Ivy's POV.“No.”I met his gaze head-on, my heart hammering in my chest.Even though I wanted it.Even though my body reacted to the way he looked at me, to the way his voice dipped lower, to the way anticipation curled low in my stomach against my will.And I hated it. I hated the fact that I wanted it.Brandon didn’t look disappointed, not even annoyed. If anything, he looked amused, like my refusal was expected but irrelevant.“Well, asking was just for formalities,” he murmured, and before I could react, his hand slipped under my shirt.I sucked in a sharp breath, my entire body tensing at the warmth of his palm against my skin. My mind screamed at me to push him away, but I just stood there, frozen, helpless against the rush of sensation overtaking me.His fingers moved with ease, skimming over my ribs before cupping my breast, squeezing just enough to send a shock of heat through me. I bit down on my lip, hating myself for the way my body reacted, for the way my back arched into
47.Ivy's POV.Brandon stayed true to his word.It was unexpected, but he actually made an effort. He showed up to our tutorial sessions on time, brought study materials, and even wrote study notes that significantly lessened my workload. If I was being honest, he was incredibly efficient, probably even more than me, and I was surprised.But no matter how hard I tried to concentrate, my mind kept circling back to that first day. To what we did.Brandon, however, acted like it never happened. He never made any reference to it, never tried to touch me again, never even looked at me in a way that suggested he remembered. Our relationship was now cordial and what was supposed to be normal.I was supposed to be grateful for that. But every time he sat next to me, completely unfazed, a frustrating part of me wished he would.It was annoying.The day before we were supposed to leave for the competition, I decided to spend the evening with my mom. She was recuperating well after losing the
48.Ivy's POV.Flying first class should have been exciting. It was my first time, after all. The plush seats, the endless drink options, the kind attendants who seemed determined to pamper every passenger. It was a world away from what I was used to. Everything about it screamed luxury, from the warm hand towels they handed out before takeoff to the menu filled with dishes I couldn’t even pronounce.And yet, I couldn’t enjoy any of it.Not when Brandon was sitting directly across from me, his gaze fixed on me with an intensity that made my skin prickle.I refused to look at him. I kept my focus trained on the window, watching the clouds shift and stretch across the sky. But it didn’t matter. I could still feel him, his presence pressing into me like a heavy weight, making it impossible to forget what had happened last night.His hands. His mouth. The way he had looked at me afterward, like he owned every reaction he had pulled from me.My breath hitched slightly, and I pressed my th
Ivy's POV.One of the girls in the group scoffed, folding her arms as she turned to Aaron with a skeptical look. “Oh, please. You’re just trying to get close to her so you can steal her points. Everyone knows she’s the most brilliant one here.”A few students chuckled, nodding in agreement, but before I could even process the compliment, another girl shook her head.“I don’t know about that,” she said, crossing her arms. “Ivy isn’t the most brilliant here, Brandon is.”Dude, I'm standing right here.The conversation immediately shifted. A few murmurs of agreement rippled through the group, heads nodding as students exchanged glances.“Their school must be ridiculously lucky to have two prodigies like them,” one of the guys mused, adjusting his glasses. “Most of us don’t even have one.”“Right?” another student chimed in. “I mean, their parents must be over the moon that they’re stepsiblings now. Imagine raising two geniuses under the same roof.”I stiffened slightly at that, my finge
Brandon's POV.I couldn't remember the last time someone had irritated me as much as Aaron Vaughn.Last night had already been bad enough. He had walked up to Ivy with that smug grin, acting like they had some kind of history when they didn’t. They talked like they were old friends, like he knew her. He had been all over her, throwing compliments left and right, making her laugh in a way that made my stomach twist in ways I didn’t want to acknowledge.And now, in the dining hall, he was at it again.I watched as he pulled out her chair before she could even reach for it, acting like he was some kind of gentleman."Here, Ivy."She smiled as she sat, completely oblivious to the way he looked at her, like she was something special."Thanks, Aaron."I clenched my jaw.Then, as if he hadn’t already pissed me off enough, he leaned in, eyes warm with something that made my blood boil."You look really pretty this morning," he added, voice smooth, too smooth.Ivy smiled in response. "Thank y
51.Ivy's POV.Telling Brandon off was a stupid decision. Reckless. One made in the heat of the moment, driven by anger instead of logic. Because at the end of the day, I knew exactly how this would play out. I was the one who would lose.I lay in bed all night, staring at my phone, debating whether to call him, text him, anything to smooth things over. But every time my fingers hovered over his contact, I forced myself to put the phone down. I wasn’t going to be that desperate. I refused.Morning came, and I dragged myself to the dining hall, my stomach twisting in anticipation. I expected to see Brandon already there, sitting in his usual spot with that unreadable expression, waiting for me to break first. But when I reached the table, his chair was empty.My heart sank.Was this his way of punishing me? Not showing up at all? Letting me sit here and overthink everything? What if he was planning to sabotage the next round completely? What if he threw the whole competition just to ge
