- 11 hours ago
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00:00Run from me all you want, little rabbit, but we both know you'll come back.
00:06His voice cut through the darkness like a blade wrapped in silk.
00:10I pressed my back against the stone wall, my breath coming in ragged gasps,
00:16feeling the weight of his presence even though I couldn't see him.
00:20The bond thrummed between us, a living thing that coiled around my ribs and squeezed.
00:26I didn't ask for this, I didn't ask for him, but the gods had decided,
00:32and now I was bound to the one creature I should have feared most, the Prince of Wolves.
00:40My name is Ceri, and I was raised to believe in two truths.
00:44First, that the wolf packs ruling the northern territories were savages, cloaked in human skin.
00:51Second, that my village would always be protected by the ancient wards carved into our borders,
00:57keeping us hidden from their hunger.
01:00I grew up learning to read the forest, to harvest moonberries under the silver light,
01:06to brew remedies that could mend wounds and quiet fevers.
01:09My mother had been a healer, my grandmother before her.
01:14It was a quiet life, woven with herbs and whispered prayers.
01:19But quiet lives don't last when you're born under a blood moon.
01:23The elders never told me what it meant, they only looked at me with pity,
01:28as if I carried some invisible mark, as if fate had already written my ending in crimson ink.
01:35Three nights ago, the wards fell.
01:39The wolves came like shadows given teeth, their howls splitting the sky.
01:44They didn't slaughter us, they didn't burn our homes.
01:48They simply walked through the village, golden eyes gleaming, searching.
01:53Searching for me.
01:55And when their prince stepped into the center of the square, the world tilted.
02:00Magic hummed under my skin, sudden and fierce,
02:04as if something inside me recognized him before my mind could.
02:09He was tall, sharp-jawed, with hair the color of midnight,
02:13and eyes that burned amber in the moonlight.
02:16He didn't speak.
02:18He didn't need to.
02:19His stare burned.
02:21And I knew, with a terror that tasted like iron,
02:25that he had come to claim me.
02:28I tried to run.
02:30It was instinct.
02:31Pure and desperate.
02:33I slipped through the crowd, weaving between trembling villagers,
02:38my heart hammering so hard, I thought it might crack my ribs.
02:43The forest was close.
02:44If I could just reach the trees.
02:46If I could disappear into the shadows.
02:50Stop.
02:51One word.
02:52A command that rippled through the air like a shockwave.
02:55My legs locked beneath me.
02:58My body obeyed before my mind could protest.
03:01Freezing in place, as if invisible chains had wrapped around my limbs.
03:06Panic.
03:07Clawed at my throat.
03:09Footsteps approached.
03:11Slow and deliberate.
03:13I could feel him behind me, the heat of his presence, the weight of his gaze on the back of
03:20my neck.
03:21Turn around.
03:23I clenched my fists, fighting the compulsion, but my body betrayed me.
03:30I turned.
03:31He stood three paces away, arms crossed, head tilted as if studying something fascinating and breakable.
03:39Up close, he was devastatingly beautiful, in a way that felt dangerous.
03:45Sharp cheekbones.
03:47A mouth that looked like it had forgotten how to smile.
03:50Scars treased along his forearms, pale against bronze skin.
03:55You feel it, don't you?
03:57His voice was low, almost gentle.
04:00It made my heartbeat stutter.
04:02The pull.
04:03I said nothing, but we both knew the truth.
04:07He stepped closer, as if I belonged to him.
04:10Your soul recognized mine the moment I entered this village.
04:15You can lie to yourself, Saeri, but you can't lie to the bond.
04:20Hearing my name on his lips felt too intimate, too possessive.
04:25How do you know my name?
04:27His amber eyes flickered with something ancient, something that made my stomach twist.
04:32I've known your name since the night you were born.
04:36I've been waiting for you for 23 years.
04:40The air between us crackled.
04:42I wanted to step back, to put distance between us, but my feet wouldn't move.
04:48Magic hummed under my skin, responding to his nearness, and I hated it.
04:54Hated the way my body seemed to lean toward him without permission.
04:58I don't want this, I whispered.
05:02His jaw chitened.
05:04For a moment, something raw flashed across his face.
05:07Pain, perhaps, or anger.
05:10Neither did I.
05:12He reached out, and I flinched, but he only brushed a strand of hair from my face, his fingers
05:18lingering against my temple.
05:20The touch sent sparks racing down my spine.
05:24Fate doesn't ask for our consent, little rabbit.
05:27It simply is.
05:29The corner of his mouth curved, cruel, and beautiful.
05:34I'm not a good man, Saeri.
05:36I've done terrible things.
05:38Burned villages.
05:40Spilled blood on altar stones.
05:42But you?
05:44You?
05:44I would raise the world to keep.
05:47My heartbeat stuttered.
05:49Before I could respond, he pulled back, his expression shuddering.
05:53You'll come with me.
05:55Tonight.
05:56I found my voice.
05:58Sharp and defiant.
06:00No.
06:01I won't go with you.
