An Unplanned Bonding

Author's Notes:

This story started as a brainstorming session while I tried to answer a question that has been bugging me: How do throuples/polycules form? The oldest love story in the world is one where two lonely people find one another, form a connection, and decide to become a couple. Beyond that, though, there's no simple formula.

Here on Literotica, I've found various stories where a love triangle formed and looked for the "how." There's "New England Triad" by Peter_Cleveland where a marriage nearly fell apart due to infidelity, but resulted in a redefinition into an open marriage, then eventually a triad with the husband, his girlfriend, and his wife. In the series "Finding a Lost Puppy" by PoeticallyChivalrous there's a stable triad that forms due to the nature of their BDSM relationship. The most unique and interesting one I've found so far is the series "Triad" by SteveWallace, where the main character is "claimed" by a girl that is far too young for him after she develops a crush. Years later, when she's more mature and he's already in a relationship, she reenters the scene and is accepted by them both.

Since there isn't a long history of socially acceptable threesomes, there's no recipe for their formation. I decided to come up with something unique, borrowing concepts from the show Sense8 and the Wheel of Time book series by Robert Jordan (warder bonding) to make my throuple.

Hope you enjoy it!

Story:

I really tried to sit still. I would sit on the log, tap my foot, and watch the water flow by. It was calming. Before long, though, I'd be clenching my fists, trying not to cry, then I'd look up at the rising moon and feel my panic rise again. So I'd get back up and pace along the rocky beach some more.

This was the third night I'd spent out here along the river. I knew that I'd been born at night under a waning gibbous moon. The full moon was four nights ago, so tonight could be the night. Despite being under the spell my whole life, I didn't know enough about the magic to know if there would be signs.

I was about to hit 240 moons of age, and I had not yet Bonded.

Would I simply drop dead? Would I be confronted with a figure wearing a black cloak and carrying a scythe? Would Paul show up at the last second to Bond with me and save me?

Tears rolled down my hot cheeks. Panic washed over me again, along with fear and regret. I couldn't undo this. I ran away from home and couldn't return. That bridge was burned. Even if they'd let me back in, there wasn't time to make it back. I'd be dead before I made it. I'd been taught that the curse always claimed those in my family if they weren't Bonded when the magic matured.

I just didn't know the reason why Paul hadn't shown up yet. He had acted supportive. He'd had reservations, of course: he didn't want to leave his family, he didn't understand why I wanted to run away, and he didn't see the appeal of the life of the outside world. In spite of all that, he'd told me repeatedly that he wanted to be Bonded to me, and I thought he'd come to join me once he'd made his decision, so I left without him.

When I left, I'd breached the magical barrier for the last time. I'd walked along the river downstream for two days before finding the landmark we'd picked -- a place where two rivers joined before going over a pile of rocks. Beyond that point, the water wasn't navigable and any boat would be torn up by the rapids.

It was an unmistakable marker so I knew I was in the right spot. I'd spent the last two nights waiting by the water, and the days asleep under some nearby trees in my little tent.

Something was different tonight, though. I heard sounds that I couldn't explain. At first, I thought it was my imagination, or that maybe the sound of the rapids downstream had somehow made it up to where I was. It sounded like a soft hissing.

After an hour, the sound had grown loud enough that I could recognize it -- whispering. There were a myriad of overlapping voices, all whispering. They seemed to be coming from every direction. Moving around didn't change anything, as though the whispers were inside my head.

When it hit me that the sound wasn't natural, goosebumps had appeared all across my skin, and I felt my throat close from a flood of terror.

I grabbed my travel pack and sprinted away from the water into the darkness. Paul wasn't coming. He wouldn't save me. I had to save myself. I had to find someone else, and quickly.

I yawned and fiddled around with the radio, absentmindedly. Long road trips were always frustrating when I was stuck with FM radio for entertainment. I'd spend ten minutes scanning the bands to find a good station, and it would last for a couple songs before there was more static than music, and then I'd have to start all over.

It was dark and I was getting tired, so I'd need some caffeine and some good, loud music to drive the last four hours to get home.

