The Initial Bond

“I do,” Wren spoke quietly and with conviction.

Something in Talon’s gaze pushed her fears away.

“Told you she was the one,” the director said.

Talon sent the old man a glare.

“Shut up, old man. I ~need~ to know. If she is not wholly committed to this path, I would not bond with her.”

~I will not be responsible for her death because she was not strong enough to survive.~

The director chuckled. “Scared that she might tilt your world?”

“I do not want a weak partner, you idiot,” Talon said. He stood and turned away from Wren to face the old man.

“You dragged me, kicking and screaming, I might add, into this twisted world of yours. I will not be a part of dragging another into it,” he growled out.

He may not like this woman, but she deserved a fighting chance to walk away.

Something he had not gotten.

That day flashed through his brain, time stopping in that instant to remind him he would never be free of it.

^SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER^

Talon ducked into an alley to avoid the men that King had sent after him.

It had been a week, and he was tired from continually running.

Until he figured out how King kept finding him, all he could do was run.

“Hello, sugar. Would you like some company?” a dark-haired beauty in just enough clothing to hide the essentials said, standing before him.

The beauty gave him a smile, but something was off.

Her smile was too wide, and her teeth… They did not look right.

“No, thank you,” Talon said. He turned away as a sharp pain shot through his shoulder.

He looked down to see a pointed dagger poking out.

~What the hell?~

The beauty was still smiling at him as Talon turned back, her arm elongated and now blackened, a finger stretched out to a pointed dagger that was still buried deep into his shoulder.

“That is a new trick,” Talon said.

“Wait until you see my next one,” the beauty replied. Her tongue slithered out, her teeth sharpening as her body shifted, her clothing morphing into skin resembling leather.

Where the beauty had once stood, there was now a Creature unlike anything he had ever seen before.

“You will help me level up,” it hissed in glee.

“Like hell I will.” Talon removed his dagger and, with an ease from years of practice, flung it directly into the eye of the creature.

The creature let out a scream just as a sword flew by his head, embedding itself deep into its heart.

Within seconds, the creature had dissolved into ash before Talon’s eyes.

~Now what?~

An elderly gentleman had appeared, standing there in a three-piece suit, bowler hat, and cane.

“Glad I was able to make it in time,” the gentleman said, tipping his hat.

“There will be more. I suggest we go.”

Talon looked at the now-empty spot where the creature had stood and then back at the man.

“I will pass.”

“This is not optional.”

Talon took in the man’s build and knew he was not a threat.

The gentleman let out a sigh. “Understood. I will not apologize. This is the consequence of your decision.”

Talon dropped his bag and readied himself for the fight ahead, but it never came.

Instead, he felt darkness overcome him, and he knew no more.

***

“Uh, excuse me?” Wren interrupted what was looking to become a physical fight. “If you please, I believe that neither of you has any right to be arguing about whether or not I wish to continue. That is for me to decide.”

Wren pulled herself up to her fullest height and glared at both of them.

“And for the record, I did not come willingly, but after having witnessed what I did, I will accept what is being asked of me. Now.” She faced Talon square on, refusing to lower her gaze from his.

~Damn, his eyes are mesmerizing.~ “May we please continue?”

Wren held out her hand, hoping they did not see the tremor.

“What do I need to do to make this bonding thing happen?”

Talon looked down at her calm appearance and had to admire her guts.

She was stupid, but she had guts.

He just hoped that those guts would help her survive what was to come.

He looked at her hands, seeing the tremor there.

She spoke a good game, but did she mean it?

“Shall we get on with this? I believe that many other things need to be done today,” she said.

Talon reached out his hand and wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “As you wish,” he said.

She instinctively followed his example and did the same as him.

Immediately, a tingling sensation started to spread throughout her body from where his fingers touched her.

She let out a gasp as the tingling started to intensify and heat up.

Then the pain hit.

She tried to let go of Talon, but he held on tight.

“Hold on,” he murmured, wrapping his other arm around her waist and pulling her body flush against his.

“It is almost over. Just another moment and the pain will be gone. Trust me,” he whispered in her ear.

The director watched the glow flare between the two as their bodies touched, then started to diminish.

They would be unstoppable once they were fully bonded.

