Tied Souls
I could only gape at him. His confession clung to the air like a cold moist fog and it settled on me uncomfortably. A mark. A soul bite. My mother’s request. Me. The narrative made no sense the minute I'd brought myself into the mix.
There was no way this was about me. Or so I wanted to believe but I couldn’t deny the oddities in my upbringing and the recent events occurring in my life so far.
“Sit down,” Ethan said softly, gesturing to the bed. I followed through, watching him closely. His expression looked haunted in a way I couldn’t understand. “You need to hear this properly.”
My skepticism lingered yet I moved and sat, locking my hands in my lap. He remained standing for a moment, as though gathering the courage to continue.
“About twelve years ago, your mother brought you to me.” He began, before settling right beside me on the bed. “She came to my father actually,” he corrected himself and I frowned.
“You were just a child, but your powers manifested from your original bloodline had already started drawing attention.” He looked at me hoping I’d understand.
I swallowed hard, dread prickling down my spine. “The melbringers?”
His jaw clenched. “Yes, well, some Melbringers. There are some Sorceresses who hunt and harvest power from original bloodlines like yours, like ours.”
Ours? Ethan's from an original bloodline of werewolves? I tried not to squirm at the information.
My brows knitted in confusion. I was desperately trying to make sense of where his telling was going. It would explain our first encounter and the questions he asked me. The moonstone pack. Could I really be? No, it was impossible.
“My father knew there was only one way to fully protect you. The original bloodline ” Ethan continued, his gaze darkening. “A soul bite. Permanent. Irreversible.”
I reached to caress my brows as my head grew heavy. “And what does that entail?”
He didn’t answer immediately so I stared at him. “Ethan?”
“Because of what I am.” His voice was steady but burdened. “My bloodline has the power to subdue uncontrolled magic but only through a direct, living connection.” His lips twisted into something bitter. “I marked you and in a way claimed you as mine.”
I felt the floor tilt beneath me. “What? Mark? Claim me?” I scoffed sharply, and a dry laugh followed. “And my mom, she agreed to that?”
“She didn’t have a choice,” he defended, his voice rough. “She was desperate to keep you safe and alive.”
I shook my head, trying to process the enormity of his words. “So, we’ve been bound since then?”
“Yes.” His gaze burned into mine. “Tied. Two souls connected by magic, bound to shield your power, by my will.”
The gravity of what he was saying crushed me. Yet an idea struck. “But, if we’re bound, what about mates?”
His expression darkened further. “That’s the other price.” His voice lowered, almost a whisper. “The bond between us, it can override the mate bond if either of us chooses it.”
I wasn’t sure how to react to that. I was still having a hard time believing what he had narrated so far. Yet his words were slowly wrapping around my heart like iron chains. “So, you could choose me, even if I’m not yours?”
His gaze softened, conflicted. “And you could choose me, even if you’re meant for someone else.”
His words echoed in my mind, tangling with old wounds I’d tried to forget. Rejected. Unwanted. Forgotten. Higan’s cold dismissal burned in my memory like a scar that wouldn’t fade.
But now, this bond Ethan spoke of, it sounded like hope. Something I hadn’t dared to believe in for months. Yet, the weight of it felt too convenient. Too cruel.
I folded my arms tightly across my chest, pushing down the fragile spark that tried to ignite. I wasn’t born yesterday. “You expect me to believe that? That I’m from some powerful bloodline hunted by sorceresses? That my mother, Mrs. Hilary Sage—” my voice wavered, “would trade my future like that?”
Ethan’s face became unreadable, though I caught a glimpse of something dark in his eyes. “It wasn’t a trade. She ensured you’d live long enough to have a future.”
I shot to my feet, pacing to the chair, struggling to breathe through the whirlwind inside me. “Why would she keep this from me? Why wouldn’t she tell me... if it’s true?”
“Would you have believed her?” he asked quietly.
My heart twisted because—no. I wouldn’t have. I barely believed him now. But still, I had more chances of believing her than him. After all, this could be some elaborate prank to make me behave.
I turned back to him, fists clenched. “What proof do you even have? For all I know, you’re lying to keep me tied to you so I won’t be a burden in New York.”
His expression hardened, lips thinning into a grim line. “If I wanted to manipulate you, I wouldn’t have told you anything, Harlyn. The bond’s been active your entire life, whether you knew it or not.”
I hated that his logic made sense. Hated how steady his voice was when mine trembled.
“You said... I could choose.” My voice cracked despite my resolve. “Choose you… over a mate.”
Ethan stepped closer, slow and deliberate, his gaze locked on mine. “Yes. You could choose me but I won’t force you.”
The sincerity in his voice made my breath hitch. No one had ever offered me a choice before—not Higan, not my so-called pack. They’d cast me aside without a second thought.
But Ethan, he sat there, unyielding yet patient, waiting for me.
Hope glimmered in my belly, tempered by wariness. He could be lying. This could be another trap. Another rejection waiting to happen.
But what if it wasn’t?
I continued to pace, the silence stretched between us, taut like a string about to snap. My mind spun, struggling to grasp everything Ethan had told me—bloodlines, sorceresses, and soul-bite. It sounded like a twisted fairy tale, something far removed from the harsh reality I’d known.
I took a shaky breath. “I... I need space. To think.”
Ethan’s jaw clenched, but he nodded, getting up to step away as though he could somehow sense how close I was to breaking. “I’ll be nearby if you need me.”
I hated how calm he was, how sure he sounded. Like he already knew what I’d decide. Did mind reading come with the supposed bond we shared?