Chapter 8

The entrance to the archives was hidden beneath the packhouse, deep underground where the oldest records were kept.

The air was cool and damp as we descended the stone steps, the silence oppressive as the weight of centuries of history pressed down on us.

Aiden led the way, his body tense as he pushed open the heavy wooden door. Inside, the room was lined with shelves upon shelves of ancient scrolls, dusty books, and forgotten relics.

The smell of old paper and leather filled the air, and a strange energy seemed to hum beneath the surface.

James immediately set to work, scanning the shelves for anything that might give us a clue about the mark.

Aiden and I stood near the center of the room, the tension between us thick and palpable.

As James searched, I couldn’t help but glance at Aiden, who was watching me closely. His eyes flicked to my arm, where the mark still glowed faintly beneath my sleeve.

“You don’t feel it, do you?” I asked quietly, breaking the silence.

Aiden’s eyes met mine, dark and unreadable. “Feel what?”

“The mark,” I said, holding up my arm. “It’s on me, not you. Whatever this bond is... it’s taking more from me.”

Aiden’s jaw clenched, and for a moment, he looked almost guilty. “I didn’t ask for this,” he muttered.

“Neither did I.”

Before Aiden could respond, James returned, holding an old, tattered book. “I found something,” he said, his voice urgent. “There’s a section here about the ‘sacred marks.’ It says they appear when an ancient bond is disturbed, usually a bond that was never meant to be broken.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, my heart pounding in my chest.

James’s eyes darted between Aiden and me, his expression grim. “It means the rejection didn’t sever the bond. It only made it stronger.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. “Stronger? How is that possible?”

James pointed to the symbols on my arm. “These marks... they’re a sign that the bond is trying to correct itself. The magic is ancient and powerful, and it’s forcing you two back together. If we don’t find a way to stop it...”

He trailed off, but the implication was clear. If we didn’t find a way to break the bond, I would be tied to Aiden forever, whether I wanted to be or not.

I glanced at Aiden, who was staring at the mark with a mixture of anger and something else I couldn’t quite place.

The bond had always been there, but now it was becoming something more, something dangerous.

“We need to stop this,” I said, my voice trembling. “I can’t... I won’t be bound to you, Aiden.”

His eyes flicked to mine, and for a moment, I saw the slightest flicker of regret. But then his expression hardened, and he turned away.

“We’ll find a way,” James said, his voice filled with determination. “I’ll keep looking. There has to be something we can do.”

..................

The days following our discovery in the archives were suffocating.

The glowing mark on my arm continued to pulse, a constant reminder of the bond I could neither control nor escape. Every time I looked at it, I felt like I was slowly being consumed by something much larger than myself, something ancient and terrifying. But what haunted me most was the fact that it wasn’t just the bond forcing us together, it was the way I was starting to feel about Aiden despite everything.

I couldn’t afford to think about him that way. I wouldn’t.

James worked tirelessly, going through more books, more scrolls, hunting for answers to break this connection. We spent countless hours in the archives, surrounded by dusty tomes and forgotten relics, but every lead seemed to turn into a dead end.

“I’ll keep looking,” he would say, determination etched into every word. But as the days passed, I could see the frustration growing in his eyes.

Aiden was always nearby, watching me in that way he had, intense, unreadable. It was as if he could sense every ripple of confusion and fear inside me.

The more I tried to avoid him, the more present he seemed, like a shadow I couldn’t outrun.

Then came the night everything changed.

I was in my small omega quarters, trying to ignore the increasing pain from the mark on my arm. It had started to burn more fiercely, and the more I fought against the bond, the worse it became.

I had taken to wrapping a bandage around it, hoping to dull the glow, but it did little to ease the discomfort.

There was a soft knock at the door.

Expecting it to be James with more news from the archives, I opened it quickly, only to find Aiden standing there, his expression as grim as ever.

“Aiden,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk,” he said, stepping inside without waiting for an invitation. His presence filled the small room, making it feel even more claustrophobic.

“I’m not sure there’s anything left to talk about,” I replied, my stomach twisting with the unease I always felt around him now.

But Aiden wasn’t deterred. He stood there, looking at me with that same intensity that made it hard to breathe. “The bond is growing stronger, Layla. You know that as well as I do.”

I crossed my arms, trying to shield myself from the truth of his words. “That’s why we’re working on breaking it.”

“Are you?” he asked, his voice low. “Because I’m not sure that’s what you really want.”

I froze, my heart hammering in my chest. “What are you talking about?”

“You feel it,” he said, his gaze never leaving mine. “I know you do. You think you can hide it, but I’ve felt every shift in our bond. Every time it calls to you, every time it pulls you closer.”

I shook my head, backing away from him. “No. That’s the bond talking, not me.”

Aiden’s eyes darkened, and in an instant, he was in front of me, his hand wrapping gently around my wrist, just above the mark. “It’s not just the bond,” he whispered. “It’s you. It’s always been you.”

The moment his skin touched mine, a jolt of electricity surged through me, the bond flaring to life in a way that took my breath away.

My heart raced, and for a split second, I couldn’t tell if it was the magic or something else entirely that made me feel this way.