Ivy's POV Brandon's sudden change in behavior continued for the next three days, and I didn’t know what to make of it.He was still Brandon, cold, unreadable, but he hadn’t made a single obscene request, hadn’t smirked at me in that knowing way, hadn’t so much as hinted at what we did before. He showed up to every study session on time, contributed like a normal person, and even tolerated the other students without making a scene.It was unsettling.Aaron Vaughn on the other hand still refused to leave my side.He was always there, pulling out my chair, making me laugh, giving me words of encouragement here and there. And maybe it was because he was the only one actively being nice to me, or maybe it was because I was trying to ignore the mess in my head, but I could feel myself warming up to him.The day before the last stage of the competition, we were sitting with the others in the dining hall when he suddenly turned to me.“Ivy,” he said casually, flashing a small smile. “I was
53.Ivy's POV.I kept my voice low, barely above a whisper. "It's none of your business if we kissed."Brandon leaned back in my chair, completely at ease, like he had all the time in the world. "It is my business," he said, then his eyes flickered with something dark, something almost amused. "Because I’m the only one who knows what you taste like."My breath caught, my stomach twisting into a tight knot. A wave of panic washed over me as I darted a glance toward my roommate, still curled up in her bed. "Brandon," I hissed, my voice sharp and urgent. "My roommate—""Won’t wake up, and won’t hear a thing." he cut in easily, his tone casual, almost lazy.Something about the way he said it made my skin prickle.I turned to look at her again, my pulse picking up. And that’s when I noticed the way she was lying.Her breathing was steady. But her posture, something about it wasn’t right. It was too still. Almost unnatural.My heart pounded as I snapped my gaze back to him, my throat tigh
96.Ivy's POV I couldn’t shake Brandon’s words from my head. No matter how hard I tried to push them away, they clung to me, in my every thought, every moment. There was no future for us, and I knew that. I had accepted it. And yet, knowing didn’t make it hurt any less.Then there was Aaron. Sweet, kind, thoughtful Aaron, who had done nothing but try to make me happy. He cared about me. Even loved me. But I didn’t love him. I never had. I had only agreed to be with him in a pathetic attempt to erase Brandon from my heart, to overwrite feelings that refused to die.It wasn’t fair to him.So, on our way back from our date, I made a decision. It had to end.The ride was quiet, with only the soft hum of the radio filling the silence between us.“I hope you really enjoyed yourself,” Aaron said, his voice warm, glancing over at me as he drove.“Yeah,” I murmured, offering a small smile. “I did. Thank you.”He turned to me briefly, his eyes shining with something so pure it made my chest a
95.Amari's POV I was drowning in pain, buried so deep in it that I couldn’t tell where my body ended and the agony began. Every inch of me throbbed, a relentless, searing ache that refused to dull, refused to let me rest. My skin felt stretched too tight over my bones, raw and hypersensitive, every breath I took sent sharp, stabbing pain through my ribs.The burns covered my arms, my legs, angry, blistering reminders of my father’s fury. He had made sure I wouldn’t forget this lesson. And every movement sent a fresh wave of fire through me, the heat still radiating long after the flames had disappeared. I wanted to curl into myself and disappear, but even the thought of shifting made my stomach turn.But worse than the physical pain were the words. The ones that clung to me like smoke, suffocating, and poisoning.Your fault.You failed.You were supposed to have him wrapped around your finger by now.I squeezed my eyes shut, but it didn’t help. The flames were still there, flicker
94.Ivy's POV.I was not prepared for this.The second Brandon opened the door, my mind just blanked. Completely.He stood there, freshly showered, damp hair falling messily over his forehead. Water still clung to his skin, glistening in the dim light, dripping down the sharp lines of his collarbones, trailing over the hard ridges of his abs before disappearing beneath the loose waistband of his sweatpants. Every inch of him looked like something out of a damn magazine, and I couldn’t stop staring.My throat felt suddenly dry, my grip tightening around the tray in my hands.Brandon smirked, clearly amused. “Are you just going to stand there gawking?”His voice snapped me out of it. My eyes jerked up to his face, and heat rushed to my cheeks so fast I thought I might combust on the spot.“I—no, I—” I stammered, struggling to gather a single coherent thought.His smirk deepened.I swallowed, trying to shake off the embarrassment. “I brought you food,” I muttered, shifting the tray in m
