Chapter 4 ~ Kael

It started as a ripple.

Then, a *shockwave.*

Her pain.

I felt it before she even made a sound — before her heartbeat faltered, before the red string between us vibrated like the final chord of a haunting melody.

It struck me in the chest, raw and sudden. Not physical, not quite… but real.

A pulse of agony that wasn’t mine… but somehow always had been.

She was close. Too close.

And she was hurting.

I leaned against the old pine, jaw clenched, breath heavy. My fingers dug into the bark until splinters bit through my skin. I welcomed the sting — anything to keep me tethered to the moment. Anything to keep me from *running to her.*

Because that’s what every fiber of my being screamed for me to do.

Go to her. Find her. *Protect her.*

But I couldn’t.

Because the last time I let someone in — the last time I believed the string could lead to something good — I lost everything.

The curse hadn’t just ruined my life. It had twisted fate itself. Turned love into punishment. Turned soulmates into collateral damage. And now it was waking again — roaring to life as if time had never passed.

I knew what this meant.

She had crossed into my part of the woods. *The ancient border.*

She wasn’t just wandering.

She had been *guided.*

Drawn by instinct.

The same instinct that was clawing inside *me.*

I closed my eyes. I could feel her — her presence like a heartbeat echoing in my bones. I didn’t need to see her to know the pain she just felt. The thread between us had flared red-hot, signaling the first true connection since it tied us.

This was it. The trigger.

The moment our fates collided.

And it was too soon.

I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t *safe.*

She didn’t know what she’d walked into. Didn’t know that the very thing tied to her soul was also the reason mine was cursed. She didn’t know that every step closer to me might pull her deeper into a destiny soaked in blood and regret.

And yet…

My legs moved before my thoughts could catch them. Silent steps through the trees, guided by instinct, by scent — by something older than language.

The wind shifted. I caught it.

Her scent.

Soft, warm, like sunlight caught in wildflowers and old books. A strange mix of earth and memory. My wolf rose beneath my skin, growling low — not with anger, but with recognition.

He knew her.

Even if I didn’t.

And when I reached the edge of the clearing, I saw her.

Kneeling.

Head down, hand pressed to the earth like it could anchor her. She looked small. Fragile. But something about her posture… it was familiar.

Like I had seen her like this once before. In a dream I wasn’t allowed to remember.

The red string burned against my ribs — invisible to the world, but undeniable to me.

I stayed hidden in the shadows. Watching.

Wanting.

Knowing I had to walk away.

But unable to move.

Because the curse didn’t just mark me.