While tapping through my presets, I was frustrated that all my familiar stations were still too far away. I saw a gas station with a convenience store up ahead, so I turned the radio off for the time being.

Pulling up to a pump, I inserted my card and started filling the tank before I pulled out my phone to call my girlfriend.

"Hey Katie," I said while stifling a yawn after hearing her pick up.

"Justin! You sound tired, are you close? Going to be home soon?"

"Uh, not really. I'm just stopping to get gas and something to drink. I'm still about four hours away. I should be home by two or three a.m."

Katie paused a moment before replying with a simple, "No."

"No?" I asked, confused.

"You're too tired, I can tell. You should've left your parents' house before noon if you wanted to make the drive in one day. You need to stop somewhere for the night. You're not going to fall asleep at the wheel. I won't let you!"

Katie was stubborn, and usually, it was for all the right reasons. Rather than argue, I decided I'd reassure her instead.

"Okay, do you think you can call around and find a room for me?"

The pump clicked while I was still describing my location. I tore the receipt from the pump and hopped back into the driver's seat while listening to Katie clicking away at her laptop, looking for motel options along my route.

The first sign of civilization that I found was a road. Unlike the hand-laid cobblestone roads of my village, this was a perfectly flat, smooth, black path. A highway made by machines. The constant droning whispers kept my adrenaline pumping, which certainly contributed to my surprising pace.

I stopped, looking in both directions. It wasn't a major expressway, just two lanes, and I could see no vehicles in either direction. To the north, the road went uphill a little ways, but I couldn't see more than a half a mile before the road dipped back down out of sight. There was a faint glow on the horizon, which could be a whole town over there, or just a single lamp on the side of a barn.

The south looked even more desolate. The road was dark as far as I could see, which was a pretty impressive distance under the bright moon. There were no signs, no traffic, and therefore nothing that could help me.

Despite my legs protesting against jogging uphill, I turned north and forced myself to pick up the pace.

I only slowed a little to swing my backpack around to pull out my canteen and guzzle down the last of the cold river water. Tossing the empty container back in, I shouldered my pack and sprinted the last few paces to crest the hill.

What I saw brought me a little hope. There was an intersection with another road, this one running east-to-west, home to a blinking red light and a gas station. I'd actually seen one of these before, on one of my trips out of the village years ago. Better than that, though, was a small low-end motel on the far corner from me.

I didn't slow, and planned my route to the main door in front, but as I approached, I saw a man exit from there with a key in one hand and holding a phone to his face with the other.

The whispers were louder, still indistinct, but impossible to shut out. Even more terrifyingly, I saw faint wispy gray ribbons appear around my arm. Looking down, I noticed they were circling around my whole body. They would appear, float around, then vanish again. This was death magic, my family's curse, and it was preparing to claim me. It was ready to pounce, just as soon as the protection of my own youth faded.

I stifled a sob and redoubled my efforts. Not seeing any moving vehicles on the road, I sprinted diagonally across the intersection, focused on the man who was now pulling a duffel bag from a parked vehicle.

I was too winded to shout at him, so I could only watch as he entered his room before I could reach him.

I reached his door and didn't wait to catch my breath before pounding on it. I was bent over gasping as I heard the handle turn. A chain kept it from opening all the way -- I heard it click as the door opened -- so I assumed the man was peeking through at me.

Realizing that composing myself didn't matter, I simply looked up with my panicked red face and gasped out a simple, "Please help me!"

The door immediately closed, I heard the security chain fall, and then he reopened it fully. This time the man grabbed my upper arm and pulled me inside and looked out into the darkness, scanning for whatever I was running from.

I fell, kneeling on the floor. "Nothing... nothing's chasing me." I was just starting to breathe normally, and being off my feet was helping tremendously. "You can close it."

The man must have believed me since he stopped looking around and closed the door again. I noticed he hadn't locked it this time. I was clutching my chest to cover the burning in my lungs when he knelt down in front of me to see me at eye level. He was clearly concerned.

