Chapter Eight
Chains in My Blood
Altero
I slam the cabin door behind me, the sound echoing through the woods, through the hollow in my chest.She flinched when I pushed her against that tree.I can still see it.Still taste the bond sparking between us, screaming at me to take her, to end this torture.
My hands shake as I rake them through my hair, pacing the narrow length of the cabin like a caged animal.The fire pops, and shadows dance, but it’s her scent that fills the space—sweet, sharp, and laced with the salt of her tears.
The bond is merciless tonight.It claws through my veins, dragging my beast to the surface, demanding that I go to her.Demanding that I hold her.Pushing me to bury my face in her throat and sink my teeth into the place fate carved for me.
Mine.
The word roars in my skull, every single breath I take a battle.My chest heaves, my claws pricking at my fingertips, and my body strung tight as a bow ready to snap.
I glance toward the bed.
She’s there once more, safely wrapped in quilts, her hair fanned across my pillow, her lashes damp, her lips parted in sleep.So close.Too close.
The beast surges.Take her.Claim her.She wants you.She needs you.
I choke on a curse, slamming my fist into the wall hard enough to rattle the shelves.Pain lances up my arm, grounding me for half a second before the bond howls again.
Not like this.Not when she’s weak, not when she is still healing, and certainly not when she is still carrying the shadow of another man’s rejection.She deserves more than to be claimed out of desperation.She deserves choice.A whole bond, not the shattered half-life I can give her now.Not something born out of desperation because of the hurt she has endured.
I grip the edge of the table, my knuckles turning white, and my breath ragged.My wolf paces inside me, restless, furious, its claws raking along my bones.The urge to shift tears at me, hot and violent, but I hold it back with sheer will.
I’ve lived with this beast my whole life.But this bond?This is worse.Stronger.Every beat of my heart is synced to hers, every inhale of breath tangled in her scent.Even the way she breathes in her sleep makes my cock ache, my body burning to slide between her thighs and never leave.
I squeeze my eyes shut, the war inside me tearing me apart.
I want her.Goddess, I want her so badly I can barely think.But I need her whole.
Because if I claim her now, when she’s still bleeding from Gabriel, still doubting her worth, I’ll steal something from her I can never give back.And I won’t be that man.Not to her.
So I continue to keep my distance.I stand in the shadows, fists clenched, chest heaving, while the bond shreds me from the inside out.And I pray to a Goddess I swore I’d never believe in again that I can survive this night without breaking.
Because if she wakes and whispers my name again ...I won’t walk away twice.
****
By the time dawn breaksand the morning light starts to filter in, I can’t stand the cabin anymore.I need space.Distance.Anything to quiet the constant hum of her in my blood.
So I walk into town.I’ll get some supplies, I tell myself.Food, bandages, soap, and some clothes.Things she’ll need when she’s stronger.
But that doesn’t help either.Even with the noise of the market, the chatter of humans, the scent of coffee and food pressing in, all I can feel is her.The bond tethers me, stretching thin with the distance I have put between us, a constant ache pulls me back to the cabin.Back to her.
By the time I return, my chest is tight, and my hands are raw from clenching them the whole way.The moment I open the door, I hear it.
Water.
The bathroom door is cracked, steam spilling out in lazy curls.And through it ...her.
