Chapter Six: No Turning Back

The moment Sophie released her resistance it was like the ground shifted underneath her.

Heat.

Electricity.

A power invisible yet palpable to every nerve ending in her body.

Elias shuddered the instant she ceased to struggle. His golden eyes blazed and his body was taut as though he were barely holding himself together. His hands flexed at his sides and knuckles white.

"Sophie" His voice was raw and barely above a whisper.

She swallowed hard. "I’m not running anymore."

The words settled in the air between them was so heavy and irrevocable. He let out a sigh suddenly as if he had been holding his breath for just too long. His fingers twitched as though he could resist the impulse to touch her "Say it again" he murmured.

Sophie stepped closer pressing her palm harder against his chest. "I’m not running"

A low growl rumbled from the depths of his throat. Tremors of restraint shook his entire body.

"You don’t know what you’re doing" he rasped.

Sophie tilted her head. "Don’t I?"

His hands shot up, grabbing her wrists—but not to hold her. This was more as if he were the one being provoked to lose control. His fingers were fire against her skin and shiver ran through her because of it.

"You think this is just a choice," Elias said, his voice husky with urgency. "You think you're just submitting willingly. But you're not." He swallowed hard, the grip on her arm tightening slightly. "The minute we take this Sophie, it's a game over."

Sophie’s pulse pounded but she didn’t pull away.

“I hope you don’t want to go back” she asked, her voice being steady.

Elias sucked in a sharp breath.

For a moment neither of them moved.

The night air was thick and charged. The connection between them hummed like a live wire.

Then, Elias snapped.

A growl tore from his throat as he yanked her closer closing the space between them. His hands on her wrists softened into a caress that slid up her arms around her waist until she was flush against him.

Sophie gasped and pressed her hands against his chest feeling the raw power coiled beneath his skin.

"You don’t get to say stuff like that" he ground out his forehead pressing against hers. "Not unless you mean it"

Sophie’s breath hitched. "I do."

Elias’s fingers tightened against her back. "Say it again."

"I do" she whispered with heart hammering.

A deep guttural sound escaped him half growl, half sigh before his lips finally crashed against hers.

Sophie felt the connection snap into place like a bolt of lightning.

Heat spread through her veins an unbearable and consuming force that wrapped around them both pulling them deeper and closer.

Elias groaned into her mouth, his fingers diving into her hair as though he were afraid to lose his grip. He was heat and tension incarnate, his restraint slipping more and more with each passing second.

And Sophie—she didn’t want him to hold back.

Her fingers curled in his shirt to draw him one step closer, to match his intensity. The connection between them was like a fire, it was something around which they both can't fight anymore.

The kiss had been on Sophie’s lips as a lingering mark, impossible to shake off. It tingled in every nerve of her body as though she had been set on fire and only Elias could quench the flame.

He didn’t move an inch. His forehead was still pressed against hers breathing harsh and irregular. His hands were much more than gentle on her waist, they were grounding not in any way restraining. It was as if he needed to touch her to make sure this moment was real.

"Sophie" he whispered again as if her name alone anchored him back to reality. Her heart raced so much that it resounded in her ears. "Elias what happens now?" she asked with a tremulous voice full of hope and fear.

He closed his eyes for a long beat, jaw clenched as if the answer were some physical torments. "Now?" His golden eyes opened flickering with a dangerous intensity. "Now… everything changes."

Her chest tightened. "Because of the bond?"

"Because you chose me," Elias corrected. His thumb brushed a slow, almost reverent circle against her waist. "This connection was always there, Sophie — tearing me apart, pulling me towards you. But now… now it’s something else." His voice became softer, rougher. "You’ve accepted it. Accepted me. There’s no breaking it now."

The finality of his words pressed her. There was no turning back now.

Her fingers clutched his shirt still, and she realized she was holding him like he might disappear as if the connection had stirred something primal in her, too.

"I feel it" Sophie whispered. "it's like I'm not just me anymore, I’m us"

A growl rumbled in Elias's chest—soft but certainly possessive. "That's the bond," he said. "It's fusing us together. My wolf… he regards you as ours already. But this…" He paused, his voice thick with emotion. "This is beyond instinct now."

Her pulse skipped. "Then what is it?"

A strand of hair on her cheek was brushed by Elias’s fingers. "It is a choice."

Sophie blinked up at him. "But you said the bond wasn’t a choice."

His lips formed a grimace and a smirk simultaneously. "The bond is inevitable — but this?" His hand moved from her waist to her jaw caressing her softly. "What we do next… how we move forward… that’s a choice. One I’m giving you"

Sophie's throat tightened. He was holding something down-she could feel it. His body was a coiled tension, his wolf pushing at the edges of his control. And yet, he wouldn't cross that line until she did.

Her voice was hardly more than a whisper. "What if I want you not to hold back?"

Elias's eyes darkened but for a moment the flash of gold burned through the amber. "Be careful Sophie" he said in a low growl. "You don't know what you’re asking"

"Then show me" she dared and her heart pounding.

Something broke inside Elias. His restraint crumbled.