Chapter Five: Bound by Fire
The dress was black, partially transparent in spots and constricting in others, and had filmy, braided straps that bound across my shoulders like crossed threads. When Mira fastened it around my waist with a leather band that felt all too much like a collar, I wanted to tear it off.
But I didn't.
Because Lucien had said I needed to see what I was "dealing with."
So I trailed after them—him, the rest of them—into the heart of the forest, where fire burned like a pulse against the trees. The location of the Moonfire ritual was not what I'd anticipated. A circle of stone pillars jutted up from the earth like jagged teeth, each one inscribed with symbols carved centuries ago that glowed with a soft light under the crimson moon.
The air was thick. Hot. Alive.
And the moment I stepped into that circle, I felt it.
Something was wrong. Or right. I didn't know anymore.
My skin prickled. My blood was. alert. As if it was waiting for something.
The others—his pack, the feral-born—remained silent. Some in human form, the rest already shifted, fur gleaming in the light. I caught a glimpse of silver eyes flashing from a massive wolf on the edge. They watched me. All of them. But no one moved.
Until he did.
Lucien stepped forward, shirtless, bare foot tiptoeing over the moss-covered ground. A band of ink curled down his arm, etched in muscle and heat. He did not look at anyone else—just me.
"You're shaking," he said, his voice husky.
"I'm cold."
"You're lying."
He circled me slowly, as a predator would when weighing its prey. I did not move, chin high, though my heart was hammering like it wanted to come out of my chest.
Why am I here?" I asked, although I already knew.
"To witness. To awaken." His voice caressed my skin. "To remember who you are."
"I don't know who that is."
He paused behind me. I sensed the heat of his chest at my back, not touching—barely, yet close enough that my breath caught.
"You will," he whispered.
Then the drums started.
A slow, thudding beat that shook the earth and crawled along my backbone. The pack began to move—around the fire, some altering pace in mid-stride, others shedding clothes with easy fluidity. It should have terrified me.
But it didn't.
It was beautiful. Wild. Primal.
Lucien extended his hand. "Dance with me."
"I don't know how."
"You don't need to."
I blinked… then accepted his hand.
His fingers clamped around mine—firm, unyielding. He dragged me to the center of the stone circle, where the fire burned brightest, licking the air with crimson tongues. The drums beat louder and faster. Wolves moved around us in a blur of shadow and fur.
Lucien didn’t touch me again—at least, not at first. He simply stood there, looking into my eyes, until I was dancing along to the rhythm. He followed me, his footsteps matching my own, shadows playing across the sharp lines of his chest.
Then he put a hand on my waist.
I gasped for air. His thumb brushed against bare skin, and the contact ignited a flame within me.
You're not what they told you you were," he murmured. "You're not broken. You're not weak. They lied to you."
I scowled, my eyes narrowing in defiance. "And you're any different?"
A flicker of a smile danced on his lips, and his mouth twitched. "No. I'm worse."
His other hand slid onto my back. We inched closer, hips aligned, bodies almost touching. Heat coursed between us like steam.
His scent hit me—forest smoke, iron, and something more. Something that made my knees feel unsteady.
"You sense it, don't you?" he said.
I didn't answer. I couldn't.
Because yes—I felt it.
The pull. The ache. The raw, magnetic pull of something unnamed but all-consuming.
He rested his head against mine, lips brushing the shell of my ear.
"You smell like fate."
My breath was caught. I swayed toward him mindlessly. His nose skimmed down my jaw, a single exhale that sent shivers down to my toes.
"I don't want to belong to anyone," I whispered, voice trembling.
His lips kissed my cheek. "Then don't. But I'll still take you."
The drums slowed. The pack howled on around us.
But we were in our own world—of heat and hunger and need.
His mouth was inches from my own. One tremble, and we would be kissing. Claiming. Consumed.
I wanted it.
God help me, I wanted it more than I wanted air.
But then—
Jolts of electricity coursed through my spine.
I gasped, stumbling back. Seared, flaming pain scorched my chest—blinding, burning . I doubled over, clutching my chest as a scream tore from my throat.
"Elara!"
Lucien caught me before I hit the ground. My vision crossed—red moonlight, flickering flame, his face above mine twisted into a look of terror.
"What is happening to her?" someone yelled.
"She's reacting—her blood—"
My body convulsed. Energy surged through me like a tsunami. My skin glowed with a soft light, and my veins lit up like silver lightening.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't move.
I wasn't in my body anymore—I was everywhere.
I felt the trees. The sky. The wolves.
I felt the moon breathing.
"Elara, look at me!" Lucien's voice thundered above the noise. His hands gripped my shoulders.
I managed to focus. His eyes were glowing —gold and wild. His wolf was close, clawing behind his skin.
"You need to anchor," he said. "Feel me. Just me."
I tried. Reached.
And then—
Something clicked into place.
The fire died down.
The drums stopped.
I gasped as the magic gripped me, slow and painful like cooling lava.
Lucien cradled me in his lap, his chest rising and falling in irregular cadence.
"You're not just a girl," he whispered.
"I never was," I said, voice hoarse.
He stared down at me, and for that instant, I knew he didn't just want me.
He needed me.
And maybe I needed him, too.
But I didn’t say it.
Because whatever just woke inside of me—it was only the beginning.
Then I blacked out.