Chapter Six: Chains of Fire

Chapter Six: Chains of Fire

Sleep had eluded me.

I was lying in my bedroom, staring up at the ceiling as the tempest howled outside the stone walls of the Rivera estate. Every gust of wind was a hiss: liar, betrayer, coward. My heart thudded at the memory of his eyes—the molten silver that had seared me when I'd called him "no one."

But he was not no one.

He was everything.

And that was the trouble.

My body ached by morning from pacing. I couldn't eat, couldn't smile at my mother's morning news, couldn't greet my father's steel-dark stare without fearing he'd see through the deceit in my heart. His suspicion was already as keen as a razor blade. One misplaced look, and he would suspect.

And then Adrian would be dead.

The tie pulled at me all day like a rope of fire, each tug a reminder that I belonged to someone who could never be mine. At sunset, I could no longer resist. Cloak over my shoulders, frost crunching under boots, I ran once more into the forest.

He was waiting.

Adrian appeared out of the shadows as if the storm itself had hammered him into being—black, furious, and appallingly alive. He filled the clearing, his wolf burning just below the surface.

"You lied," he snarled, his voice level.

The accusation sliced deeper than any blade. "I had to," I panted. "If I hadn't, they would have—"

"Would have what?" Silver burned in his eyes. "Killed me? Tried. And failed."

"Don't," I begged. "Don't say that. You can't fight my pack and live. You can't fight my father."

He came in closer, heat radiating from him in the cold air. "You think I fear your father? Elena, the only thing I fear is this bond—because it makes me crave you, even when every fiber in me tells me to burn your world to ashes."

The words took my breath. His hand lifted, his fingers tracing my cheek, gentle where his voice had been harsh. My pulse stuttered. The bond vibrated, electric and unstable between us, drawing me into his world.

"You burned me tonight," Adrian said, his voice low. "Calling me no one. Do you have any idea what that was like?"

A lump in my throat. "It felt like dying."

Silence came between us, thick with pain and longing. And then, before fear could freeze me, I rose up onto my toes and kissed him.

The world burst apart.

Heat curled through me, wildfire in my veins. His mouth claimed mine with a desperation that spoke of centuries of hatred undone in one touch. His hands clamped me to him, hard and unrelenting, as if I were nowhere else to be but there.

For that stolen moment, there was peace. No war. No father. No other packs to vie with. Only us, together in shadow and flame.

It lasted only a moment.

A low, calculated growl broke the stillness.

We shifted.

Eyes shone in the treeline—several pairs. Wolves. Not Adrian's. Not mine. Rogues.

Their hackles were up, fangs bared, hunger dripping from their snarls.

"Stay behind me," Adrian ordered, shifting in an instant, his form snapping and folding until the massive black wolf was standing where the man had. His silver eyes flared in the dark as the rogues moved in.

My own heart thudded. The night ceased to be secret but battleground in one breath.

And as the first rogue sprang at us, I knew one thing with frozen certainty:

Our secret wouldn't stay secret for much longer.