Page 145 of The Moonborn's Curse

No trace of her quiet poise or her laughter.

No sign—

Of a beautiful girl with hair like midnight and heart-breaking eyes.

Just the cold silence of absence.

But the bond still ached.

And until it didn't—he would keep waiting.

He remembered the day they placed the Binding Sigil on Lia.

The Oracle herself had applied it—ancient red ink, bound with magic older than wolves. It bloomed across her back like a spider's curse, an unbreakable knot that nullified her power and chained her will.

She had screamed and begged. Hadn't Seren begged him silently with her eyes? Had he listened?

Now she worked at the weaver's hall. Kept her head down. Silent. Unnoticed. The tribe shunned her.

Dain couldn't look at her without fury twisting his face. Veyr didn't look at her at all.

And to Hagan?

She wasn't even a thought.

Draken had aged. Astrid too. Their eyes held enough regrets to last a lifetime. Renna, Jorik and Kastor had returned to support them through this difficult time.

"He's killing himself," Astrid said one night, soft enough not to carry. "He hasn't let himself grieve. He won't stop until he breaks."

But no one could stop him. Not Draken. Not the tribe.

Dain and Hagan clashed often during training. Theirs was a dance of bruises now—quick, brutal, wordless.

Until Veyr lost his temper.

The latest skirmish had spiralled—Dain going for the throat, Hagan landing a punch too hard to be friendly.

Veyr stepped between them and knocked their skulls together with a loud crack.

"For fuck's sake," he growled. "You two are going to lead the entire tribe, and you're acting like moon-drunk pups. To the tavern. Now."

Hagan and Dain glowered but followed.

Inside, they took a booth in the corner while Veyr nursed water like a monk.

The demonbrew hit fast.

By the second round, Dain's mask slipped.

"You know what it felt like?" he slurred, his hand clenched on his tumbler to the point that cracks appeared on the glass. "Seeing Lia chase you around like a lost pup? Watching her pine while you barely looked? I loved her. I still do. And every time she looked at you like you hung the moon , it ripped my goddamned heart out."

Hagan stared into his drink.

"She was never mine. But for a little while, I could pretend." Dain muttered, his mind travelling back to the times he met with Lia in secret.

A silence.

Then Hagan said, low and raw, "The bond still hurts, you know? Every single day. Like someone left a claw in my chest and forgot to remove it."

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