Brandon's POV.Winning was expected. There was never a doubt in my mind that we would. But what I hadn’t expected was the way Ivy’s face lit up the moment our school was announced as the winner. She looked radiant. Alive in a way I’d never seen before. Her eyes were bright with something I didn’t think I had ever seen on her before. Pure, unfiltered joy. It was weird. I had never seen her like this. So full of life, so happy. And it did something strange to me. It tugged at something deep in my chest, something I didn’t fucking like.I shook it off, letting the feeling of being the winning school sink in. I should have been thinking about that. Not about Ivy. Not about how I had never seen her smile like that. Not about how, for some stupid reason, it made my own chest feel lighter.The feeling didn’t fade, not even when we were in the plane, heading back. She was beside me, phone pressed to her ear, practically vibrating with excitement as she talked to her mom.“We won, Mom,” she s
Ivy's POV.Dinner felt suffocating.I sat at the long dining table, my plate barely touched, watching as the conversation flowed easily around me, full of laughter and admiration, all directed at Amari.Even my mother wasn’t immune to her charm. She watched Amari with something close to adoration, nodding along as she spoke, occasionally reaching over to touch her arm in approval. It wasn’t surprising. Amari was the perfect daughter anyone would wish for, beautiful, graceful, and poised. They were all treating her like the perfect future Luna.And why wouldn’t they?She was everything I wasn’t. She fit into this world so seamlessly, like she was made for it. And me? I was just… here. Out of place.I knew this was how things were supposed to be. Amari belonged with them, with him. And yet, the longer I sat there, the tighter the knot in my stomach grew. The guilt pressed down on me like a weight I couldn’t shake.Because I had been with Brandon.Because I had touched him and let him t
Brandon's POV.The moment our fathers disappeared into my father's study, Amari wasted no time turning to me, her eyes glinting with that familiar mix of curiosity and amusement.“So,” she said, tilting her head slightly, “can I see your room?”I gave her a flat look. “Why?”“Why not?” She grinned up at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Why can’t I see my future husband’s room?”I sighed. “Amari, there’s no need for that. Staying here in the living room is fine.”She pouted dramatically, stepping just a little closer. “Are you hiding something?”“No.”“Then let’s go! Please?” She clasped her hands together, batting her lashes like she was asking for the biggest favor in the world.I knew Amari well enough to understand that once she set her mind on something, there was no talking her out of it. And honestly, I was too drained to argue.I exhaled through my nose, rubbing a hand over my face. “Fine. Come on.”Amari’s face lit up, and she practically bounced as we got
56.Amari's POV.I stood in the dimly lit room, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst from my chest. The air was thick with tension, cold and suffocating, wrapping around me like an invisible grip. I barely had time to steady my breath before his deep voice cut through the silence. “Strip.”My fingers trembled as I reached for the clasps of my dress. I didn’t hesitate, I couldn’t. I let the fabric slide off my shoulders, pooling around my feet in a whisper of silk. My undergarments followed, leaving me bare under the weight of his scrutiny. The air was cold against my skin, sending a shiver down my spine, but I didn’t move to cover myself. That would only make things worse.Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. The longer it dragged on, the more my stomach twisted into tight, painful knots.Then, finally, he spoke again.“Look at you,” he said slowly, his tone laced with disappointment, almost mocking. “This body. This face. And yet, after almost two m
Ivy's POV.The silence in the car was suffocating.Brandon sat beside me, his gaze fixed out the window, his expression unreadable. He hadn’t looked at me once since we got in. No smirk, no teasing remark, not even that usual air of control he always carried whenever we were in the same space.It was like I wasn’t even there.I was supposed to be fine with it. I should have been fine with it, especially after last night, after what I overheard coming from his room.But I wasn’t.I hated this cold, detached version of him more than anything. And before I could stop myself, the words tumbled out of my mouth.“I’ve noticed something about you,” I said, my voice sharper than I intended.Brandon didn’t react, didn’t even blink.I clenched my jaw, gripping my bag a little tighter. “You have powers that aren’t normal werewolf powers.”Still, nothing.I inhaled, forcing myself to keep going. “Like that time in my mom’s kitchen when you choked me. Or when you made me lock my door against my wi
Brandon's POV The door creaked as I pushed it open, and the familiar mix of cigarette smoke and old books hit me right in the face. The abandoned classroom was the place I and Liam had turned to our spot for as long as I could remember. No one ever came here except us.The first thing my eyes met was Liam, leaning back against the teacher’s desk, his head tilted back as he let out a deep breath. His fingers were tangled in the hair of some junior kneeling between his legs. The girl noticed me the second I walked in and practically shot up from the floor, her face turning red as she wiped her mouth in a panic. She didn’t even bother to look back as she bolted out the door.Liam didn’t even flinch. He just exhaled slowly, eyes rolling as he adjusted himself. I shut the door with a sharp click behind me and gave him a look of disgust. “Do you ever keep it in your pants?”“Not when I don’t have to,” he replied like it was the simplest thing in the world. Stretching his arms out behind
Ivy's POV.The engagement day had arrived after two long weeks of being completely ignored by Brandon.That’s how long he had gone without so much as looking at me. It was as if I had ceased to exist.At first, I thought it was temporary. But as the days stretched on, I realized it wasn’t a game. Brandon had actually shut me out.And now, after two weeks of this silence, I had to sit through his engagement and pretend like I hadn’t spent every second of these past two weeks wondering why it affected me so much.The ceremony wasn’t anything fancy. Just an outdoor lunch in the gardens of the house. Everything was white. The tables, the chairs, the linens. White roses lined the tables, and fairy lights were draped over the trees, twinkling in the soft sunlight. Classical music floated through the air, and it all looked so perfect, like something out of a picture-perfect magazine spread. Simple, elegant, and everything a perfect engagement should be.And I hated every second of it.Watch
60.Ivy's POV.The moment I stepped out of the restroom and saw them standing there, a strange, uneasy feeling crawled up my spine.They were leaning against the wall just outside the door, their eyes already on me, their smirks too knowing, too expectant. I knew they were trouble, but this time, something felt different. Very off.A sick feeling crept up my spine, but I forced myself to stay calm. Act normal. Maybe I was overthinking this. Maybe they were just here by coincidence.I swallowed, straightening my posture, and gave them a tight-lipped smile. “Hey.” My voice came out steady enough. I stepped forward, moving to walk past them, pretending I didn’t notice the way they subtly shifted, like hunters closing in on prey.Before I could take another step, the blonde guy with the scar who was the taller one moved, blocking my way. His broad frame loomed over me, his stance relaxed, but there was something calculating in his eyes.Behind me, the other guy picked up a small X sign l
Ivy's POV.My head was pounding. Not just like a little headache you could push through, this was the kind that pulsed behind your eyes and made it feel like your skull might crack open.Everything around me was blurry at first, like I was trying to wake up underwater. But slowly, things started to piece together. The room was dim, lit by a single bulb way off in the corner. It didn’t do much, but just enough to throw some weak light around, barely letting me see more than a couple feet ahead.When I tried to move, I realized fast that I couldn’t. My arms were stuck behind me, wrists tied up tight with some rough rope that scraped against my skin. Same with my ankles. I was stuck on some old wooden chair that groaned every time I shifted even a little. The ropes were digging in already, and the more I struggled, the worse it got.Panic kicked in hard.And suddenly, it hit me all at once. The drive, Aaron’s voice, the fear, the punch to my face.Shit.I twisted, trying to get out, but
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