As I looked up, I finally got a clear look at my potential savior. His big hazel eyes were striking, but I found my eyes drawn to his square jaw with light stubble that I immediately found attractive. The tiny whiskers were speckles of black against his skin, looking even darker than his hair. He had many of the features that I liked about Paul, along with one very important advantage: he was here. Right now, that was the only one that really mattered.

But, could I ask him to do something so monumental?

"Shit," I whispered to myself, "shit, shit, shit! I can't do this, but I have to do this, I don't want to die!" Tears welled up in my eyes as the enormity of my predicament overwhelmed me again.

"H-hey, calm down. What's wrong? Are you sick?"

I shook my head. "No, not sick, much worse! I don't have time to explain, though." The whispers seemed even louder as my breathing quieted. Looking at my hands, I couldn't see the ghostly ribbons, though I wasn't surprised by that. I was well lit by a lamp next to the door, and death magic was usually only visible in near darkness.

"Do you need something? What were you running from? Help me understand!" His concern was genuine, which eased my mind a little. He wanted to help. If I could explain everything, he might willingly take the Bond. But I could tell I only had minutes left, there was no time to properly explain it.

"It's magic." I said simply. He looked incredulous, but I plowed ahead anyway. "I'm... cursed. I need to Bond with someone, and very, very soon. My time is almost up. If I don't Bond, the magic will claim me and I'll have my life pulled from me."

He leaned away with deep concern and pity on his face. I could tell he was questioning my sanity. Magic had been absent from the outside world for far too long. It was all fairy tales to him, so he couldn't accept my explanation.

I wanted to tell him that all he had to do was kiss me. The magic of the Bond would recognize that as his acceptance, and the link would form. Explaining it that way would most likely work. It would make it feel like something small, something trivial, so he could fix my problem and get back to what he was doing. But that would be deception of the worst kind. It would be like tricking someone into signing a contract by telling them you only wanted to see what their handwriting looked like.

This was serious, and a huge commitment. I just didn't have the time left to explain how big of a decision this was.

"Please. I'm not crazy, and I'm not lying!" I looked into his hazel eyes, trying to somehow convince him with my pleading look.

He simply blinked and tilted his head. "You seriously believe this, don't you?"

"Yes! Because it's true! Magic is real. Where I come from, it's everywhere. I know what I'm talking about. But I need help, or I'm going to die. It's old magic, death magic. I have to take a Bond before I turn 240 moons old." With a trembling hand, I pointed in the direction of the moon, though it wasn't visible with the door closed. "I don't have time to explain, my time is almost up. I can feel it. Maybe... a minute or two left, I think."

The whispers in my head had swelled into a dull roar, there were now so many voices that they combined together to sound like a wind storm. Tears were rolling down my face, now. I was terrified, and hated myself for what I was trying to do.

His eyebrows shot up. "But what is a Bond? What do you need? What does it do? What should I do?"

"It's a permanent link between two people. I wish I had the time to explain it better." I closed my eyes, trying to block out the cacophonous sound of death in my head.

"Please, just... it has to be your choice. I can't force you." I knew what I had to do. Scrambling to my feet, I opened the door again and looked back at him from the doorway. "To take the Bond, you have to kiss me. If you don't want to do it, I understand. Just... stay inside and ignore what you hear. This won't be pleasant."

I went out, physically feeling the darkness surrounding me like a heavy blanket as I pulled the door shut. I was only able to take a couple wobbling steps, just managing to get down off the curb before the voices thundered so loudly that I collapsed backwards, holding my head. The gray ribbons weren't flickering anymore. They were solid, they were everywhere, and they were slowing down and closing in on my skin. Death had arrived, and I could see nothing else.

I was stunned, trying to comprehend what I'd just seen. As she had stumbled out the door, there was a gray silhouette that enveloped her, along with a terrifying sound. I'd heard the sound while she was sitting in front of me, though it had been so quiet that I couldn't be sure I was hearing anything. As soon as she stepped out of the light from inside, it swelled to the sound of a shout, and I could no longer pretend I didn't hear it.

Something about that sound sent a chill down my spine. My mind was filled with the image of a foggy graveyard. She was going out to die, and I didn't even know her name.

