Chapter 8 Chapter 8: Fractures Beneath The Bond
Chapter 8: Fractures Beneath The Bond
Lykon’s POV
The Skull Pack felt like a strange place to wake up in. What felt even stranger was that quiet sense of belonging I felt, despite the holes in my memory. The faces here were unfamiliar. The customs foreign for some reason, even though I don't remember any other customs. But Ignas? She felt like gravity. Unseen but undeniable.
She avoided me most days. It started since that day at the balcony where the warriors were sparring.
The few times I caught her alone, her words were clipped and cold, her eyes were even colder than the biting snow outside. Still, I clung to the certainty that she was mine. No memory could argue against the bond pulsing beneath my skin every time she walked past.
Today, the air felt different.
It felt tense. Everywhere and everything was too quiet. Even the guards moved with urgency and speed, whispering things amongst themselves.
I spotted Roy, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, speaking to another man who seemed like a guard. He didn’t notice me at first as he was too invested in his conversation.
“What’s happening?” I asked, walking up to them. As soon as I got to them, the guard left almost immediately, “Everything seems different, like something is wrong.”
Roy glanced at me, blinking as if he forgot I existed. “A scout came back bloody. He said something about how a group of our border patrols were ambushed. It could be rogues, but…” He trailed off. My brows furrowed.
“But?” I pressed.
Roy looked uneasy. “It’s not far from the Crescent Fang border.”
The name made something itch in the back of my skull. Crescent Fang. My chest tightened, instinct recoiling without understanding why. I shook it off.
“I’ll go with her,” I said before I even saw her.
And just like the moon goddess heard me talk about her, Ignas emerged from the eastern wing, dressed in full black leathers, her hair pulled back in a braid like a noose. Power rolled off her in waves. She didn’t even look in my direction.
“Ignas,” I called.
She didn’t stop.
“Ignas!”
Finally, she turned. Her gaze locked with mine, her eyes cold and uninterested, “What?” she snapped sharply.
“I’m coming with you.” I declared, stepping forward. She looked at me from my head to my toe.
“No, you’re not.”
I felt my jaw clench, my fingers curling into fists. “You might need me…”
“I don’t, and I won't, ” she said, cutting me off, then brushing past me.
“I can fight,” I insisted, falling into step beside her. “You said it yourself. You said that I’m strong and I noticed that I heal fast. Whatever attacked our patrols—”
“You’re not one of us,” she said, her voice flat and with a tone of finally.
I stopped walking. “I’m not one of you?”
She paused, only slightly, then turned to face me again. “You don’t know who you are. You don’t know what side you’re on. I can’t trust you.”
The words were bullets, each one punching a hole in the fragile shell I’d been building since I woke up. “But you’re my mate.”
“I’m not,” she replied.
“Yes, you are,” I said quietly. “I can feel it. You know it too.”
She laughed. Cold and hollow. “You don’t get to claim that when you don’t even know your own name.”
I flinched.
Roy had the decency to step away.
“Ignas,” I said, stepping closer, voice low. “I’m not asking for much. Just let me help.”
“You being here is already more than I wanted,” she snapped. “You’re a liability.”
The silence that followed was deafening. My whole body froze and my brows furrowed.
“Right,” I muttered. “So all this time, sitting by my bedside, touching my face, calling my name… That was what, pity?”
Her expression flickered for a second. Just enough for me to catch it. “Don’t twist this.”
“I’m not twisting anything,” I said. “I know you feel it too.”
“I feel nothing,” she said, her voice sharp as broken glass.
The words sliced clean through me.
She turned without another word, barking orders at the warriors as they prepared to leave.
I stood rooted, chest burning. A warrior brushed past, muttering something, but I couldn’t hear him over the roaring in my ears.
I didn’t know who I was.
But I knew rejection.
I turned and walked, anywhere, away from her. My feet carried me through stone corridors until I ended up in a quiet hallway near the servants’ wing.
Two maids rounded the corner, chatting in hushed tones.
“—can’t believe he’s still here,” one said.
The other scoffed. “Ignas deserves a real mate. Not some amnesiac stray. The guy literally doesn't remember he was an Alpha killer.”
My breath hitched. I pressed my back to the wall, hiding.
“She’s strong. Ruthless. And she’s got a pack to protect,” the first maid continued. “He’s… what? Pretty with a weak brain?”
They laughed.
“She’s just being kind. Once he’s back on his feet, he’ll be gone. He should be.”
Their footsteps faded, but the words stuck like barbs under my skin.
Stray.
Kindness.
Gone.
I hurried to my room and I slid to the floor, my fingers digging into my hair. Who was I? Why was I here? And why did it feel like a knife to the chest every time she looked at me like I was nothing?
I didn’t know who I used to be.
But the way she looked at me now made me question who I was becoming.
Was I a burden?
A mistake?
Or just another broken thing she had to fix?
Hours passed. The sun dipped low.
The warriors returned just before nightfall. Ignas stood at the front of the line, blood sprayed across her arms. She looked exhausted, but her posture remained proud and unwavering.
I wanted to run to her and ask if she was hurt.
Maybe to even beg her to stop shutting me out.
But I stayed still.
She glanced in my direction. Our eyes met. And just like that, she turned away again.
Like I didn’t matter.
Like I wasn’t hers.
Like the bond was a lie.
I clenched my fists and walked away, ignoring the sting behind my eyes.
The cold that night was unforgiving, but it didn’t compare to the ice growing
in my chest.
Something had to give.
And if it wasn’t her?
It might be me.