Chapter Five: A Dangerous Pull

His words were powerful but something was cracking behind them. Sophie could see it. The pain, the fear. Not for himself but for her. She ought to have been relieved that at least he was giving her a choice. So why did it feel like her chest was splitting at the thought of leaving? Sophie licked her lips, searching for the right words. "What happens if I don't fight it?"

Elias stilled. Something dark flickered in his expression. Something primal.

"Then the bond will claim us both." His voice was rough. "And nothing would ever be able to shatter it."

Her breath caught.

A terrifying, thrilling chill rushed through her. Claim us both.

The air between them grew thicker, charged with something neither of them wanted to name.

Sophie’s pulse raced as she watched him: the quickening of his breath, the dropping of his eyes—if only for a second—to her lips before he turned his head resolutely.

She should have stepped back, should have turned and ended this.

But instead, she whispered, "Then what happens to us?"

Elias’s fingers twitched like he wanted to reach for her.

His voice was barely a breath.

"Everything."

And for the first time, Sophie wasn't sure she wanted to fight it at all.

The silence between them was suffocating.

Sophie could hear the rhythm of her heartbeat, pounding hard against her ribs. Elias was standing close to her—too close—but he wasn't touching her. His breathing was ragged and his hands were flexing at his sides as if he were fighting some physical urge.

And she felt it.

The invisible tether that linked them, stretching tighter with every passing second.

"If you don’t want this, fight it."

Elias had said that.

But how could she struggle against something that already had its claws buried deep inside her?

Sophie swallowed, her throat dry. "What does it mean?"

Elias breathed out slow and measured, but his voice was raspy when he spoke. "What?"

"This bond." She raised her gaze, searching his eyes. "What does it mean for us?"

A moment's hesitation crossed his features. For a moment, it seemed he would not respond. Finally, however, in a voice barely above a whisper, he said, "It means you’re mine."

Sophie sucked in a breath. Not just words. A promise. A warning.

Elias's jaw tightened, his gold eyes flickering dark and unreadable. "It belongs to me as much as I belong to you. No, we do nothing: no fights at all; we could hide-it-the bond will always pull us back together." He dropped his voice lower, rougher. "And if anyone tries to take you away from me…"

His hands curled into fists.

Something dark flickered behind his gaze.

Sophie shivered. "Then what?"

Elias breathed out slowly and harshly. "I'll rip them to shreds."

A shudder ran through her. Not of fear -it was something deeper, more than that she couldn't put a name to yet.

She should have been scared.

She should have wanted to run.

Instead, her feet seemed glued to the ground, his breath rising and falling in rhythm with hers.

She gave it a try to talk, but she could not come through.

Elias watched her for a long moment, then exhaled sharply and turned away. He ran a hand through his hair. Frustration rolled off him in waves. "Damn it, Sophie."

"What?" she whispered, still breathless.

"You don't get it," he said, muttering now to pace with agitation in his steps. "I've been fighting this from the moment I saw you. Telling myself it wasn't real, that it wasn't possible." He halted his stride and turned back to her, his eyes blazing. "Do you know what happens to wolves who find their mate?"

She shook her head.

Elias took a slow step toward her. "It consumes us."

The air between them crackled.

His voice was lower now, raw with something unspoken. "The bond isn’t just some cosmic joke, Sophie. It changes us. Our instincts, our control, everything." His golden eyes darkened. "If I let myself give in to it, there’s no going back."

Her breath caught.

Elias took another step, closing the distance between them. His presence was overwhelming in all its hot, electric dimensions.

Sophie swallowed hard. "Then why are you fighting it?"

His gaze flickered. A muscle in his jaw tightened.

"Because I want you to choose."

Sophie blinked, caught off guard. "What?"

Elias's hands curled at his sides. "All my life, I've followed instincts, did what was instinctive. But this- us, I won't let it be just another instinct." His voice had dropped now, almost to a tone of pain. "I won't take that choice away from you."

Sophie’s breath hitched.

She hadn’t expected this.

Not from him.

Not coming from a man who had just confessed that he would rend anyone who tried to take her from him.

And yet—

He was holding himself back.

For her.

The weight of his words settled deep in her chest.

Elias wanted her. That was something she could see and feel in every taut line of his body. But he would not impose this bond upon her. He would not let instinct govern them.

That choice belonged to her.

And that terrified her more than anything else.

Because now the question was no longer whether she had a choice.

It was whether she even wanted to resist anymore.

Sophie licked her lips, and her pulse hammered. "What if I choose you?"

Elias sucked in a sharp breath.

A storm passed through his expression—wild, dangerous, uncontrollable.

"If you choose me," he said, stepping closer still until there was barely an inch between them, "then I'll never let you go."

The promise of his voice shone a cold on her spine.

Sophie knew, the moment she was standing on the brink of something enormous and perilous.

And if she stepped forward, if she reached out for him, there would be no turning back.

Her fingers trembled at her sides.

Elias watched her, waiting. Not moving. Not pushing. Just waiting for her.

Sophie’s heart pounded. And then she lifted her hand slowly and cautiously to place it on his chest.

Elias inhaled sharply. The moment her fingers brushed his skin, it shot through her like a bolt—a warmth, a spark, something alive.

His body stiffened under her touch. The pulse was firm and constant, hammering against her hand. Sophie swallowed, hard-pressed to take in air. "I don’t think I can fight this." His eyes growing darker, Elias twitched his hands on the side. "Then don’t."

The words were almost a plea. Sophie hesitated only for a second. Then, in one reckless, inevitable moment, she stopped fighting and let the bond take her whole.