Chapter 5 Bound to him

Lora’s head snaps toward Lucien with her green eyes wide as she asks

“What? What did you just say?”

Lucien doesn’t answer. He just stands over Elara’s still body with his chest rising and falling hard, every muscle tight. The word mate still hangs in the air and no one, absolutely dares to breathe.

His wolf instinct takes over every rationality.

Silas just stares at him like he’s gone mad. “That’s my sister you’re talking about,” he says slowly, his voice shaking. “You can’t… she’s dead.”

Lucien’s jaw flexes, but he doesn’t look away from Elara. “She’s not,” he mutters, more to himself than to anyone else.

Lora then steps forward with her voice small and trembling. “Alpha Lucien, please… she’s been gone for hours. The healers tried everything.”

Lucien still doesn’t answer. He reaches out, his hand hovering above her face, afraid to touch, afraid it’s real. His breath catches as the door opens behind them. The sound is soft, but it cuts through the silence like a blade. One of the healers enters with his two assistants following close behind, their steps careful and quiet.

“We are here to move her body, Alpha,” the healer says gently, bowing his head out of respect. Then he pauses, glancing at Lucien with a frown. “Did you say… mate?”

Everyone turns to Lucien, waiting.

He doesn’t look at the healer; his eyes stay fixed on Elara. His hand finally touches her arm which is as light as a whisper.

And then he feels it. A pulse. Weak. Barely there, but it’s there.

Lucien’s eyes widen, the breath leaving his chest. “She’s alive,” he says, his voice low but certain.

Silas freezes as he asks “What?”

Lora stumbles back, shaking her head. “That’s not possible…Beta Corvin, did your Alpha hit his head on his way here?” Corvin frowns at her question, and that answers it.

Lucien’s voice hardens as he looks up. “She’s alive. Get everyone out. Now.”

The healer blinks, as though he didn’t hear right. “That’s not possible, Alpha Lucien. We checked...”

“She’s alive,” Lucien says again. This time, his tone is sharper, filled with something fierce and final. His voice rolls through the room like a command that no one dares to ignore. “Take the damn sheet off her.”

“Alpha, that’s not…” the healer starts with his words trembling.

Lucien turns his head slowly, his eyes flashing gold for a brief second. “And I said, take it off.”

The silence that follows is so thick. Corvin hesitates for only a moment before moving forward. He doesn’t argue; he just grips the edge of the white sheet and pulls it back.

Elara’s face appears, it is pale, too still, and her lips drained of colour, but Lucien hears it. Beneath everything, the quiet, the doubt, the fear, there it is. The faintest heartbeat. Weak but steady. Like an echo that refuses to die.

Lucien steps closer with his breath shaking. His gaze never leaves her. He can’t explain it, can’t even think straight. His wolf is clawing at him from the inside, it is wild, restless, demanding.

Mate and she’s mine. She’s alive. Mark her

The scent fills his lungs again, sweeter now, warmer. It’s not the scent of death. It’s life.

Behind him, a voice cuts through the room which is loud, angry, and full of disbelief.

“Lucien, I know you're a crazy man but I never thought the madness had gone this far.” Kael’s voice booms from the doorway, making everyone turn.

Lucien doesn’t move and he doesn’t even look back as his focus stays on Elara.

“She’s breathing,” he says quietly. “You just don’t hear it yet.”

Kael lets out a short and humourless laugh. “You’re delusional, Lucien. She’s gone.”

“She’s breathing,” Lucien says again, firmer this time. His wolf stirs beneath his skin, pressing closer, eager to take control.

Silas steps between them with his voice shaking. “You can’t just say that… she’s…” He looks at his sister, desperate, terrified to hope. “She’s gone.”

Lucien doesn’t answer. Instead, he moves slowly but certainly leaning down until his face is close to Elara’s. The room goes silent. Even the fire seems to hold its breath.

He inhales deeply, his nose tracing the air just above her skin, following the faintest hint of warmth.

“What are you doing?” Lora gasps, her voice breaking through the quiet.

Lucien doesn’t hear her. His wolf surges forward, wild and unstoppable. The growl that escapes his chest is deep, raw and primal.

“Mate.”

Kael’s chair scrapes the floor as he moves forward fast. “Lucien, you’d better stop right now…”

Lucien straightens slowly, meeting his eyes. “You stop me, and she dies,” he says, voice low but deadly sure.

Silas freezes. “What are you talking about?”

Lucien doesn’t blink. “Her heart is tied to mine now. You want her to live? Then stay out of my way.”

Kael moves forward fast. “Lucien, quit this nonsense this in—”

But it’s already too late. He is already too far gone. The words barely leave his lips before instinct takes over. He lowers his head until his fangs graze the soft curve of Elara’s neck. For a split second, he hesitates, but well instinct wins.

His fangs sink in.

The sound is a sharp, wet gasp that freezes everyone in the room. It seems like the world stops.

Lucien jerks back like he’s waking from a dream, eyes wide and wild. Blood runs down the corner of his mouth. He stumbles back a step, staring at her, at his own hands. “What… what did I just do?” he breathes.

Kael doesn’t hesitate. His fist connects with Lucien’s jaw hard enough to send him reeling. “You marked her!” he roars.

Lucien wipes the blood from his lip, a growl rumbling in his throat. “You should be thanking me, Kael.”

“Thanking you?” Damon snaps, stepping forward. “You just..”

Lucien swings again, his punch landing squarely across Kael’s face. Kael growls, his form flickering with the edge of his shift.

“Stop!” Silas shouts, throwing himself between them. “Enough! Just stop!”

Then a soft weak gasp escapes Elara, everyone freezes.

Elara’s fingers twitch beneath the sheet, and her body jerks once again, harder this time.

The healers stumble back with their eyes wide. “What… what’s happening?”

Lucien turns slowly with his pulse pounding in his ears. He can barely breathe as he watches Elara’s body arches off the bed with a low, broken sound tearing from her throat. Her heartbeat, once faint and fading, starts to quicken unevenly, but alive.

Kael steps forw

ard, disbelief all over his face. “Elara?”

Lucien’s chest rises and falls as his eyes lock on her.