Feral Bonds

Part 1: Vincent Chapter 1

A/N If you have just started reading this December 2025, please be aware that this story will be removed/ turned into an excerpt only on Jan 1st, 2026. (I will be publishing it on Kindle Unlimited which requires exclusivity.)

Living as a human sucked. Living as a human while being hunted by a magical group of shapeshifting wolves, really sucked.

The only reason she hadn't been caught yet was because he refused to come himself. She didn't know why, maybe he was too busy trying to keep the pack together, or maybe he hated human cities as much as she did, but she wasn't in the habit of looking a gift horse in the mouth.

It had been a year of hiding and being prepared to move at any second, and it sucked. The unsustainability of her situation became abundantly more clear each time they found her. She had fled with nothing more than a single bag, a couple necessities, and a few changes of clothes. She hadn't thought to bring money, not that it would have done her any good to use his cards.

Rigaldo, the wolf who called himself her mate. Towering and imposing and so full of rage. She had never wanted him, but her father had signed her over, a bargain fulfilled with blood, her blood, because she had dared to love another woman. Worse, that it had been a wolf under her command, a half blood, tainted with human blood that weakened their might and magic. Unworthy of a pureblood like herself.

Natania shook her head. The wolves were fond of their rules, their customs, and chains. Purebloods must mate with each other, and they must bear a child to keep their dwindling species alive. She was free of that obligation now, sterilized by the damage he had left her with in a fit of rage, but that wouldn't deter him.

Her only hope of freedom was to sever their bond, prevent him from being able to track her, something that could only be done by a witch, or a master vampire. There weren't many of those around, but she had a lead.

Years ago, when she had been hunting pridelanders, the wildcat version of her kind and their lifelong enemies, she had gone to trade her blood for information. Vampires were excellent information brokers and she'd caught the attention of a particularly strange one. While she had planned to pay with her blood, as was the custom, he had requested something else.

Why don't you come find me the next time you need to make a deal? I have a feeling you'll be needing me in the future.

How he had known, or even suspected, what her life would turn into, that had been before her father had discovered her secret and ruined her life, she had no idea. She hadn't wanted to find out, but after an entire year on the run, she was no closer to finding someone that could help her, and she was getting desperate.

If she was entirely honest, it was fear that had kept her from approaching the vampire earlier. From looking for him earlier. What would she have to pay to break a bond? Her blood no doubt, but would that be enough? She didn't know what else she really had to offer, and the thought of what he might demand was terrifying.

But it was coming to the point where she had to decide what she feared more; the devil she knew, or the one she needed to bargain with. Deep down, she knew. Rigaldo had abused and tormented her in ways that made death sound like paradise.

And she had tried. But he hadn't let her die. Of course, there was no one to stop her now, not here. All she had to do was walk through those doors and any number of creatures would be eager to kill her. The vampires for her blood, the werewolves -the human, moon cursed, turns into a humanoid beast kind, not the beast bound like herself- for her flesh, or the witches for her magic.

Though the latter was more likely to claim her for themselves, bind her to their will and torture her to boost their own magic. So the first two were vastly preferable, if that was the route she decided to take. There was no benefit to vampires or werewolves to torture their prey before they ate it.