Chapter 2

The severing of the bond felt like a freezing blade plunging straight into her gut.

Talia gasped, clutching her stomach as the invisible thread connecting her soul to his shattered into pieces.

Caspian turned his back on her, motioning for his warriors to follow him back to the pack house.

They walked away, leaving her alone on the freezing rocks.

Talia looked down at her hands.

The water from the ocean was crawling up the rocks, wrapping around her boots like a loyal pet comforting its master.

The pain in her chest was immense, but as she watched the arrogant figures of the pack walking away, a profound sense of clarity washed over her.

They didn't deserve her.

They didn't deserve the ocean's protection.

With a low snarl, Talia raised both her hands toward the sky.

The sea responded instantly.

A massive, forty-foot wave rose from the dark waters, crashing down upon the shore with the force of a bomb.

The impact sent a minor tremor through the ground, flooding the entire beach and destroying the stone watchtowers Caspian prized so much.

Without looking back at the shouting warriors, Talia turned toward the dark, forbidden neutral forest and began to run.

Three days later, the rain had stopped, but the neutral forest remained damp and treacherous.

This was rogue territory, a lawless expanse of land where pack laws didn't apply and dangerous predators hunted without restriction.

Seraphina moved silently through the thick brush, her clothes torn and covered in soot.

Her throat burned with thirst, and her energy was entirely spent.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Drake’s cold face, hearing his rejection over and over again.

It fueled her anger, but anger couldn't fill an empty stomach.

Suddenly, a twig snapped to her left.

Seraphina spun around, her instincts instantly on high alert.

Small embers began to dance around her knuckles as she raised her hands in a defensive stance.

"Who's there?

Show yourself!"

A girl stepped out from behind a massive oak tree.

She looked just as exhausted as Seraphina, her dark hair tangled and her clothes damp from the previous night's mist.

It was Talia.

Her eyes immediately locked onto the glowing orange embers around Seraphina’s hands.

Talia’s defensive instincts kicked in, and the puddle of water near her feet began to lift into the air, forming sharp, suspended icicles.

"Stay back," Talia said, her voice sharp as glass.

"I'm not looking for a fight, but I will drown you if I have to."

"Try it," Seraphina countered, her temperature rising, causing the damp leaves beneath her feet to steam.

"Fire beats water any day."

For a tense moment, the two outcasts stared each other down, elements poised to clash in a deadly display of supernatural power.

The air between them was thick with tension, hot steam rising where their opposing energies met.

But as they looked closer at each other, they didn't see the bloodthirsty rogues they had been warned about.

They saw the same thing: exhaustion, purple bruises under their eyes, torn clothes, and the distinct, raw scent of a freshly broken mate bond.

Talia’s eyes drifted from Seraphina's fiery hands to the faint, glowing red mark on her collarbone; the scar of a fresh rejection.

Seraphina noticed Talia looking and quickly looked down, spotting the exact same silver-gray rejection scar on Talia's shoulder.

The icicles dropped back into the puddle with a soft splash.

The embers around Seraphina's fingers flickered and died.

"Alpha?" Talia asked quietly, the hardness leaving her voice.

"Alpha," Seraphina confirmed, letting out a bitter laugh as she slid her back down a tree trunk, sitting on the dirt.

"He thought I was a demon because I can build a campfire with my mind."

Talia walked over, sitting down on a large rock across from her.

A small, dry smile touched her lips.

"Mine thought I was a sea witch because I accidentally ruined his winter snacks.

He banished me."

"Idiots," Seraphina muttered, resting her head against the bark.

"They think they are so powerful with their titles and their pack laws.

They use us, fear us, and then throw us away when they realize they can't control us."

"Then let's make sure they never control anyone again," Talia said, her voice dropping into a low, serious tone.

She looked across at the fire wielder, a new spark of determination lighting up her dark eyes.

"Why should we run?

Why should we hide in the dirt like criminals while they live in their comfortable pack houses?"

Seraphina looked up, her interest piqued.

"What are you suggesting?"

"We have fire, and we have water," Talia said, holding out her hand, a small ball of perfectly formed water hovering over her palm.

"Together, we are stronger than any Alpha line in this forest.

Let's stop running, Seraphina.

Let's build something of our own.

A place for every freak, every outcast, and every rejected wolf they discarded."

Seraphina stared at Talia's open hand.

For the first time in three days, the cold ache of the rejection bond vanished completely, replaced by a fierce, blazing sense of purpose.

She stood up, walking over to Talia.

She extended her own hand, creating a tiny, controlled flame that danced just millimeters above her skin.

She placed her hand next to Talia’s.

Fire and water didn't destroy each other this time; they swirled together in a perfect, steam-filled harmony.

"Let's build an empire," Seraphina said, a dangerous smile spreading across her face.

"And then, let's watch them burn."

The first winter in the neutral forest was brutal, but it did not break them.

Six months had passed since Seraphina and Talia shook hands over a swirling bond of fire and water.

They had found an abandoned, half-collapsed stone fortress deep within the rogue territory; a place that even the most daring scavengers avoided because of the treacherous, jagged cliffs surrounding it.

To anyone else, it was a ruin.

To them, it was the foundation of the Element Pack.