93.Ivy's POV Brandon had been gone for two days. Not that I was keeping track, or that I cared.I wasn’t noticing how quiet the house felt without him. I wasn’t catching myself glancing at the door of my room every night, half-expecting to hear his footsteps. I wasn’t wondering where he had gone or why he had left without saying anything. It wasn’t any of my business.I kept telling myself that. Over and over again.But by the second night, the silence was gnawing at me.I finally gave in while helping Mom clean up after dinner. She washed the dishes and I dried, with the warm scent of dish soap filling the air. I tried to keep my voice casual, like I wasn’t fishing for information.“Mum, where’s Brandon?”She hummed as she rinsed a plate. “Oh, he went on a weekend getaway with Amari.”My fingers clenched around the dish towel. “Oh.”Just like that, my mood shifted.Mom didn’t notice. She kept talking, smiling as if it was the sweetest thing in the world. “It’s nice that they’re spe
92.Brandon's POV Amari spun around the second I stepped inside, her face instantly paling.She looked startled, like a kid caught sneaking out past curfew, like she had been in the middle of something she didn’t want me to see. Her hands twitched at her sides, fingers curling slightly as she took a small step back.“W-what are you doing here?” she asked, her voice unsteady. Her wide eyes flicked from me to the hallway, like she was already calculating an escape route.Before I could answer, her father turned to me, wearing a warm, practiced smile. Completely unfazed.“Brandon,” he said with an approving nod. “Amari told me you two went on a weekend getaway. That’s good. It’s nice to see you both spending quality time together.”I didn’t respond.I was too focused on her. The way she wouldn’t meet my eyes. The way her shoulders were drawn tight, her stance stiff like she was waiting for something, dreading something.Her father didn’t seem to notice the tension radiating from her. Or
Chapter 91My mind was a tangled mess, thoughts twisting in every possible direction, colliding and unraveling all at once.The witch’s death wasn’t some freak accident. Someone had killed her, ripped her heart out before she could finish the ritual. That wasn’t just a coincidence. That was deliberate. That meant there was something to find, something someone didn’t want me knowing.If the mate bond was real, there would be no reason to stop me from checking it. No reason to go as far as murder just to keep me from questioning it.Which meant there was something off about it.I exhaled through my nose, gripping the wheel a little tighter. This should have unsettled me, should have made me feel worse than I already did. But beneath the frustration, beneath the questions and the chaos, there was something else.Relief.Because if this mate bond wasn’t real, if it had been manipulated, then I wouldn’t have to be bound to Amari. I could sever it completely. I could be free of it.The thou
90.Brandon's POV Amari didn’t say a word for the rest of the drive.She just sat there, arms crossed, staring out the window. Her expression was unreadable, but the way her fingers gripped her sleeves told me enough. She was holding something in, whether it was anxiety, anger, or fear, I wasn’t sure.By the time we reached Hex Hollow, the town was draped in mist, making the narrow roads seem endless. It was smaller than I expected. The trees by the road side weren’t normal. Their trunks twisted like they were in pain, and their bark were covered in strange carvings.What the hell is this place?The witch’s house sat at the very edge of the area, partially hidden behind some trees. It was old, the wood had darkened with age, and the windows concealed by heavy, dust-coated curtains. The place had a presence, something subtle but undeniable, like the house itself was watching us.I knocked once.The door creaked open just enough for a woman to peer out from the shadows. Her face was s
Brandon's POV I didn’t even have to think twice.The moment I stepped out of my father’s office, my decision was already made. I was going to Hex Hollow. No second-guessing, no hesitation. It didn’t matter how far it was or how much of a pain in the ass the trip would be. I needed answers.For days, I had been reading up on manipulated mate bonds, digging through every scrap of information I could find. The more I read, the more the pieces started falling into place.Black magic had been bound centuries ago, forbidden and sealed away. But that didn’t mean it was completely inaccessible. There were still ways to tap into it. And the ones who could were those who had given themselves over completely, souls already claimed, corrupted beyond saving.Those people were the only ones capable of forging a mate bond.And my gut told me that was exactly what had happened to me.The day I decided to leave came faster than I expected. I had smoothly lied to Amari that we were going on a weekend
Brandon's POV I found my father in his study. The heavy scent of old books, leather, and his colonge filled the air, a smell I had long associated with him. The fireplace crackled softly in the background, casting flickering shadows along the walls. He barely looked up when I stepped inside, his eyes scanning the documents on his desk with focus, the soft scratch of his pen filling the silence.I shut the door behind me. “Dad.”His pen paused mid-signature, then he set it down carefully beside the paper, finally lifting his gaze to meet mine. “Brandon.” He gestured toward the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat.”I walked further into the room and sank into the chair, leaning forward slightly, resting my elbows on my knees. “I need to talk to you about something.”His expression remained unreadable, but he leaned back in his chair, interlacing his fingers over his chest. “About?”“The mate bond.”For a brief second, something flickered in his gaze, mild amusement, maybe, but