Chapter 17 – The Ritual of Binding
[LYRA'S POV]
They were watching me like I was a storm waiting to happen.
Every step I took through the pack's inner circle was tracked, whispered about, dissected.
"Is that her?"
"She's the one with the mark."
"She made the flames bow…"
I kept my chin up.
But my fingers were trembling inside my sleeves.
---
Elyna walked beside me, trying to be casual.
"You look like you're walking into a trap," she muttered.
"I feel like I am."
"Well, technically it's a tradition. Not a trap. But it can kill you, so…"
"Elyna."
"Right. Encouraging words. Sorry."
---
The ritual was to be held in the Moon Scar Circle — a sacred hollow deep in the woods, where the oldest stones still hummed with the magic of the wolves who came before.
It was said no lies could be spoken inside it.
And no bonds could be faked.
---
[KAIRO'S POV]
When I stepped into the clearing and saw her standing barefoot on the silver moss, I forgot how to breathe.
The wind had braided through her hair.
Her mark pulsed with a quiet, steady glow.
And every wolf present felt it.
Felt her.
The Echo Flame.
---
Selene stood on the edge of the circle, arms folded, expression unreadable.
"She shouldn't do this," she whispered.
"She has to," I said.
"She'll be tested."
"I'll be with her."
---
"She might not survive."
I turned.
Met her eyes.
> "Then neither will I."
---
[LYRA'S POV]
They began the ritual with a cut.
Not deep, but sharp — across the palm.
Elyna did it for me, her eyes apologetic.
"It's not about blood," she whispered, "it's about intent."
I bled into the center stone.
Kairo did the same.
Then the flames around the circle lit blue.
---
Elder Rowan, one of the oldest seers, stepped forward.
"The fire recognizes you," he said, voice ancient and low. "Now we ask if your bond is truth… or disaster."
He handed us a silver thread. Old magic. Wolf-woven.
If the bond between us was real — emotional, spiritual, and aligned — the thread would burn clean between our hands.
If not?
It would turn to ash… and take us with it.
---
Kairo stepped forward.
Took one end.
I took the other.
The moment our skin touched the thread—
The wind died.
The trees stilled.
And the flames around the circle lifted into the air like they were holding their breath.
---
> I looked at him.
He didn't smile.
He didn't flinch.
But his eyes said it all.
"I don't know what you are. But I know what you mean to me."
---
[THE THREAD BEGAN TO BURN.]
Slowly.
Bright silver.
Then gold.
Then—
CRACK.
The thread split—
But instead of ash or ruin…
A third flame appeared.
Suspended between us.
White. Ancient. Alive.
It pulsed once—
And then flew into my chest.
Right into the mark.
---
[KAIRO'S POV]
She collapsed.
I caught her.
But the moment I did—
I saw what she saw.
A thousand flames.
A thousand voices.
And one whisper louder than them all:
> "Bound. But not yet mated.
Protect what you awaken. Or all will burn."
---
[LYRA'S POV – WAKING]
I woke in his arms.
The pack surrounded us.
Elyna's face was wet with tears.
Elder Rowan dropped to one knee.
"The bond is sacred," he said. "Never seen before in this generation."
Selene didn't move.
Her lips pressed together, her eyes sharp.
She looked at me like I was both the answer and the problem.
---
Later, alone in the healer's hut, I whispered, "Kairo… what now?"
He traced the back of my hand gently.
"We burned together, Lyra."
I looked at him. "So we're safe?"
He shook his head slowly.
"No. Now they'll come harder."