Chapter 5: Fractured Bonds and Silent Promises

The car ride was silent except for the hum of the engine as Luca and Isabella sat in the backseat. The weight of the past, of the years lost between them, lingered like an unspoken ghost between them. Luca’s fingers curled into a fist against his thigh, his wolf restless beneath his skin, desperate to comfort his mate. But he held back. She had been through too much.

Isabella sat rigid beside him, her fingers grazing her throat where the collar had once been. Though it was gone, the phantom sensation of its restraint still haunted her. She had spent so many years unable to shift, unable to feel the true power of her Omega nature. Moretti had taken that from her. And now, even though she was free, she felt hollow.

Matteo, seated in the front, cast a glance at them through the rearview mirror. “We’ll be back at the estate in a few hours,” he informed Luca, his voice cautious,  as if sensing the tension in the air.

Luca nodded, his golden eyes never leaving Isabella’s profile. She hadn’t spoken much since they left. He knew she had every reason to resent him, to hate him for not finding her sooner. But he wasn’t going to let her slip away again.

Inside him, his wolf stirred impatiently. Touch her. She’s ours. She needs us.

She needs space, Luca growled back at his wolf, trying to maintain control. The primal side of him didn’t understand patience—it only understood possession, the undeniable truth that Isabella was theirs.

“I know you don’t trust me,” Luca finally said, breaking the silence.

Isabella’s fingers stilled, her gaze flickering to his. “I don’t know what to feel.” Her voice was quiet but firm. “I spent years hoping you would come for me. And when you didn’t…” She swallowed hard, shaking her head. “I had to survive. I had to become someone else.”

Luca clenched his jaw. “I never stopped looking for you.”

She let out a bitter laugh, one that lacked humor. “And yet, Moretti had me all this time.”

Her own wolf whimpered inside her, still weak from years of suppression. He searched for us, her wolf whispered. He is our mate.

Isabella ignored the voice in her mind, unwilling to surrender to the bond so easily. He’s also the reason we suffered for so long.

Luca’s wolf snarled at the mention of the dead Alpha’s name. “I know I failed you,” he admitted. “But I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

Isabella looked away, her heart a storm of emotions. She wanted to believe him. Wanted to surrender to the bond that still pulled her toward him like gravity. But trust was fragile, and hers had been shattered long ago.

Flashback: Childhood Vows

Luca had always been her protector. As children, they had been inseparable. She still remembered the summer days spent running through the fields behind his family’s estate, the way he would always take her hand and pull her forward, laughing, promising her the world.

“You’re mine, Isabella,” he had told her one evening, their feet dangling off the wooden dock by the lake. “One day, I’ll make you my mate, and no one will ever take you away from me.”

She had believed him. She had trusted in his strength, in his promise.

But the world had been cruel.

Present Day

The car pulled up to Luca’s estate, a sprawling fortress of stone and glass, perched high in the hills overlooking the city. It was as imposing as the man beside her, a reflection of his power and the world he had built in her absence.

As the doors opened, Luca stepped out first, then turned to offer her his hand. Isabella hesitated before taking it, the warmth of his skin against hers sending an unbidden shiver down her spine.

Her wolf stirred weakly inside her.He is our home.

No. Home is gone. She pushed the thought away, even as the warmth of his touch seeped into her skin.

The inside of the estate was grand but surprisingly warm. A stark contrast to the cold, lifeless walls of Moretti’s compound. Luca led her through the halls, past curious pack members who murmured in hushed tones at the sight of their Alpha with his long-lost mate.

They arrived at a large bedroom—his bedroom. The realization sent a rush of nerves through Isabella’s veins.

“You can stay here,” Luca said. “No one will bother you.”

She glanced at him warily. “And where will you be?”

Luca’s lips twitched as if fighting a smile. “Don’t worry, Isabella. I won’t force anything on you. You can take all the time you need.”

She exhaled slowly. He was giving her space. It was more than she had expected, and yet… a small part of her resented it. As much as she feared being vulnerable again, the absence of his touch left her feeling untethered.

Inside him, his wolf growled in frustration. We should be holding her, making sure she knows she’s ours.

She’s been caged long enough. We don’t want to be just another prison.Luca’s reply was firm, though every fiber of his being burned to claim her.

Before she could overthink it, Luca reached up, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. “I know you’re scared,” he murmured. “But you’re home now. And I will burn down the entire world before I let anyone take you from me again.”

Isabella swallowed hard, her heart pounding. The intensity in his gaze was overwhelming, but it was the raw sincerity in his voice that made her breath hitch.

Her wolf stirred, yearning for the mate bond, but Isabella clenched her fists. She wasn’t ready. Not yet.

Home.

For the first time in years, she wasn’t sure if she was still lost.

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