The Third Bond

The forest was too quiet.

Not the peaceful kind of quiet. Not the silence that settles after a storm. This was the kind that curled around your throat and squeezed.

I tried to stand on my own, but Killian didn't let go.

His arms stayed around me like iron bands, holding me steady while his eyes searched the trees. Whatever that voice was, whatever that presence was, it was gone now. But the feeling remained.

Wrong.

Heavy.

Like something ancient had stirred and seen me.

"Let me go," I whispered, barely audible.

Killian didn't move.

"Killian," I said again, louder this time. "Let me go."

His jaw tightened. "You're shaking."

"I'm fine."

"You're lying."

Maybe. Probably. Definitely.

But I couldn't breathe with him touching me, couldn't think with his scent clouding my head and that strange bond still humming under my skin like a wire about to snap.

He let go.

And I stumbled back like I'd been burned.

The forest stayed still, thick with tension. We both listened, waiting. But the voice didn't return.

Killian stepped in front of me, half-turned like a shield. "That wasn't Aiden."

"I know."

"And it wasn't me."

"I know that too."

His eyes met mine. "Then who the hell was it?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I—"

But I stopped.

Because I felt it again.

That pull.

Not like the tether I had with Killian. Not even like the shattered, fraying one I'd had with Aiden.

This was something darker.

Deeper.

Older.

It coiled in my chest like smoke. Cold and heavy, and yet… maddeningly intoxicating. Like my wolf was pressing her face to a door I'd never opened, breathing in something forbidden.

And liking it.

My heart stuttered.

"What's happening to me?" I whispered.

Killian didn't answer.

Because maybe he didn't know.

Or maybe he did, and he was too afraid to say it out loud.

The bond shouldn't exist. Two mates was already a cosmic mistake. A glitch. A curse.

Three? No. That was impossible.

The gods didn't give out soul ties like party favors.

Unless this wasn't a gift.

Unless it was a warning.

A sound behind us made Killian spin. Not a threat. Not the presence from before.

Just a rustle. And then—

A figure stepped into view.

Aiden.

Alone.

His face was unreadable. Not cold. Not angry. Just… hollow.

I didn't want to look at him. But I did.

Because part of me still needed something. Answers. Closure. A fight.

Anything but this emptiness.

"I felt it," he said.

His voice was low. Flat.

Killian bristled beside me. "Back off, Aiden. Now's not the time."

Aiden ignored him. His eyes were on me. Only me.

"That bond. The one that just hit you." He paused. "I felt it too."

My breath caught.

"No," I said quickly, stepping back. "That's not possible. You already—You rejected me."

"I did," he admitted.

His voice didn't waver. But I saw the flicker behind his eyes. Regret. Or confusion. Or maybe even pain.

"But I never rejected the bond," he continued. "Not fully."

My throat closed. "You left me. You marked me, kissed me, and then vanished like I was a fucking mistake."

Aiden looked like he'd been slapped. "I thought I was protecting you."

"Bullshit."

He swallowed. "I know."

My hands curled into fists. "Don't come here now, acting like you still get to feel anything for me."

"I don't get to," he said. "But I do."

The silence between us cracked at the edges. The weight of too many lies, too much hurt.

And beneath it all, the truth neither of us wanted to say out loud:

The bond was still there.

But weaker.

Torn.

Damaged beyond recognition.

And in its place? Something else.

Killian stepped forward, placing himself between us. "She doesn't need this right now."

Aiden's gaze snapped to him. "Oh, you think you're the better choice? You left her bleeding."

"I came back."

"Too late."

"You never came at all."

The growl that erupted from Killian's chest sent shivers down my spine.

Aiden didn't back down. "You think I don't feel it? This third bond? You think I don't know how fucked up this is?"

Killian's voice was a low, violent snarl. "Get out of here before I forget what she would want and tear your throat out."

"You think she'd stop you?" Aiden barked a laugh. "You don't even know her anymore."

"I know enough."

"Do you?"

"I never stopped watching."

"Then you should've done something."

"I am now."

I couldn't take it anymore.

"Enough!"

My voice cracked like thunder, echoing off the trees.

Both alphas stilled.

"I'm not a prize," I snapped. "I'm not a fucking war to be won. You don't get to fight over me like I'm some piece of meat. You broke me. Both of you."

Neither of them spoke.

Good.

Because if either had tried to speak again, I might've screamed.

I turned away from them, the rage in my chest blinding. And beneath that rage, a horrible, pulsing ache.

Not just from the bonds.

From the part of me that remembered what it felt like to love them.

Killian. Aiden.

They'd buried themselves so deep in me once. And now that they were clawing their way back?

I didn't know if I wanted to run…

Or bury them all over again.

Suddenly, I felt it.

Him.

The third.

Just a flicker. A whisper against my spine.

But he was there. Watching.

Waiting.

And gods help me…

He wasn't going to be as gentle as these two.