06:02I don't care what bond you think exists.
06:05I don't belong to you.
06:07Something dangerous flickered in his eyes.
06:10Three days, Saeri.
06:12I'll give you three days to settle your affairs.
06:15To say your goodbyes.
06:16But on the fourth night, you will stand at the border, and you will come willingly.
06:22Because if I have to come back for you, I won't be as gentle.
06:27Then he was gone.
06:29Dissolving into shadow and moonlight.
06:31Leaving me trembling and furious and terrifyingly alive.
06:38I didn't sleep that night.
06:40Or the next.
06:41The bond was a constant hum beneath my skin.
06:44A thread pulled taut between us.
06:47I could feel him, even miles away in his northern fortress.
06:51Feel his presence like a hand pressed to my spine.
06:55Warm and unyielding.
06:57The village council convened, debating in hushed, frantic whispers.
07:02Some said I should run.
07:04Others said I should go willingly.
07:06That refusing the wolf prince would bring his wrath down on all of us.
07:10My best friend, Alara, held my hand and cried.
07:14You can't go to him, Saeri.
07:16You've heard the stories.
07:18They say he's a monster.
07:20I whispered back.
07:21Then why does he feel so human?
07:25The words slipped out before I could stop them.
07:27Alara stared at me, horror and understanding, warring on her face.
07:33Because that was the terrible truth.
07:36When I closed my eyes, I could feel his emotions bleeding through the bond.
07:41Loneliness.
07:43Longing.
07:43A desperate, aching need that mirrored something deep in my own chest.
07:49On the second night, I tried to sever it.
07:52I found an old grimoire in my grandmother's chest.
07:56Pages yellowed and fragile, filled with forgotten spells.
08:00There was one for breaking soul bonds, written in cramped, urgent script.
08:05The cost was high.
08:07Pain.
08:08Memory.
08:09Perhaps even pieces of myself.
08:12But I was willing to pay it.
08:14I gathered the components, drew the circle in salt and ash, spoke the incantation with shaking lips.
08:23Magic flared, bright and vicious, wrapping around my heart like thorns.
08:29Then the door to my cottage exploded inward.
08:33He stood in the doorway, eyes blazing gold, chest heaving.
08:38For a moment, we simply stared at each other.
08:41What did you do?
08:42His voice was rough, raw.
08:46I tried to break it.
08:48I lifted my chin, defiant despite the fear crawling up my throat.
08:52I won't be bound to you.
08:55He crossed the space between us in three strides, his hands gripping my shoulders.
09:00Not rough, but firm.
09:03Grounding.
09:04You could have killed yourself.
09:07Breaking a bond like ours.
09:09He stopped, his jaw clenching.
09:12Do you understand what you are to me?
09:16I said bitterly, I'm a prisoner.
09:19His eyes softened with something that looked like pain.
09:23You are my mate.
09:25You are the other half of my soul, Sari.
09:28The gods chose you for me before either of us drew breath.
09:34And yes, I know you didn't ask for this.
09:37I know you hate me.
09:38But I felt your pain tonight.
09:40I felt it like a knife between my ribs.
09:43And I ran through the forest for an hour to reach you because the thought of you hurting.
09:48He stopped, releasing me, stepping back as if I'd burned him.
09:54I can't let you go.
09:56I won't.
09:59My hands were shaking.
10:01You don't own me.
10:03He looked at me with unbearable gentleness.
10:07I know.
10:08But that doesn't change what we are.
10:12He turned to leave, pausing at the threshold.
10:16Tomorrow night, Sari.
10:19Meet me at the border.
10:22Please.
10:24The please broke something in me.
10:27I went.
10:30I told myself it was to end things.
10:33To face him one last time and make him understand that I would never submit.
10:38But as I walked through the forest, feeling the bond pull me forward like a compass pointing north,
10:44I knew I was lying.
10:46He waited at the border, exactly where the trees gave way to moonlit grassland.
10:52He wore black, simple and stark.
10:55His hair tied back, making the sharp planes of his face even more pronounced.
11:00When he saw me, relief flooded his features.
11:04You came.
11:06I lifted my chin.
11:08I came to tell you no.
11:09He smiled, sad and knowing.
11:14I know.
11:16But you're here.
11:18That's enough.
11:21My breath caught.
11:23You're cursed.
11:25He turned to face me, his amber eyes fierce and vulnerable.
11:30We're cursed.
11:31The bond isn't just fate, Sari.
11:34It's a tether.
11:35You keep me human.
11:37Without you, I'll become something even I can't control.
11:42Horror and understanding crashed over me.
11:45So if I reject you, you'll turn into the savage your village fears.
11:50I'll hunt, I'll kill, and I won't remember who I was.
11:55He lifted his free hand, brushing his knuckles against my cheek.
12:00I don't want to force you, but I need you to know what's at stake.
12:04Tears burned my eyes.
12:07That's not fair.
12:09He agreed quietly.
12:11No, it's not.
12:12I pulled away from him, wrapping my arms around myself.
