Chapter 1: The Sickening Three Minutes
The fire cracked and spat in the stone hearth, the only sound in the cabin’s living room besides the ragged pull of Danny’s own breathing. He stared at the closed front door, counting the seconds.
Kaelen had stepped outside exactly one hundred and eighty seconds ago.
A twitch started in Danny’s left eyelid. The comfortable warmth he’d felt curled in the massive velvet armchair—the one that still held the faint, intriguing dent of something large and feline—evaporated. A cold sweat beaded at the nape of his neck. His stomach, which had been perfectly fine, did a slow, greasy roll.
“This is absurd,” he muttered to the empty room, pushing himself up. His legs felt unsteady. He took two steps toward the kitchen, thinking water might help.
A wave of dizziness hit him so hard he saw black spots. The nausea surged, acidic and urgent. He stumbled, his shoulder connecting hard with the doorframe. The world tilted, the warm glow of the firelight blurring into streaky halos. He clutched the wood, knuckles white, and slid down to the floor, knees buckling. He was shivering, his skin clammy. His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped thing. He tried to take a deep breath and couldn’t.
The door swung open.
Cold night air rushed in, followed by Kaelen Voss. He filled the space, his broad shoulders blocking the view of the pines outside. He sniffed the air once, and his amber eyes, glowing faintly in the low light, zeroed in on Danny crumpled by the door.
“Danny?”
Kaelen was across the room in two silent strides. He dropped to a crouch, his presence suddenly the only solid thing in the swaying universe. Danny caught the scent of pine and cold stone and something inherently, uniquely Kaelen. It cut through the sickness for a fractured second.
“Look at me.” Kaelen’s voice was a low rumble, a vibration Danny felt in his own bones.
Danny forced his head up. Kaelen’s face was all sharp, worried angles. Without a word, Kaelen reached out, his large, warm hand engulfing Danny’s shoulder. The contact was electric.
The nausea vanished. Just… dissolved. The cold sweat dried up. The frantic beating of his heart settled into a steady, strong rhythm. Clarity rushed back into his vision, sharp and almost painful. He drew in a full, clean breath.
“What the hell was that?” Danny gasped, his own voice sounding thin. “Are you poisoning me? Is there some kind of… proximity toxin?”
A complicated emotion flickered in Kaelen’s eyes—guilt, surprise, a dawning, unsettling realization. He didn’t remove his hand. His thumb moved almost unconsciously, a slow stroke against the cotton of Danny’s t-shirt.
“It’s not poison,” Kaelen said, his voice quieter now, more intimate. The glowing in his eyes had dimmed to a warm, honeyed gold.
“Then what is it? Because I felt fine three minutes ago. You walked out, and my body went into full system failure. You walk in, touch me, and it’s a miracle cure. That’s not normal. That’s not a thing.”
Kaelen was studying him, head tilted just slightly. It was a wolfish gesture, one Danny had come to recognize meant he was puzzling something through. “I had to check the eastern tree line. A bear’s been nosing around. I was only gone for three minutes.”
“I timed it.”
A ghost of a smile touched Kaelen’s mouth. “Of course you did.” The smile faded. He let out a slow breath, his gaze dropping to where his hand still rested on Danny, as if the connection fascinated him. “I knew the pull was strong. I feel it too, you know. A constant… hum. Like a phone set to vibrate, tucked right under my sternum. I just didn’t realize the physical separation would hit you that hard, that fast. You’re human. The texts are… vague on human symptoms.”
Danny’s brain stuttered over the words. Pull. Texts. Symptoms. A cold that had nothing to do with sickness crept down his spine. “Kaelen. What are you talking about?”
Kaelen finally looked up, meeting Danny’s eyes. His expression was utterly serious, the Alpha King in full focus. “The bond. Our bond. I’m sorry, bela. I didn’t know it was that strong for you already.”
The foreign endearment, the profound apology in his tone—it was more frightening than the sickness. Danny’s mouth was dry. He licked his lips. “Our what?”
Kaelen opened his mouth to answer, but a sound from outside cut him off—a long, low howl, eerily close to the cabin. It wasn’t the sound of a lonely wolf. It was a query, a report. Kaelen’s head snapped toward the door, his body tensing. The ambient warmth radiating from him shifted into something else—a crackle of potent, protective energy.
“We’ll talk. Now, we have to,” Kaelen said, his voice taking on that commanding texture that made you want to listen. “But first, we’re not alone out here anymore.”
He stood in one fluid motion, pulling Danny up with him. Danny’s legs held, the strength sustained by Kaelen’s grip on his arm. The fear was different now. Less about an internal mystery, more about the very real, very dark woods pressing against the windows.
“Who is it?” Danny asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Kaelen was already moving, guiding Danny away from the door and toward the center of the room. His amber eyes had ignited again, glowing like banked coals.
“That,” Kaelen said, a low growl edging his words, “was my beta. And he doesn’t sound pleased.”