The morning sun poured through the blinds, painting Lila's apartment in streaks of gold and shadow. She had barely slept, haunted by the lingering heat of Dorian's touch and the grounding warmth of Kaden's presence in her mind. Her body was a battlefield of conflicting desires, and her heart a tug-of-war between two men—one intoxicating and dangerous, the other fated and inevitable.
She tried to focus on the mundane, the safe, the ordinary: work, emails, errands. But the pull of the wrong bond never left her. Every glance at a shadowed corner, every flicker of movement in her peripheral vision made her heart leap. She was being watched. She knew it—he was near, or at least the bond made her feel as if he were.
Yet today, something shifted.
The café near her apartment had become a sort of sanctuary—a place where she could attempt to gather her thoughts, at least for a little while. The hum of conversation, the clinking of coffee cups, the faint smell of roasted beans—it all should have grounded her. And for a few minutes, it did. Until she overheard something she wasn't meant to hear.
Lila had chosen a corner booth, pretending to be absorbed in her laptop while nursing a latte. Her eyes flicked up as the door opened, letting in a gust of crisp autumn air. A group of men and women she didn't recognize sat a few tables over, speaking in low tones, but something about their words caught her attention.
"...he's not what he seems," a woman whispered, her voice sharp, cautious. "The bond... it isn't natural. It's... dangerous. Cursed, maybe. He's been claiming women for years, leaving nothing but chaos behind."
Lila froze. Her latte trembled in her hands, spilling slightly onto the saucer. She leaned closer, heart hammering.
"Are you sure?" a man asked, voice low and wary. "I mean... he's powerful, yes, but..."
"Powerful is one thing," the woman said, her tone venomous now. "But the way he... manipulates, twists the bond, forces it... it's unnatural. Women leave him changed—or worse. And yet, they come back. Every single time."
Lila's stomach dropped. The bond. Dorian. The seductive, intoxicating, dangerous pull. Could it... be cursed? Was her body's fire for him just a trap? The pull she couldn't resist—the tremors in her hands, the heat in her chest, the desperate longing for something she knew was wrong—was it designed to ensnare her?
She sat back slowly, trying to calm the sudden rush of panic. She didn't want to believe it. Couldn't. Dorian's connection had felt so real, so overwhelming, so... consuming. And yet, the words she'd overheard gnawed at her, threading fear into every beat of her heart.
Later that evening, Lila tried to keep herself busy, moving from one task to another as if action could silence the whispers in her mind. But the apartment felt smaller, tighter, suffocating. Every shadow, every flicker of movement made her flinch. She couldn't deny it—the bond with Dorian hummed in her veins, insistent, demanding, intoxicating. And now, paired with the knowledge of a dark past, it was terrifying.
She sat at her desk, hands wrapped around a cup of tea, when her phone vibrated. A message. No name, just words: "You feel it, don't you? The pull. The fire. The chaos. And soon... you'll understand why it's dangerous to fight it."
Her breath caught. It was him. Of course it was him. The bond had told her as much, had shouted it across miles and shadows. But now, instead of desire, fear coursed through her veins.
The thought of Kaden came to her then, grounding, steady, tethering her to a reality she could trust. And yet, even as she thought of him, the pull from Dorian intensified, curling around her like a predator, intoxicating and overwhelming.
She had to know. She had to understand what she was dealing with.
Her curiosity led her to the one place she suspected might hold answers—the gathering site. The estate where she had first met Dorian, a place pulsing with power, secrecy, and danger. The thought of returning made her chest tighten, her nerves buzz, but she needed to see it for herself. She needed to see him, to see what he was, to understand the truth behind the bond that had claimed her so quickly.
She arrived just as the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in bruised shades of purple and gold. The estate was quiet, almost ominous. Shadows stretched across the marble steps and grand archways, curling like living things. The air hummed with energy, vibrating faintly under her skin.
She slipped inside, careful, almost afraid, and moved quietly through the halls. The flicker of torchlight cast dancing shadows, elongating figures into grotesque shapes that made her pulse quicken. And then she heard it—a voice, low, intense, familiar.
Dorian.
She crept closer, hiding behind a massive velvet curtain. From her vantage point, she could see him talking to another man, someone she didn't recognize.
"...she's coming," Dorian said, voice smooth, dangerous. "Soon. And once the bond takes hold, she won't be able to resist. I've made sure of that."
The man nodded, hesitant. "You're certain this will work? That she won't—"
"She will," Dorian interrupted sharply. "The bond is already pulling. She's already mine. There's no escaping it. None of them ever do."
Lila's stomach churned. The words confirmed her fears. This was more than a bond—it was manipulation. Possessive, dangerous, possibly cursed. The intoxicating pull she had felt, the tremors, the heat, the ache—it wasn't natural. And the thought that she might be trapped, ensnared by a bond designed to claim her, made her heart race with panic.
She stumbled back slightly, nearly catching the edge of the curtain. Dorian's eyes flicked toward her direction, sharp and predatory. She froze, every nerve screaming in warning. Was it possible he could feel her even here? The bond had always been strong, yes—but now she realized just how deep it ran, how invasive, how all-consuming.
Her instincts screamed at her to leave, to run, to find Kaden. He was real. He was grounding. He was safe. And yet, even as she moved toward the door, her body hesitated, pulled back by the lingering, seductive whispers of the wrong bond.
Outside, the wind picked up, tossing leaves into spirals of gold and crimson. Lila ran, heart hammering, lungs burning, but no matter how far she put between herself and the estate, she could still feel him. Dorian's presence throbbed beneath her skin like a living thing, a low hum that made her knees weaken.
She couldn't ignore it. She couldn't fight it. And now, with the truth of his past dangling before her mind like a sharpened knife, she realized that the bond wasn't just dangerous—it was dark. Malevolent. It wasn't a connection born of fate. It was a snare, a lure, a curse.
And she was in the middle of it.
When she finally returned to her apartment, trembling and exhausted, Kaden was waiting. He had sensed her distress, the subtle pull in her mind that had grown frantic and desperate. His hand rested lightly on hers, grounding, steadying.
"You're afraid," he said softly, reading her like an open book. "I can feel it. The bond... the wrong one. It's not what you think. And I can help you."
Lila exhaled shakily, pressing her forehead to his shoulder. "It's... worse than I imagined. I... I overheard things today. About him. About the bond. It's... it's dark, Kaden. I—I don't know if I can fight it."
Kaden's arms tightened around her, protective, unwavering. "You can. And you will. I'll make sure of it. Because no bond, no matter how strong or dangerous, can claim you if your heart knows the truth. You're mine, Lila. Not his. Not anyone else's. Yours. Always."
Her chest tightened, tears threatening to spill. She wanted to believe him. She needed to believe him. The bond with Dorian was intoxicating, yes, but the pull of her true mate—grounding, strong, inevitable—was a lifeline she clung to desperately.
And as she leaned into Kaden's embrace, feeling the warmth of reality wrap around her, she realized the fight had only just begun.
Dorian's shadows loomed, seductive and dangerous, threatening to pull her into chaos. But the truth had been revealed: the wrong bond was not what it seemed, and its hold might be more dangerous than she had ever imagined.
And Lila knew one thing for certain: survival, love, and her very soul depended on unraveling the secrets before it was too late.