Somr chains are physical. Others wrap around your soul and make you forget how to run.
Selene
I wasn't planning to run tonight.
But sometimes, the cage rattles just loud enough to make you remember you still want to fly.
The guards outside my door changed shifts an hour late. I overheard them arguing, one stepped away for a smoke, the other was distracted by his comms. It was a mistake. A small crack in a fortress of steel. But sometimes, a crack is all you need.
I moved quickly.
Soft steps across stone. A sheet twisted into a rope. A windowsill wide enough to crouch on.
My body remembered things my mind had buried, how to climb, how to fall, how to run like hell when your life depends on it.
The cold air outside was sharp and bitter, cutting into my lungs, but it reminded me I was still alive.
The moment my feet hit the frozen grass, I ran.
Not for freedom. Not really.
I ran for the sound of trees, the smell of earth, the feeling of not being watched.
Every step pounded against the dirt like a drumbeat. The night howled around me. Wind tangled my hair. My heart screamed in my chest.
I didn't look back.
Not at the estate.
Not at the walls that had held me.
Not at him.
My breath came hard. My legs ached. But I didn't stop.
The treeline was close, so close I could feel it pulling me in. Twenty more steps. Fifteen. Ten…
Then a shape slammed into me from the side.
I hit the ground with a hard thud, pain flashing up my ribs.
I rolled, coughing, my hands digging into frozen dirt. I reached for my power, but it was still buried, still asleep. All I had left was anger.
Fingers clamped around my wrist.
I looked up.
Of course.
Kieran.
He looked like a shadow, coat flaring in the wind, eyes burning cold.
"You thought you would make it off my land?" His voice was low and sharp.
"I'd rather bleed out in the woods than stay one more night under your roof," I hissed.
He didn't let go.
"You don't get to run from this."
"From what? You? This cursed bond? I'll tear it apart myself if I have to."
"You won't like the consequences."
"Then punish me!" I shouted, jerking at his grip. "Hurt me. Do what Alphas do when they lose control."
His hand tightened, just for a second.
Then he released me.
I pushed up from the ground, breathing hard. Dirt and blood streaked my palms. My whole body burned, but I didn't back down.
He didn't move. He didn't speak. He just looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw something behind his cold expression. Something I didn't expect.
He wasn't angry. He was... broken.
And he hated that I could see it.
Two guards came crashing through the trees. Kieran raised a hand to stop them.
"I've got her," he said. His voice wasn't loud. But it was final.
I didn't resist when he walked beside me. I didn't say another word. But I made him a promise in my silence.
I would try again.
And next time, I wouldn't fail.
Kieran
The moment I heard she was gone, I knew where she would run.
Not toward the roads. Not to the villages.
The forest.
Of course it was the forest.
She was a Blackthorn.
And Blackthorns always ran toward wild things when they were hurting.
I found her near the treeline, just steps from disappearing into the trees. I didn't shift. I didn't call backup.
I just ran.
And I reached her right before she vanished.
She hit the ground hard when I tackled her. I didn't mean to hurt her. I didn't even think.
The bond had screamed the second she left the estate. Like a part of me was being ripped from bone.
And now, as I stood over her, panting, fists shaking, I realized something that filled me with dread.
I wasn't mad because she tried to escape.
I was mad because she almost made it.
"You thought you'd make it off my land?"
Her eyes burned. No fear. Just fury.
"I'd rather bleed out in the woods than stay one more night under your roof."
I didn't answer. I couldn't.
Because a part of me wanted to let her go. But the bond wouldn't let me.
"You don't get to run from this. From me."
She growled, "Then watch me try again."
"You won't like the punishment."
"Then do it!" she shouted. "Mark me. Chain me. Hurt me. That's what you Alphas do, isn't it?"
My fingers clenched tighter on her wrist. Just once.
Then I let go.
I stepped back.
The way she looked at me in that moment, like she expected pain and didn't fear it, made something twist in my gut.
She expected me to become the monster.
And I almost did.
The guards arrived late. I waved them off.
"I've got her."
We walked back in silence.
But I felt every step like a heartbeat.
She didn't belong in chains. She didn't belong in this war I kept dragging her into.
But the truth was, she didn't know what she was waking up inside herself.
And I didn't know how long I could keep pretending I wasn't terrified of her.
We reached the estate gates just before dawn.
She turned her head slightly, voice quiet but steady.
"My power's coming back."
I stopped walking.
She didn't look at me. She kept walking forward as the guards opened the gates.
"You won't be able to hold me much longer."
Selene
The guest room was large and richly furnished, heavy curtains, soft rugs, thick blankets folded neatly on the bed. Shelves lined with books, a small writing desk, and even a few personal touches like fresh flowers in a vase.
All of it meant to comfort someone who wasn't me.
I sat on the edge of the bed, my fingers absently tracing the fine wood grain of the bedside table. Outside this room, I was trapped by the rules of this place, but inside, surrounded by comfort, I felt more restless than ever.
Food had come and gone, but never enough to fill the hollow ache gnawing inside me. The meals were rich, carefully prepared, fit for an Alpha's mate. Yet I barely touched them. Hunger wasn't just physical.
It was a hunger for freedom.
My body was tired. My spirit raw and angry.
The wolf inside me prowled beneath my skin, whispering for me to rise, to fight, to run.
But exhaustion wrapped around me like a shroud, making every breath a struggle.
My vision blurred.
I clenched my fists to fight the dizziness threatening to pull me under.
The door opened quietly.
Kieran stepped in, his presence commanding the room even in silence.
His sharp eyes softened when they met mine, the usual cold replaced by something almost tender.
He moved to sit beside me.
"Selene," he said softly, "you need to eat. You're wasting away."
I swallowed, pride tightening my throat.
"I don't need your food," I whispered, voice rough and fragile.
He didn't push. Instead, he reached out and gently touched my hand.
"Not for me," he said quietly. "For you."
I wanted to refuse, but my limbs felt heavy and weak.
The hunger pulled at me relentlessly, dragging me toward darkness.
I blinked, desperate to hold on to the last flicker of strength inside me.
But it wasn't enough.
The room tilted, shadows rushing in, and then I was gone.
Kieran
Watching her fade like this was worse than any battle I'd ever fought.
Selene wasn't just my mate, she was a Blackthorn. Wild, fierce, and unyielding.
But hunger was an enemy even she couldn't fight alone.
She refused every meal I sent her. Pushed away every act of care.
I tried patience, silence, words, nothing broke through her walls.
Then one night, she collapsed, weak and trembling in my arms.
I caught her before she hit the floor.
Her breath was shallow, skin ice-cold beneath my touch.
This was not how it was supposed to be.
The bond between us was complicated, a war of control and surrender neither of us could win easily.
And now, holding her fragile form, I feared I was losing her entirely.
I carried her to the hearth, where the fire's warmth fought the cold shadows in the room.
As I wrapped a thick blanket around her, I whispered,
"You're stronger than this, Selene. You have to be."
But beneath my hands, her body twitched, tense and restless.
Her eyelids fluttered.
Then, in the faint glow of the firelight, I saw it, a tiny flicker deep within her eyes.
A spark.
A sign that something powerful was waking inside her.
And I knew, this was only the beginning.
Whatever was stirring would change everything.
The question was, would it destroy us first?