I was certain that she believed everything she had said. I couldn't see any reason for her to lie, and there was something truly unnatural about what I'd seen and heard as she walked out into the darkness. My conscience screamed at me to do something. I couldn't let her die, even though she was a stranger. She wasn't trying to hurt me... I didn't think so, anyway. She said she needed a bond, a permanent link, but what could that entail?

In the end, I knew if I just let her die, I'd regret it for the rest of my life. I had to do it, because I had to be able to look at my own reflection in the mirror and not be ashamed of what I saw.

I opened the door and gasped. I was again assaulted by that sound, only now it was like a stadium full of people moaning in grief and pain. On the sidewalk was a gray blob of writhing ribbons. It looked like an Egyptian mummy that had been overinflated, except all the wrappings looked like they were alive. As I watched the insane tableau the ribbons were shrinking inwards and the pitch of the voices was rising to a painful wail.

The woman was inside there, and I knew by instinct that when the ghostly cloth touched her skin, she would be dead.

I leapt forward, crouching next to her and clawing at the strips of moving cloth covering her face. My hands passed right through them, though, leaving just a cold sensation in my fingers. Reaching in again, I could feel her face. She didn't react at all to my touch. Maybe she was already dead. That thought fueled a rush of panic.

A kiss. That was what she'd said, right? Leaning forwards, I pressed my face through the chilly magical barrier and my lips found hers.

I didn't have a chance to really experience the kiss as my mind was instantly flooded with images that I couldn't process. Reflexively, my head snapped back like I'd been shocked.

The moaning sounds had stopped abruptly and the ribbons expanded and flew away, disintegrating to nothing. The woman's bright blue eyes were wide as she looked at me.

Abby. Her name was Abigail Brighton. I knew it beyond any doubt, but how did I know that?

For a second, I thought I could see my own face reflected in her eyes, except it was full-sized, like looking in a mirror. I was so disoriented that I felt dizzy. I squeezed my eyes shut, and when I opened them again, her eyes were closed and her face was scrunched up around a frown. I could somehow feel that she was brimming with sadness.

Her eyes opened again and tears were pooling in them.

"I'm so sorry, Justin," she said, "I didn't know."

"Didn't know what?" I asked.

She answered with a single word, "Katie."

My disorientation was now coupled with a wave of dizziness. I was once again flooded with far too many sensations to handle. I could distinctly feel her entire body, from the chill of her bare arms to the discomfort of her spine, laying on her lumpy backpack. I couldn't tell whether I was laying down or kneeling.

I could feel her rummaging through my mind, pulling up details about my past. I could only vaguely sense what she was viewing. I was totally open and exposed, and the fact that I was also disoriented and confused made me angry.

"Dammit!" I shouted, fighting to regain my equilibrium, "what the hell are you doing to me!?"

The shuffling of memories in my mind stopped abruptly and she looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry! I'm new to this, too. I want to learn all about you. We're Bonded, now."

"Yeah, you really need to explain that! Are you in my head now or something?" I asked while trying not to let my anger boil over.

A moment later I added, "I didn't fucking ask for this!" and she visibly flinched.

"Look, you saved my life, and I owe you everything. But I know I'm going to get in the way and make things so much worse, and there's no way I can fix that." She sat up slowly, and I could tell she was disoriented, too.

"I'm exhausted. Can you help me stand up?"

I staggered back to my feet and stared at her for a minute. I had to shake my head again, trying to push away the conflicting sights and feelings. I knew, at an intellectual level, that this Bonding had linked our senses. I was seeing everything she could see as well as my own eyes could, but only if I focused on it. It felt like having a second pair of eyes that I couldn't close.

A car drove by the front of the motel, the only one I'd seen since I'd gotten here. It made me realize I didn't want to have a conversation out in public like this.

She was pretty small and light -- I could have carried her easily if I could trust my own balance. Instead, I pulled her up and we leaned on each other as we stumbled back into the motel room.

I could sense her looking at the bed with longing, so I led her in that direction to sit her down. She dropped her backpack and sat on the edge of the bed.