Chapter 4. Echoes of the Bond

The air felt wrong.

Aria stepped out of the house into a world that didn’t quite fit. The sky was too still. The wind carried something strange—not scent exactly, but sensation. Her skin buzzed. Her senses sharpened.

Her wolf was restless again, pacing just beneath the surface.

Something had shifted in her sleep.

‘He’s getting closer,’ the wolf whispered. ‘Whether he wants to or not.’

At school, students gathered in tight clusters, talking in hushed tones. Even the loud ones kept their voices low. Whispers moved faster than footsteps.

“Did you hear?”

“Another attack?”

“Something’s watching.”

Jules appeared at her side, dark circles under her eyes.

“I thought you’d already know,” she said quietly.

“Know what?”

“Eastward trail. Two juniors went missing. They found one this morning. Barely.”

Aria’s heart stuttered. “What does that mean?”

“Means they were mauled. But not eaten. That’s not a rogue. That’s… something else.”

Aria looked toward the tree line, where the woods loomed just beyond the school’s back fence.

Something else was right.

Combat class was cancelled.

Instead, Headmaster Relin called a ranked council in the assembly hall—something that hadn’t happened since last year’s fire trials.

Kade stood near the stage with Logan and the other enforcers, arms crossed, gaze fixed on the far wall like it had insulted him. When Aria entered, his eyes didn’t move, but she felt it—the shift, the pull, the invisible tether that now throbbed with urgency.

She didn’t sit with the others.

Instead, she leaned against the wall near the exit, trying to breathe evenly, ignoring the scent of adrenaline that filled the room like a fog.

“Two attacks,” Relin announced. “Not rogue. No signature. Whoever—whatever—did this, covered their trail. Too clean.”

A murmur swept through the room.

“We suspect it’s not natural. Not from a pack. Possibly not even from here.”

That silenced everyone.

Aria saw Logan exchange a glance with the black-haired Beta girl—a glance full of weight and fear.

“We’ve contacted the Blood Court,” Relin added. “Alpha Locke will speak for us.”

All eyes turned to Kade.

He looked like stone.

“I’ll patrol the ridge myself,” he said. “Tonight.”

Relin hesitated. “You shouldn’t go alone.”

Kade’s jaw flexed. “I won’t be.”

Logan looked startled.

But Aria already knew.

He meant her.

***

She found him later, outside by the fencing that bordered the school’s training field. The late afternoon light spilled in golden slashes between the trees.

“You volunteered me,” she said.

He didn’t turn. “You sensed it too.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m ready.”

“You don’t get ready. You are ready. Or you die.”

“Such a motivational speech.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “I thought you liked honesty.”

She stepped closer. “Then here’s some honesty. You can’t keep dragging me into your war and pretending it’s not mine.”

His eyes sharpened. “You’re part of this whether you want it or not.”

“I didn’t ask to be your mate.”

“And I didn’t ask to care.”

Silence.

He exhaled. “I’ll pick you up at midnight.”

Aria blinked. “You’re serious.”

“Bring boots. And your wolf.”

***

The attic never felt smaller than it did that night.

Aria dressed in layers, braided her hair back, and slipped the silver crest into her pocket. She left a note on her pillow—just in case.

Outside, the black SUV waited like a shadow made of chrome.

Kade sat behind the wheel, hands steady, eyes unreadable.

They didn’t speak as they drove.

The roads turned narrower, darker, winding into forest paths no one marked on maps. The trees here leaned too close, like they were listening.

They stopped near an old firewatch tower, long abandoned, its base cracked and covered in ivy.

“This is where the scent ended,” Kade said, stepping out.

Aria followed, her boots crunching over leaves.

She sniffed the air. Cold. Still.

Then—something.

Burned sugar. Metal. And something rotten, underneath.

She recoiled. “That’s not wolf.”

“No,” Kade said. “It’s worse.”

Suddenly, her head snapped to the side. A blur moved between the trees.

Her wolf surged. ‘There.’

Kade was already in motion, silent as wind, fast as light.

Aria followed, breath ragged, heart wild.