Wren buried her head in Talon’s shoulder as the pain hit its peak and quickly started subsiding.

Sure enough, it was over just as quickly as it had started.

Wren opened her eyes, realizing she was clinging to Talon’s shirt and had her head buried in his shoulder while he had his arm wrapped around her waist and wrist.

She could smell his scent of cologne and man.

Talon felt her body pressed against his, and he quickly let her go. Her imprint was embedded in his brain, bringing along a scent of flowers and shampoo.

“She is now awake,” he said, turning to Wren. “You should now be aware of your power core and have a slight awareness of mine. You will be able to feel the others’ cores and the presence of a Being when they are near.”

Sure enough, she could feel a power radiating from his body that she had not felt before.

“Are all of the powers as strong as yours?” she asked, trying to calm the shaking of her body.

She had not had full-body contact with another in years.

Her body was repulsed, and yet there was a sensation she did not want to identify as well.

Wren turned to the director and could feel a power coming from him, but it was very faint and completely different from Talon’s.

“Not all power is created equal. However, because of your bond, you will always feel Talon’s power stronger than others,” the director said, standing there and smiling at them.

“Now for the fun part. Strengthening your power core to match that of Talon’s.”

“What?”

“Your power is awakened, but untrained and untapped. We need to strengthen it and, in turn, it will strengthen the bond between the two of you. Bonus of strengthening the bond is that it will eventually allow you to locate each other, identify if the other is in trouble or hurt, and eventually you may even have the ability to communicate without the need for words.”

“Really?”

“Do not hold your breath on that one. I seriously doubt that we will ever be that in tune with each other. I do not think even Eric and Lily have that strong of a bond,” Talon snorted.

The old man glared at Talon, and Wren watched as Talon took a step back.

So he could be scared.

“Watch what you say, young man. I have seen a bit of your future and I am certain that you two will surpass all that has come before you.”

“Is there anything else you need to say to the Lady? I believe that she was right when she said that there were a lot of things that needed to be done today.”

~I have a name.~ Wren sent Talon a glare.

“Besides, there are better things we could be doing than listening to you babble on and on.”

“Now wait just one moment.” The director’s voice changed slightly, and Talon froze.

“I would like to see what kind of bond you have.”

“You can tell that?” Wren asked. “Will you tell us?”

“I promised I would explain all the bonds to you, so I shall.”

Wren and Talon stood there, silent before the director. They waited for something to happen, but all he did was look at Talon and then at Wren and then smile.

“You will have a strong and unshakeable bond.”

“That did not answer her question, old man,” Talon growled.

The director laughed.

“Then let me explain the three types of known bonds to you,” he said. He looked at Wren. “And then you can figure it out. The first is the love bond. The bond is formed around the love that the partners have for each other. It is the second strongest, but the most stable.”

The director’s voice softened for a moment. “It is what my partner and I had. When I lost her, I lost much of our power as well.”

“Why second?” she asked.

“Loving someone and having their love in return is a strong emotion, but hate is stronger than love.”

“That is the strongest bond,” Talon spoke up. “And will most likely be our bond if the director’s comment has any truth to it. The hate bond is the strongest, but the most unstable. Eventually, one will turn on the other and betray them, causing the other to die.”

“Spencer had that kind of bond with his mate.” The director’s voice was now filled with sadness. “The guilt of betraying her finally drove him to end his life.”

It was sad to think that that had to happen to someone. To betray another… She knew firsthand how that betrayal could destroy a person, a family, even a community.

“The final bond is probably the hardest to watch and is the weakest of the bonds. We call it the love/hate bond.”

~What is with these names?~

“It is when one person loves the other, but the other cannot return the emotion.”

Talon really hoped they would not end up in this bond. He would not want her to love him while he hated her.

“They will either completely hate or be indifferent to their emotions,” the director explained. “It is probably the most painful to watch. It ends with one sacrificing themselves for the survival of the other. Mr. Lee’s partner was the one in love.”

“But he is so strong.” Wren remembered how he single-handedly took down so many Beings.

“It seems that when she was killed, his power absorbed hers.”

“Most likely because of her will to protect him.”

The director shot her a look. “This allowed him to have the strength of them both.”

“I see,” Wren replied, even though she did not. What did she get herself into?