I could barely think straight anymore. Every inch of me was on fire, my senses overloaded by the closeness of her, the scent of her, the feel of her hands moving across my skin. The bond was screaming at me, pulling me toward her, and I was losing the battle to resist.With a sharp intake of breath, I grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from my wound. Her skin was soft beneath my fingers, and the touch sent a jolt of heat through me, making my heart pound even harder.“I warned you,” I growled, my voice rough, barely controlled.Isabella’s eyes locked onto mine, and in that moment, something shifted. The anger, the frustration, the fear—it all fell away and what remained was something darker, something more dangerous. My grip on her wrist tightened, and her breath hitched, but she didn’t pull away. She didn’t look afraid. She just stared at me with those wide, defiant eyes, challenging me even as my control slipped further away.The bond was pulling me under, drowning out every r
I slammed the door behind her, the sound echoing through the empty hallway. My chest heaved with anger, my mind spinning as the memory of Isabella’s tear-streaked face burned itself into my thoughts. I shouldn’t care. I couldn’t care. But no matter how much I tried to ignore it, the bond pulled at me, forcing me to feel what I didn’t want to feel.I stormed across the room, my fists clenched at my sides, fury bubbling just beneath the surface. Every time I closed my eyes, the memory of her lips against mine—of that kiss—flashed before me. It had been raw, possessive, a loss of control that I never should have allowed. How had I let it happen? How had I let her get so close?With a frustrated growl, I reached for the bottle of wine on the table, yanking the cork out with more force than necessary. My hands trembled as I poured the dark liquid into the glass, but it didn’t matter. I needed something, anything, to drown out the chaos in my mind.But the moment I raised the glass to my l
**Isabella’s**The coldness of Aiden’s rejection still clung to me like a heavy weight as I stumbled down the hallway toward my room, my vision blurred by the tears that I refused to let fall in front of him. I had barely made it out of his room when the first tear slipped down my cheek, and once it started, there was no stopping it.The sting of his words, his anger, echoed in my mind over and over again.“I told you to leave me the fuck alone.”I hadn’t expected him to be soft or gentle—not after everything we’d been through—but the cruelty in his voice had cut deeper than I wanted to admit. He wasn’t just pushing me away; he was shoving me out of his life with all the force he could muster. And it hurt more than I ever imagined it would.I wiped at my eyes angrily, trying to hold myself together. Crying wasn’t going to fix anything. It wasn’t going to change the way Aiden saw me, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to erase the fact that I had kissed him back. That I had let him in.I
The next morning, sunlight streamed through the small window of my room, casting long shadows across the floor. The air felt heavy, almost oppressive, and I couldn’t shake the exhaustion that clung to me. It wasn’t just from lack of sleep—though I hadn’t managed much of that, either—it was the emotional weight of everything that had happened. The kiss, Aiden’s coldness, the way he had shoved me out of his room… it was all too much.I sat on the edge of my bed, staring blankly at the floor, my mind replaying the events of the previous day over and over again. Every time I thought about it, the emotions came rushing back—anger, hurt, confusion.How had things gotten so out of control so quickly?I didn’t want to feel like this. I didn’t want to care about Aiden, didn’t want him to have this kind of power over me. But no matter how much I tried to convince myself that I was done with him, that I wouldn’t let him hurt me again, the truth was harder to face.I cared. I cared more than I wa
The day dragged on, slow and heavy, like a weight I couldn’t shake. I went through the motions, but my mind was elsewhere, consumed by thoughts of Aiden, of the bond, of everything Marcus had said. I couldn’t focus on anything else.By the time night fell, I was exhausted—emotionally, mentally, physically. I wanted to sleep, to escape the thoughts swirling in my head, but I knew it wouldn’t come easily. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his face, heard his voice, felt the ghost of his touch. It was maddening.I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, my mind replaying every interaction we’d had. From the moment we met, it had been a whirlwind of tension, anger, and confusion. I had spent so much time trying to understand him, trying to figure out why he was the way he was. And now, it felt like I was finally starting to see the truth.He wasn’t just angry. He was scared. Scared of what the bond meant, scared of losing control, scared of… me.But where did that leave us? Where did that
The moment Aiden said, "This conversation is over," something inside me snapped. I had tried. I had come to him with the hope that maybe, just maybe, if we sat down and talked like two reasonable people, we could find some middle ground. We could stop this constant pushing and pulling, the endless cycle of confusion and pain.But I was wrong. So wrong.I stared at him, feeling the weight of my exhaustion settle deep into my bones. I was so tired. Tired of fighting with him, tired of being kept in the dark, tired of being treated like I was just some weak human who didn’t deserve to know the truth.With a deadened expression, I spoke, my voice low but firm. “I thought maybe if we sat and talked face to face, things could go a different way. Maybe we could come to a common ground, but I guess I was wrong.”Aiden’s jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing slightly, but he said nothing. He just stood there, his arms crossed over his chest, like a fortress guarding something he didn’t want me to
Two weeks had passed since that last conversation with Aiden, and in those two weeks, neither of us had spoken a single word to each other. The tension between us hung in the air, thick and unyielding, and I had grown tired of it. If he wasn’t going to trust me, if he wasn’t going to tell me anything, then I wouldn’t bother disturbing him either. What was the point?The frustration I felt toward him had slowly morphed into a kind of resigned acceptance. If Aiden wanted to shut me out, I wouldn’t fight him on it anymore. I was done trying to reach out, done hoping that things could be different between us. The kiss, the arguments, the endless back-and-forth… it had drained me completely.This morning was no different from any other. I woke up, went through my morning routine, and tried to push all thoughts of Aiden out of my mind. It was easier now, easier to ignore the lingering emotions that pulled at me whenever I thought about him. I didn’t allow myself to dwell on what had happene
I started walking back to the mansion, my steps heavy with the weight of my thoughts. The short walk outside had been a brief escape, but it wasn’t enough. It hadn’t cleared the frustration that had been building inside me for weeks. I was still angry—angry at Aiden, angry at myself, angry at everything that had happened.But what could I do? Going back inside the mansion felt like admitting defeat, like letting Aiden win this battle of wills. I wanted to hold onto the small sense of freedom I had found, even if it was fleeting.As I neared the mansion, the familiar rustling sound came from behind me again. I sighed, assuming it was just another small animal like before. I’d let my nerves get the better of me earlier, jumping at the sight of a harmless rabbit. I wasn’t going to let it happen again.But this time, the rustling didn’t stop.I froze in my tracks, listening intently as the sound continued, this time louder, more persistent. My heart skipped a beat as I turned slowly towar