The Bonds that Bind us.

POV: Katherine & Kalypso

The crisp bite of early winter rushes through my fur as I run, the full moon’s power thrumming like liquid fire through my veins. Kalypso—my wolf, my other half—pushes faster, reveling in the intoxicating surge.

I received her on my sixteenth birthday, like every wolf does, and for the last two years she’s been restless… waiting.

Hunting for our mate.

Dreaming of the moment the Moon Goddess reveals who He is.

He could be anywhere, she murmurs into our mind-link, her tone soft and aching, even as her paws pound the forest floor.

He could be ours already.

I swallow the familiar flutter of nerves.

“Or he could be in a different pack entirely,” I remind her. “We won’t know until Fate decides we’re ready.”

She only huffs, impatient and full of longing. My wolf wants our mate more than anything—more than becoming Beta, more than glory in battle, more than running beneath the moon.

I shake off the thought and refocus.

Tonight, we patrol the Blood Moon Pack’s perimeter—one of my many responsibilities as the future Beta. I’ve trained since childhood with our pack’s fiercest warriors. When the current Alpha’s son steps up to rule, I’ll stand at his right hand.

And with winter coming fast, rogues will soon swarm the borders, desperate enough to kill pups for a scrap of food.

We can’t let even one slip through.

Kalypso slows suddenly, muscles coiling.

She lifts her snout.

“Do you smell that?” she growls.

I inhale.

My blood runs cold.

“Blood.”

It’s coming from beyond our border—from the no-man’s stretch of wilderness we call Dead Man’s Land, separating us from Lunar Pack territory.

Kalypso’s answer is immediate, primal.

“We should check it out.”

“No.” I snap. “Dad will skin us alive if we cross that border. It’s forbidden.”

“You humans and your rules,” she snarls, retreating to the back of my mind in irritated silence.

She’s feral, far more than a Beta’s pup should be. Too strong. Too wild. Strong enough to resist the Alpha’s commands.

A deadly secret.

I’m about to continue the patrol when a sound fractures the night—

A long, mournful howl…

…that breaks into a gut-wrenching scream.

Kalypso lunges forward in my mind, claws scraping my consciousness.

“Either we cross the border together—

or I take over our body and do it myself.”

Her voice is savage. Drooling. Unhinged with the need to protect whoever screamed.

“Fine,” I hiss. “But when Dad asks how we broke an Alpha’s order, you’re explaining.”

“I am not afraid of Father,” she growls.

We cross the border in a blur.

The metallic tang of blood grows thicker. We sprint through underbrush, rounding a massive oak—

—and skid into a clearing where the scene before us steals the breath from my lungs.

A woman is crawling on her hands and knees, her body torn open, blood pooling beneath her. A rogue wolf stalks her in slow circles, snapping at her back.

Kalypso’s fury explodes.

We unleash a thunderous snarl.

The rogue whips around, hackles raised.

It warns us off.

We don’t listen.

Kalypso surges forward, and we collide in a whirl of fur and blood. Claws slash. Teeth sink. Pain blooms—but the rogue grows weaker.

We seize the opening.

Beneath him—soft belly exposed.

Kalypso slashes deep, ripping open flesh and spilling hot blood onto the earth. The rogue staggers back, wheezing.

He turns to flee.

We pounce.

My jaws clamp onto the back of his neck.

One twist—

A sickening crack—

And the rogue drops lifeless.

Kalypso stands tall, chest heaving, victorious. Blood drips from our muzzle. She savors the violence, the primal satisfaction of eliminating a threat.

Only once she is sure the area is clear does she let me retake control.

My gaze snaps to the injured she-wolf crawling away, trembling.

I shift into my human form, breath misting in the frigid air.

Her torn clothes cling to her body. Blood pours from deep claw wounds. She’s barely holding on—

And then I see her rounded belly.

She’s pregnant.

Very pregnant.

My heart lurches.

The night suddenly feels colder.