CHAPTER 32

Adrian's POV

I poured water on my face again, wiping my face clean again. But it failed to wipe out the kiss from my memory.

My mind kept replaying the kiss with Isla the moment I got back to my room in the pack house from the back mountains. It wasn't planned, nor was it a proper kiss. It was needy, rough, and urgent, as if I was possessed by someone. But it was me and my jealousy. The guilt from it gnawed at me.

But underneath that, guilt was something far more unsettling. Desire. An attraction. Some weird feelings.

I wanted to kiss her again, and this time, I wanted to savor her soft, plump, luscious lips. I wanted this kiss to be gentler and meaningful, and even affectionate.

"Admit it! You have fallen for her," my wolf said, its voice echoing in my head. "The mate bond is irresistible."

"Shut up," I growled back. "I haven’t fallen for anyone. Elara just died, and you think I fell for Isla?"

"Keep telling yourself that," my wolf scoffed.

"I am just confused. They look the same," I whispered, not believing my own words. Even if they had the same face, they were too distinct. Not just me, anyone could differentiate them.

"She is nothing like Elara. And that’s what scares you, isn’t it?" My wolf resonated with my fears.

I clenched my jaw, trying to shake off the confusion that had been eating at me ever since Isla started slipping into my thoughts. The resemblance between her and Elara was undeniable, but my feelings towards them were completely different. I had spent so long believing Elara was my mate, believing that I should love her because everyone said we were destined. And I believed she was my mate because she saved me.

But with Isla, it wasn’t like that. She wasn’t a habit, an expectation, an obligation, or something I could predict. She was chaotic, unpredictable, fiery, and impossible to control. She was nothing like I had heard of her. But she also wasn't like anyone.

And it was driving me insane.

The knock at the door pulled me out of my thoughts. I opened it to find a note shoved hastily into the frame.

"Go to the woods and save Isla."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. Even before I could think, I was already running, panic surging through me. Even if I didn't want to admit it, I couldn't bear the thought of something happening to Isla. Every step through the forest echoed with urgency, the tension coiling in my chest.

Why would she need to save? What the hell had happened?

I looked around the forest, worried, unsure of where to look for her in the vast forest. But then I caught a loud howl. I ran in that direction, praying for her to be safe.

When I reached the clearing, the scene that greeted me stopped me dead in my tracks.

Isla stood there, her wolf form fading into her human one.

I gasped in shock, and my eyes widened in surprise.

My heart nearly stopped when I saw Isla shift. Her body rippled, and then suddenly, in the place where she stood, there was her wolf; sleek, powerful, and unmistakable. My wolf stirred inside me, instantly recognizing her.

"It was her," my wolf growled with satisfaction. "The wolf from that night."

I couldn’t tear my eyes away. My mind raced, astonishment flooding every part of me. I was a little angry, even hurt that she hid this from me even after I asked her.

But beneath it all, there was a strange sense of relief, even joy. Now, watching her in her wolf form, the truth was undeniable.

"She is ours," my wolf whispered, almost reverently.

She quickly grabbed the nearest thing to cover herself, and it had to be Lucas’s shirt. My eyes darkened at the sight.

"It is too small for her!" my wolf growled, annoyed.

And it bothered me too. It was a thin T-shirt that clung to her body in all the ways my mind shouldn’t have noticed, but couldn’t help doing. I could clearly perceive her figure and curves, and it meant that even Lucas could. I didn't even bother if he was hurt or not anymore. I just wanted them to be apart.

I was jealous, possessive, pissed, something making it hard for me to breathe. I wanted to shield her.

And there, cradled in her arms, was Lucas, injured and pale. She knelt beside him, her face full of worry. When did they get so close?

"I am sorry," she apologized, her hands trembling as she touched his bare chest.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice thick with emotion.

Lucas groaned, and my entire body tensed. The way she looked at him—it made something in me snap.

Jealousy coiled tight in my chest, squeezing the air from my lungs.

My wolf growled low in my head. "She is ours. Why is she touching him?"

"He is hurt!" I snapped, but the anger simmering in my heart was impossible to deny. Seeing them like that, so close, the raw concern on her face felt like a knife twisting in my gut.

I took a step forward, my jaw clenched, fists tight at my sides. She didn’t even notice me at first, her attention still entirely focused on Lucas, on him.

Why was she so close to him? Why did she hide this from me?

"You are hurt," she whispered to Lucas, her hand brushing the blood on his side, her eyes clouding with tears for him!

Lucas chuckled weakly. "I will live." Blood boiled inside me. Why was he trying to act cool even in this situation?

I couldn’t watch it anymore. A surge of emotions swept through me—joy, bitterness, anger. She was mine. But why had she kept her transformation from me? Why was she always so damn defiant? And why the hell was she so close to Lucas?

"Isla," I growled, wanting attention.

Her head snapped up, her wide eyes locking with mine. I saw the flicker of surprise, maybe even guilt. She stood quickly, her grip on Lucas loosening as she took a step back. But it was too late. I had seen enough. I knew what this was. The truth crashed over me like a wave, suffocating me in its wake.

"Our mate!" My wolf whispered again, its voice resembling my possessiveness.