12:17The weight of it pressed down on my shoulders.
12:20This wasn't about love or desire anymore.
12:23It was about life and death.
12:25About becoming responsible for a creature I'd been taught to fear.
12:30What if I can't love you?
12:33I whispered.
12:34He stepped closer, tilting my chin up so I had to meet his gaze.
12:39Then we'll find a way to live with that.
12:42But I need you to try, Sari.
12:44I need you to give us a chance.
12:47Because the alternative is a darkness I don't want you to see.
12:52Magic hummed under my skin.
12:54And for the first time, I wondered if it was trying to tell me something I wasn't ready to hear.
13:01I didn't get to answer.
13:03A howl split the night, sharp and wrong.
13:07Lucian's head snapped toward the sound, his entire body going rigid.
13:12No, not tonight.
13:14I asked urgently.
13:16What is that?
13:18His voice was bitter, laced with old pain.
13:21My brother.
13:23He rejected his mate 20 years ago.
13:26Now he's...
13:27Stay behind me.
13:29A massive wolf burst from the treeline.
13:32Larger than any natural animal.
13:34Its fur matted and eyes gleaming with mindless rage.
13:39It snarled.
13:40Saliva dripping from bared fangs.
13:42And I realized with horror that this was what Lucian would become.
13:47This was his future if I walked away.
13:50Lucian shifted before I could blink, bones cracking and reforming, his human shape melting into a wolf of equal size,
14:00black fur, amber eyes still holding a spark of recognition.
14:04They collided in a tangle of claws and teeth.
14:09I stumbled backwards, pressing against the altar, my heart in my throat.
14:14The fight was brutal, primal.
14:16Blood spattered the grass.
14:19Growls and snarls echoed through the grove.
14:22Lucian was stronger, but his brother fought with the desperation of something that had nothing left to lose.
14:28Then I saw it.
14:30The opening.
14:31A split second where Lucian's throat was exposed.
14:35I didn't think.
14:36Magic exploded from my palms, silver and bright.
14:40Crashing into the mad wolf and sending him flying backwards.
14:45He hit a tree with a sickening crack and lay still.
14:49Silence.
14:50Lucian shifted back to human.
14:52Naked and breathing hard.
14:54Blood streaking his shoulder.
14:56He stared at me.
14:58Shock and something deeper written across his face.
15:01You saved me.
15:03My hands were still glowing.
15:05Residual magic crackling along my fingertips.
15:09I'd never done anything like that before.
15:11Hadn't even known I could.
15:13I couldn't let him kill you.
15:16He crossed the space between us, cupping my face in his hands.
15:20His touch was gentle, despite the violence still humming in the air.
15:25Why?
15:26The word stuck in my throat.
15:28Because I felt your fear.
15:30Because the bond wouldn't let me stand by and watch.
15:33Because maybe I'm starting to understand what we are.
15:38Because you're mine too.
15:39I whispered.
15:41His eyes flared.
15:43He kissed me then, fierce and desperate, his hands tangling in my hair.
15:49The bond sang between us.
15:51No longer a chain, but a bridge, connecting two souls, whether we wanted it or not.
15:57When he pulled back, his forehead rested against mine.
16:01You're brave little rabbit.
16:04I said softly.
16:06Don't call me that.
16:07He smiled.
16:09Actually smiled.
16:11I'll call you whatever you allow me to earn.
16:14We buried his brother at dawn.
16:17Lucian stood over the grave, silent and stone-faced, while I kept my hand in his.
16:23The bond was different now, quieter, but still there, still pulling.
16:30Come home with me, he said finally.
16:33Not as my prisoner, as my guest.
16:36Learn about my world.
16:38About the wolves.
16:39About me.
16:41He turned to look at me, vulnerability naked in his eyes, and then decide if you can bear
16:48to stay.
16:49I should have said no, but the magic still hummed under my skin, and I could feel the weight
16:56of the curse like a shadow over both of us.
16:59One month.
17:00Give me one month in your world.
17:03Then, I'll give you my answer.
17:06He nodded slowly.
17:07One month.
17:09As we walked away from the grove, toward the northern mountains where his fortress waited,
17:14I glanced back at my village one last time.
17:18Ilara stood at the tree line, watching.
17:20I raised my hand in goodbye.
17:23She didn't wave back, and I realized, with a chill that had nothing to do with the wind,
17:29that I was walking away from everything I knew, toward a fight I'd tried to reject,
17:35with a prince who terrified and captivated me in equal measure.
17:40Lucian's fingers tightened around mine.
17:43No matter what you decide, I won't let the curse take you, even if it means taking me
17:49instead.
17:51I looked up at him, at the sharp beauty of his face, at the loneliness carved into every line.
17:58What if we're both already cursed?
18:01I whispered.
18:02He smiled, dark and devastating.
18:05Then we'll burn together, little rabbit, and the world will remember our fire.
18:09The forest swallowed us whole, and behind us, a howl echoed through the trees.
18:16One month.
18:17Thirty days to decide if I could love a monster, or become one myself.
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