Chapter 7 The Unwanted Chain

"Die, you useless freak!" Brandon roared. His blade caught the orange glare of the burning tower as it came down directly toward my neck.

I didn't turn away. I didn't run. I dug my bare heels into the freezing slush, locked my jaw, and braced for the impact of the steel.

Then, my ribs felt like they were ripping wide open.

It wasn't a wolf. There was no phantom howl, no sudden burst of heat, no fur. It was a raw, freezing, incredibly heavy force that blasted straight out from the center of my chest. The air didn't just vibrate; it shattered completely.

The invisible shockwave hit Brandon dead-on. The sheer force of the blast tore him completely out of his heavy leather saddle. He flew backward through the air, his red cape twisting around his armor before he slammed hard into the deep snow. His massive black stallion screamed, its front legs buckling as the pressure wave knocked it sideways, sending the giant beast crashing into the wet dirt and throwing up a massive sheet of grey ice.

"What did you do?" Brandon screamed from the ground. He wasn't holding his broadsword anymore. He was clutching his left collarbone, rolling frantically in the slush as his fingers tore desperately at his gold-trimmed breastplate. "Ah! My skin! It burns! It burns!"

A sudden, sharp heat sliced across my own flesh. I gasped, dropping straight to my knees as a white-hot pain ripped across my left collarbone. It felt like someone was dragging a red-hot iron rod directly over my bare skin.

"Nyra!" Lucien shouted, his voice cut short by a harsh, wet cough. He stumbled toward me, his boots dragging in the slush as he used his sword to balance his weight. "Your chest... look at your chest."

I pulled back the wet, tattered collar of my ritual dress. Beneath the dirt and oil, a bright, glowing golden brand was burning itself deep into my skin. It twisted and turned in real-time, forming the jagged shape of a broken crescent moon linked to a heavy, jagged chain.

Across the yard, Brandon ripped his metal collar open, revealing the exact same glowing golden mark searing into his flesh, smoking against the cold air.

"No!" Brandon shrieked, his face twisting into a mask of pure horror and agony. He stared across the snow at me, his chest heaving up and down as the golden light pulsed against his skin. "No, this is impossible! The Moon Goddess wouldn't do this! You're a defect! You're a human! Why is it linking to you?"

"A mate bond," Lucien whispered, his grey eyes wide as he stared from me to Brandon. He wiped a streak of dark blood from his lips, his voice laced with grim, heavy realization. "It’s a forced bond. An artificial match. A punishment."

"I don't want him!" I choked out, forcing myself to stand up on my shaking legs despite the burning agony in my flesh. "I don't want anything to do with him! Break it! How do I break it?"

"She’s binding you to your abuser, Nyra," Lucien said, his large hand gripping my shoulder to steady both of us. "To twist you both. Look at his men. They can't move."

I looked up through the smoke. The long line of mounted vanguard archers sat completely frozen in their saddles. Their bows were still lowered, their mouths hanging open as they stared at their future Alpha King screaming in the dirt, bonded to the very woman he had just tried to execute in front of them. The public humiliation was total. Brandon’s entire reputation was turning to absolute ash right in front of his vanguard.

"What are you standing there for?" Brandon barked at his guards, his voice cracking with pain and rage as he thrashed in the snow. "Kill her! Cut her head off right now! Break the bond by killing her!"

"They won't touch you while their alpha is down like that," Lucien hissed in my ear, his breath hot and ragged against my neck. "But they will recover. The shock won't last forever. We have to move right now."

"I'm taking the horse," I said.

I didn't wait for his permission or a plan. I scrambled through the freezing slush toward a large grey stallion that had lost its rider during the blast. The beast was shivering, its eyes rolling in fear, but the leather reins were trailing loosely in the snow.

I grabbed the leather straps, pulling the horse's head down toward me. "Hey. Easy. Stand still."

"Nyra, I can't climb up," Lucien growled behind me. He staggered heavily against the side of the horse, his armored legs completely giving out. The plague was locking his muscles again, his face turning an unearthly shade of grey. "My wolf... it's fighting the bond's energy wave. I'm completely drained."

"Get up here!" I yelled. I grabbed the iron collar of his armor with both hands, using every ounce of my hardened human muscle to haul his massive, heavy frame upward. I gritted my teeth, my scarred palms burning against the hot metal as I dragged him onto the back of the leather saddle. "Hold onto the horn! Don't let go!"

Lucien grunted, coughing up a spray of dark blood onto the horse's white mane as he locked his uninjured arm around the cantle.

I vaulted up into the front of the saddle, grabbing the leather reins tightly. The freezing northern wind was picking up, howling through the open gates of the courtyard and bringing a thick, blinding wall of white snow straight down upon us.

"Stop them!" Brandon roared from the ground, finally forcing himself up onto his knees, his gold armor covered in mud. "Don't let them reach the perimeter gates! Shoot them down!"

"Too late, Brandon!" I screamed back.

I drove my bare heels hard into the grey stallion's ribs. The horse let out a loud snort and leaped forward, its hooves throwing up a massive spray of freezing slush and dirt. We charged straight through the gap in the paralyzed line of archers, racing past the burning gates of the Evercrest estate and plunging directly into the blinding whiteout of the northern blizzard.

The cold hit me like a solid wall, tearing the breath right out of my lungs. The world behind us disappeared into a haze of orange fire and white snow.

I leaned low over the horse's neck, gasping for air as the freezing wind whipped my dark hair across my face. But as the physical pain of the brand began to dull into a throb, a sudden, violent jolt struck the inside of my head.

I gasped, my grip tightening on the leather reins.

It wasn't my own voice. Inside my mind, scratching against my thoughts like a rusted blade, I could feel it. Brandon’s frantic, furious, raging thoughts were pouring straight through the fresh, burning mark on my collarbone, filling my head with his loud, angry screams.