.”

Lachlan already had his phone out. “Textin’ my mum. If anyone can set it up quick, it’s Isolde an’ Alaric.”

Sure enough, there was a shimmer of magic in the air not three minutes later, and bam, in walked Lachlan’s mum, Isolde, in a swirl of deep emerald robes, her curls piled high and messy like always, and Alaric, all tall and brooding with his arms crossed and brogue thick enough to butter bread with.

Isolde didn’t even say hello at first. “Ye’d better not be bleedin’ again, lass. Or worse, refusin’ rest.”

“I’m fine,” I grinned, mouth full of roll. “Kinda.”

Alaric arched a brow. “Fine, she says, after nearly dyin’ an’ bein’ soul fucked by a goddamn death goddess.”

“Language,” Lachlan muttered, fake scandalized.

“You just said ‘fucked’ two hours ago, don’t start with me,” I shot back.

Isolde rolled her eyes fondly. “Alright, alright. Ye want the soul bond done, then? Properly? We’ll need space, salt, blood, and intent. And ye,” she pointed a sharp ass nail at Vaelrix and Bram, “will need tae prepare yerselves. The bond pulls hard, fast, and doesn’t ask permission.”

Vaelrix just smirked. “I’m ready. Been ready.”

Bram cracked his knuckles. “Let’s fucking go.”

Daxon leaned down, brushing his lips across my temple. “You sure, moonshine? It’s intense.”

I looked around the room. At my mates. My friends. My people.

“I’ve never been more sure,” I said, voice steady as hell. “Let’s bind this bitch together.”

Isolde clapped. “Right then. Strip to the waist, boys. And someone light the damn candles!”

Alaric muttered, “Goddess help us all,” under his breath...but he was already drawing runes in the air.

And just like that, my heart thudded with the weight of what was about to happen.

A bond that would make us unbreakable.

The room pulsed with candlelight and ancient magic. Isolde’s hands moved fast and precise, her fingers dancing in the air like she was playing some sacred harp only she could hear. Symbols shimmered in gold and violet, hanging midair before melting into our skin.

The salt circle surrounded us, me and my five fated lunatics, and even though I couldn’t walk yet, Daxon had carried me to the center like it was nothing, then set me down on a pillow of velvet and wolf fur.

Lachlan stood to my left, his shirt gone, runes glowing faintly down his chest. His eyes locked on mine like he could already feel the shift coming.

Ashrian knelt before me, fingers gently brushing mine, lips parted with quiet anticipation. His power crackled faintly at my skin, blood and shadows and want.

Bram sat directly behind me, his broad arms already wrapped around my waist, grounding me. Karkon stirred just beneath the surface, pacing, ready.

Daxon sat to my right, his eyes molten with wolf-fire. Alpha to his core. His presence felt like a shield wrapped around my entire being.

And Vaelrix, my fire breathing beautiful king, kneeled across from me. His golden gaze pierced straight through me, and I could feel his dragon humming beneath his skin, coiled and waiting.

Isolde’s voice rang through the space, low and melodic. “By soul and blood, by moon and flame, by fate and fire, we call the bonds tae awaken.”

Alaric echoed her, his tone a deep thunder. “Let what was divided become whole. Let the pack become one.”

Power surged through the air like a storm ready to tear the roof off the damn keep.

Isolde raised her hands. “Each of ye.....offer a drop of blood.”

Without hesitation, my mates pressed blades to their palms. Five drops hit the rune drawn bowl in the center. I did the same, even with my hands shaking like a damn newborn deer.The bowl lit up like a solar flare. Gold. Silver. Red. Violet. Green. Flame and ice and moonlight all at once.

The magic snapped. I gasped as something deep in my chest cracked open. A string, no, five strings,  tethered from my soul to theirs. I felt them. Not just their presence. Them.

Lachlan’s gentle strength, pulsing with ancient magic and stormy purpose. Ashrian’s broken beauty, his fierce protectiveness and aching desire to redeem. Daxon’s raw, primal wolf fire, his undying need to protect and dominate and love.

Bram’s sturdy, grounded loyalty, his bear roaring in satisfaction as the bond sealed.

Vaelrix’s goddamn fire, coiling through me, claiming me, worshiping me like I was treasure.

The air was alive with it. I could hear them. Not voices in my ears, voices in my mind.

Lachlan: “I’ll burn the whole fuckin’ world for ye, mo ghrá.”

Ashrian: “You are my tether to this world, Elowen.”

Bram: “No one will touch you again unless it’s to adore you.”

Vaelrix: “Mine. In soul. In flame. Forever.”

Daxon: “You’re not alone anymore. Never again.”

Tears flooded my eyes and poured down my face, not from pain, but from the absolute rightness of it all. I could feel them. Their joy. Their rage. Their lust. Their fear. Every emotion echoing in me like a sacred drum.

Our hearts thudded in sync. The circle pulsed.Then the power slammed through us in a wave so intense my vision went white.

I screamed, and so did they, not in agony, but in release. In completion.The room went silent.

Isolde stepped back, her lips trembling with a satisfied smile. “It is done.”

We sat there, breathing hard, tangled in each other like we’d been forged from the same stardust. My voice cracked as I whispered, “We’re all pack now.”

Daxon leaned in, brushing his forehead to mine. “We always were. Now the world knows it too.”

And in that moment, for the first time in days, maybe ever, I didn’t feel broken.

I felt whole.

I felt fucking unstoppable.