Chapter Four: The Forbidden Pull

Liard’s POV

Steel met steel.

The sound echoed through the training grounds, filling the cool morning with sharp, unforgiving clashes. I was relentless. Strike after strike, I forced my body to move, to attack, to dodge.

Sweat dripped down my back. My muscles burned with exhaustion, my hands became raw from gripping the sword too tightly.

Good. I felt satisfied 

Pain was a distraction. Pain reminded me that I was still in control.

I launched forward, swinging my blade in a deadly arc. Caelum barely deflected it in time.

“Damn it, Alpha,” he panted, taking a step back. “We’ve been at this for hours.”

I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.

I lunged again. Faster. Harder.

Caelum barely blocked me, my blade pushing him back with sheer force.

His defence faltered.

I saw an opening—but at the last second, something stopped me.

Lavender and warm honey.

The scent hit me like a fist to the chest.

My muscles locked. My breath hitched.

And in that moment of hesitation, Caelum struck.

The flat of his blade slammed against my ribs, sending me staggering backward. Pain exploded through me.

I clenched my teeth, my grip tightening around the sword handle.

This is your fault, Helena.

She wasn’t even here, but she was everywhere.

In the air I breathed. In the way my heart raced without reason.

In the fact that my own wolf refused to fight back against a simple blow.

Caelum lowered his sword, watching me cautiously. “You’ve been off all week.”

I exhaled sharply, shoving my sword back into its sheath. “We’re done.”

He didn’t argue, though I caught the way his eyes narrowed slightly as if he knew.

I told myself it was just the mate bond messing with my head.

That it wasn’t real.

That it didn’t mean anything.

But deep inside, in the part of me I had buried for years, I knew the truth.

I had seen what love could do to a man.

I had watched it destroy my father.

I was ten years old the night my mother died.

The memory was something I didn’t allow myself to relieve often, but now, it clawed its way to the surface, suffocating me.

I could still hear her screams.

The rogue attack had come suddenly, tearing through the Crescent Moon borders like a wildfire. My father had been leading the warriors, pushing back against the assault, unaware of the danger waiting at home.

Unaware that my mother, our Luna, the heart of the pack, was being hunted.

I had hidden in the shadows of the great hall, clutching the dagger she had given me.

"Stay here, Liard," she had whispered before slipping out the door, her scent disappearing into the night.

But I hadn’t stayed.

I had followed.

But I had arrived too late.

I saw her lying in the dirt, her body twisted unnaturally, her white hair stained with blood.

Her wolf had been strong. But she had been outnumbered.

I had watched her take her last breath.

And then I heard my father’s roar.

A roar that shook the entire pack.

A sound of pure, heart-wrenching agony.

He had cradled her broken body, rocking back and forth like a man whose soul had just been ripped away.

And at that moment, he was lost.

He had become a shell of himself, the pack left without a leader until the dragons destroyed what remained of him.

************

I had barely slept. My wolf was restless, my thoughts a mess of memories I shouldn’t be thinking about.

I needed answers. I needed control.

And so, before I could stop myself, I found my feet moving straight toward the infirmary.

Straight toward her.

The door slammed open with force.

Helena turned sharply, her eyes widening in surprise.

She had been sorting herbs, her hands coated in healing salve. But as soon as she saw me, she froze.

The silence between us stretched. Too thick. Too unbearable.

Then I spoke, my voice low and menacing.

“Tell me it’s not real.”

Her breath hitched, her eyes flickering to the door before landing back on me.

"Liard," she said, her voice uncertain. "You shouldn’t be here."

I ignored her words, taking a step closer. I could feel it. The pull. The unbearable force tying us together, as if my body couldn't exist without hers near.

“Tell me,” I said again, my voice rougher. “Tell me this is nothing.”

Helena swallowed hard, her hands curling into fists at her sides.

"You are my Alpha," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly. "Nothing more."

Lies.

My hands slammed onto the table beside her, caging her in. "Don’t lie to me."

She inhaled sharply, her body so close that I could feel her warmth, the way her chest rose and fell too quickly.

“This bond means nothing,” she said, but her voice trembled.

I leaned in slightly, my lips dangerously close to her ear. “Then why does every part of me crave you?”

Helena’s breath shuddered.

She was trying so hard to resist this.

Just like me.

But the mate bond was stronger. It was in the air between us, thick and suffocating.

She turned to face me, her eyes burning with something she couldn’t name.

“This isn’t right,” she whispered.

"It doesn't matter what’s right," I growled, my fingers twitching at my sides, aching to touch her. "It’s real. It’s happening. And you feel it too."

She shook her head. “Liard—”

My gaze flickered down to her lips. Soft. Full. Just within reach.

Her heartbeat thundered, loud enough that I knew she was fighting herself as much as I was.

"You want to tell me this isn't real?" I murmured. "Then look me in the eye and say it."

Her lips parted.

Her hands shook.

But she didn’t say it.

Because she couldn’t.

Her body knew the truth, just as mine did.

The door swung open.

Helena jerked away from me, her breath ragged.

Rhider.

His eyes narrowed as he took in the scene, his gaze bouncing between us.

Helena turned too quickly, grabbing a random bottle of herbs and clutching it like it would save her. 

“The Alpha was just leaving.”

Rhider’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Your grace?”

I clenched my fists. Rhider waited for a response or anything I would say but I just shook my head.

I should have stayed. I should have challenged her.

But I didn’t.

Instead, I stormed past Rhider, not looking back.

Immediately I stepped out, the night air was cool against my burning skin.

I walked blindly, my mind a mess of thoughts I couldn’t control.

Every instinct in me screamed to go back.

To demand the truth from Helena, to make her say what we both already knew.

But before I could even think of it, a figure stepped into my path.

Seer Althea.

She was waiting. As if she had known I would be here.

Her pale, unseeing eyes bored into mine.

And then she spoke.

“You run from fate, but fate does not run from you.”

I clenched my fists.

I told myself I could fight this.

I told myself it would pass.

But Althea was right.

Fate never lets go.

And Helena…

Helena would be my downfall.