They ran for what felt like forever—then the trees opened up into a clearing.

Nothing.

Dead silence.

Then…

A mark.

On a stone. Clawed deep.

A symbol—unfamiliar, jagged, almost like a letter from another language.

Kade stared at it.

“What does it mean?” Aria asked.

His voice was a whisper. “It means we’re not alone.”

And then—

From the trees behind them, something watched.

***

Back at home, Aria lay awake, heart still pounding.

The forest. The mark. The feeling.

And Kade, standing in the moonlight, jaw clenched, trying not to reach for her.

But it wasn’t him that kept her awake.

It was what she felt behind her, even now, when she was safe in her room.

Eyes.

Not Kade’s.

Someone else’s.

And a voice in the dark:

“You don’t belong to him.”

She sat up straight.

But no one was there.

Only the wind… whispering through the attic walls.

***

Kade crouched by the stone.

His fingers traced the edges of the carved mark. “This isn’t just a warning,” he said. “It’s a message.”

Aria stood beside him, trying to ignore the way the symbol seemed to vibrate beneath her skin. “You understand it?”

“Part of it.” His voice was tight. “My mother was a codekeeper for the Court before she died. I saw things like this… once.”

She knelt down too, studying the lines. “What does it say?”

He looked up, eyes meeting hers in the dark. “It says, ‘he’s awake’.”

“Who?”

But Kade didn’t answer.

Suddenly, the trees shifted.

Not wind. Movement.

Aria’s wolf bristled. She rose slowly, scanning the forest. “Something’s watching us.”

“I know.”

Kade’s hands clenched into fists. “Shift if you have to. Don’t speak. And whatever you do—don’t run.”

Before she could respond, a low growl echoed from the shadows.

It wasn’t wolf.

It was deeper. Wrong.

A massive shape moved between the trees. Too fast to see clearly. Aria’s breath caught as her wolf pushed harder against her skin, ready to break through.

Then it stopped.

She saw it—a silhouette between the trees. Standing upright, but not human. Tall, hunched. Its eyes glowed like twin coals in the dark.

Kade took a step forward. “Show yourself.”

The creature stepped closer.

Aria’s heart hammered. Its shape was distorted. Parts of it shifted like smoke. One moment it had arms, the next—claws. It didn’t belong in this world.

“Kade,” she whispered. “We need to go.”

“No,” he said, jaw tight. “It followed me. It’s not after you.”

“It marked our stone.”

“It wants to scare us.”

“Well, it’s doing a damn good job.”

Suddenly, the thing lunged forward—not at them, but into the trees to their right. A distraction. A trap.

Kade grabbed her arm. “Run.”

They didn’t run blindly—they ran together, fast, weaving between trees, their senses hyper-sharp. Aria felt the creature moving behind them—never close, never far.

It didn’t chase.

It hunted.

After ten full minutes, they broke through the woods onto an old road and didn’t stop until they reached the SUV.

Kade yanked the door open and slammed it shut as soon as she was inside.

He peeled away from the woods without a word.

They drove in silence, both of them breathing hard.

Aria stared straight ahead. “What was that?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’ve seen something like it before.”

He hesitated. “Not like that.”

“What do you think it wants?”

His fingers tightened on the wheel. “I think it wants to break the bond.”

She turned to him slowly. “Ours?”

He didn’t answer.

***

By the time they reached the edge of town, clouds had gathered above. Lightning crawled across the sky like veins. Kade pulled into a side road, stopping beside an abandoned gas station overgrown with ivy.

He didn’t move.

Neither did she.

“You’re bleeding,” he said quietly.

She looked down. A gash on her forearm, probably from a branch during the sprint. She hadn’t even felt it.

Kade reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a cloth. He passed it to her without looking.

“Thanks,” she murmured.

He still didn’t meet her eyes.

“You didn’t freeze,” he said after a while. “Most wolves do, first time they see something like that.”

“I’ve had worse in my own house.”

That made him glance over.

And finally, really look at her.

He reached out, his hand almost brushing her cheek—but stopped an inch away. He pulled back like the contact burned.