The air inside the cave felt heavy—not from lack of oxygen, but from Kael's presence, who sat only a few paces away from Elowen. A small flame flickered in the corner, its shadow dancing along the stone walls like curious spirits.
It was the third night since the bond had been formed. And Elowen was starting to feel it.
Not just the bond.
But the draining.
From the outside, her body looked unchanged. But deep within—where only those with wild spirits could feel—something was screaming. Silent and slow, but certain. As if piece by piece, what made her whole... was being chipped away.
Kael didn't look at her when he spoke. He never looked at her for long since the bond was made.
"I can feel it," Elowen said, her voice raspy. "You're pulling something out of me."
Kael frowned. Still, he didn't turn. "It's the only way to keep your wolf from rising and tearing your body apart."
"You know it's more than that. I'm losing... something I can't explain."
"Your soul is too tied to your wolf form. The bond isn't a curse. It's survival," Kael replied flatly.
But Elowen knew. From the way he hid his trembling hands beneath his tattered black cloak. From the way his eyes gleamed in the firelight as if hiding a war he couldn't win. It wasn't indifference.
It was guilt.
---
On the fourth day, Elowen woke up gasping for air.
Her body was drenched in cold sweat despite the biting chill. She writhed, clutching the damp earth beneath her, while a faint wolf's howl echoed inside her mind. Not wild. But mournful. Weak.
Kael was already standing at the cave's mouth.
Staring into the forest.
Unmoving.
"Elowen… you need to eat," he said without turning. "If you keep weakening, there'll be no soul left to save."
"I'm not hungry."
"You're not hungry because I'm locking your soul's energy," Kael turned around. His face was hard, but his eyes nearly sorrowful. "It's a side effect of the Feeding Bond. You have to fight it. Not surrender."
He walked closer. And this time, his eyes met hers.
For the first time since that night.
"What did you do to me, Kael?" Elowen whispered.
And Kael, the man known for his emotional detachment, dropped to his knees before her.
"I tried to save you," he said, voice barely audible. "But maybe... I'm destroying you instead."
---
That night, Kael decided to reveal the truth.
They walked in silence. Beneath Hollowveil's sky that had no stars. The sound of twigs snapping beneath their feet was louder than Elowen's heartbeat. Until they reached a place that seemed born from a nightmare.
An old altar.
Stained with dried blood. Blackened silver chains hanging from a massive stone. And in the center, a circle of runes glowing faintly.
Elowen recognized it. Though she'd never been here before.
Her spirit knew it.
"This is where I first tried to contain my wolf," Kael said quietly. "But I failed."
He pulled back his shirt collar slowly, revealing his chest.
There it was.
A large scar. Old, but not fully healed.
Elowen stared.
And her wolf—silent for three nights—suddenly howled.
"That... was my claw mark."
The world spun around her. She stumbled back. Her breath caught in her throat.
"No…"
Kael looked her dead in the eyes. "I knew who you were long before you knew who you are."
---
In the haze of past and present colliding, they returned to the cave in silence. But something between them had cracked. The wall of avoidance crumbled.
And the fifth night was the first where Elowen dreamed of Kael not as an enemy… but as someone who had been wounded by her.
Not because Kael was the victim.
But because he was the sacrifice.
---
The next morning, Elowen trembled violently.
The bond was draining her faster than expected. Her vision blurred, and Kael rushed forward before she collapsed.
"Elowen—"
"Let go of me… it's too deep. I can't breathe," she whispered.
Kael lifted her into his arms. And for a brief moment, Elowen felt… safe.
Even though he was the greatest threat to her soul.
He laid her down gently on the fur-covered bedding, then knelt beside her. His fingers brushed her temple—cold, but trembling.
"If I could absorb your pain instead of your soul… I'd choose that," Kael murmured.
Elowen opened her eyes slowly. Her gaze was weak, but her lips curled into a faint, bitter smile.
"Why… do you care?"
Kael was silent for a long time.
"Because I recognize the loneliness in your eyes. I lived there too long. And I won't let you stay in that place."
---
The seventh night.
Elowen woke before dawn. Alone.
Kael sat a few meters away, head bowed, hand clutched to his chest.
"Kael?" she called softly.
No response.
She walked toward him slowly.
"Kael... you're shaking."
When she touched his shoulder, Kael snapped around—his eyes glowing red.
His wolf had taken over.
That night, Kael wasn't entirely human. But not fully wolf either.
Half-shifted. As if the bond had begun to break the barrier between body and spirit.
"You've absorbed too much from me," Elowen whispered. "This bond isn't just hurting me… it's killing you too."
Kael hissed. His teeth elongated into fangs. His breathing was ragged.
"I can't—" he choked, before collapsing to the ground in agony.
Elowen ran to him, ignoring the claws and the threat. She wrapped her arms around him.
She whispered something into his ear.
Her grandmother's song.
A lullaby of protection. A tune that called the spirit to calm.
Slowly… Kael stilled.
His body stopped shaking. The red in his eyes faded. His breath returned to rhythm.
But something had shifted between them.
---
That night, Elowen couldn't sleep. She watched Kael resting in silence. His shoulders looked narrower than usual. His always-hardened face now showed lines of exhaustion.
"I feel like… it's just the two of us left in this world," she murmured.
Kael opened his eyes.
"Then let the world stay that way. At least… no one can tear us apart."
Elowen didn't know how to respond. Her heart quivered, because those words didn't come from her wolf's bond. But from her own human soul.
She knew the feeling.
The one not born of blood-bonds.
But of existence.
Kael and her, even if they destroyed each other, felt complete only when they were together.
---
The ninth day.
Elowen's body had physically recovered. But her spirit was near its limit.
She reached for Kael's chest as he slept, carefully unfastening his shirt, wanting to know if the scar was still there.
And in the dim firelight… she saw it.
The scar.
Still the same. But deeper now. Darker.
As if the weaker she became, the worse his wound grew.
And when her fingers brushed it, a voice erupted inside her.
"I gave him that."
Elowen froze.
That voice… wasn't hers.
It was her wolf.
Which meant...
Their story didn't begin in Hollowveil.
But long before that.
Before exile.
Before destruction.
Before Elowen ever knew who she truly was.