Bound By Fate

Caelan's POV

I ran.

Not away from the dining room mess, but toward it. Because while Kieran was yelling at Lucien and Elaria was screaming about treason, all I could think about was her.

Aisla.

The girl whose name tasted like honey when I whispered it in my head.

The girl who was my mate. My bros' mate. Our mate.

How was that even possible?

My wolf was roaring inside my chest, demanding I find her and make sure she was okay. The broken dishes, her bleeding finger, the fear in her eyes - it all made my protective instincts go crazy.

I pushed through the crowd that had gathered to watch the action. Everyone was talking at once, asking what happened, why Elaria looked ready to kill someone. But I ignored them all.

I had to find Aisla.

Her smell trail led back toward the kitchen. That sweet smell of wildflowers and summer rain that made my heart race and my hands shake.

The kitchen door was open, swinging back and forth like someone had rushed through it in a hurry.

I stepped inside and found her.

She was pressed against the far wall, exactly where we'd first seen her. But now she was crying. Silent tears running down her face while she hugged herself like she was trying to hold her pieces together.

My heart broke into a million pieces.

"Hey," I said softly, not wanting to scare her more than she already was.

She looked up at me with those huge dark eyes, and I saw pure fear there.

"Please don't hurt me," she whispered.

Those words hit me like a punch to the gut. Hurt her? I would rather cut off my own arm than hurt her.

"I would never hurt you," I said, taking a small step closer. "Never, Aisla. I promise."

She flinched when I said her name. Like hearing it from my lips was painful.

"You shouldn't know my name," she said. "Alpha's sons don't know omega names."

The way she said it made my wolf snarl. Like she thought she wasn't important enough for us to notice. Like she was used to being unseen.

"Well, I know it now," I said gently. "And I'm not going to forget it."

She shook her head furiously. "This is wrong. All of this is wrong. You're supposed to mate with Elaria. Everyone knows that."

"Maybe what everyone knows is wrong," I said.

She laughed, but it sounded broken. "You don't understand. I'm nobody. I'm the lowest omega in the pack. I clean dishes and scrub floors and try not to get in anyone's way."

"You're not nobody to me."

The words came out before I could stop them. Raw and honest and possibly too much too soon. But they were true.

From the moment I smelled her scent, she became the most important person in my life.

"This can't be happening," she said, more to herself than to me. "The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes like this."

"What if it's not a mistake?"

She stared at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was. Everything I thought I knew about my future had just burst into pieces.

"Your brothers hate me," she said quietly.

"They don't hate you. They're confused. We all are." I took another step closer. "This has never happened before. Three brothers sharing one mate? It's impossible. But it's happening anyway."

"I felt it too," she whispered so softly I almost didn't hear her. "When I looked at all of you. Something just... clicked into place. Like I was finally whole."

My wolf practically purred at her words. She felt it. She felt the bond just like we did.

"Then why are you crying?" I asked.

"Because this is going to destroy everything," she said. "Your father will never allow it. The pack will never accept it. And Elaria..." She shuddered. "She looked like she wanted to kill me."

She was right. This was going to cause trouble. Big problems. But looking at her tear-streaked face, I realized I didn't care.

"Let me worry about my father," I said. "And Elaria. And the pack."

"You can't protect me from all of them."

"Watch me."

For a second, something like hope flickered in her eyes. But then it died.

"I have to go," she said, pushing away from the wall. "I have work to finish."

"Aisla, wait-"

But she was already moving, running past me toward the door. I reached out to stop her, and my fingers brushed her arm.

Lightning shot through me at the touch. The mate bond flared so bright I saw stars.

She gasped and stumbled.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly. "I didn't mean to-" "I have to go," she said again, but her voice was shaky now. "Please. Just... let me go."

Everything in me screamed to follow her. To not let her out of my sight. But she looked so scared, so overwhelmed, that I pushed myself to stay put.

"Okay," I said. "But this isn't over, Aisla. We need to talk about this."

She nodded but didn't look back as she ran out of the kitchen.

I stood there for a long moment, breathing in the lingering traces of her smell and trying to figure out what to do next.

My phone buzzed. A text from Kieran: "Emergency pack meeting. Dad's office. Now."

Great. Time to face the music.

But as I headed toward Dad's office, I caught something that made my blood freeze.

Aisla's smell. But not from the kitchen.

From outside.

She wasn't going back to work. She was running. Actually running away from the pack house, going toward the woods.

My wolf went wild. Our mate was running, possibly in danger, definitely upset because of us.

I changed direction and ran for the back door.

The woods were dark and full of shadows. Perfect for hiding. Perfect for getting lost.

Perfect for getting hurt.

I followed her smell deeper into the trees, my heart pounding with every step. She was going fast, but I was faster.

Then I heard it.

A scream.

Not just any scream. Aisla's scream. Full of fear and pain.

I ran harder than I'd ever run in my life, crashing through trees and jumping over fallen logs.

I burst into a small area and found her.

She was on the ground, backing away from something I couldn't see in the dark.

"Aisla!" I shouted.

She looked at me with wild, frightened eyes.

"Caelan, run!" she screamed. "It's not what you think! I'm not-"

A growl cut off her words.

But it didn't come from the darkness.

It came from her.

Her eyes flashed gold. Her fingers grew claws. Her teeth became fangs.

And I realized with shocking, impossible clarity that Aisla wasn't just an omega.

Aisla was something more dangerous.