He finally let go of my wrist, but not before dragging his fingers slowly down my arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps that made me want to claw my own flesh off.
“Eat and get dressed,” he said, stepping back. His voice had hardened, and no more smiles. “We are going to the hospital.”
He walked away from me and headed for the bathroom.
“You have to reject me,” I said the words before I could overthink them.
He paused. His steps halted right at the threshold of the bathroom. He didn’t turn immediately. He just stood there, back tense, one hand on the doorframe, the other raking through his hair like he was holding himself back from something.
Then, he turned his head over his shoulder, those dark, burning eyes locking onto mine.
His lips curled into something Teral. Almost… hurt and furious.
“Over my dead fucking body,” he said flatly. “You think I’d let you go” His eyes narrowed. “After everything? After what I’ve tasted? I took your virginity, damn it. And do you even know what that means to me?” He shook his head slowly. “You don’t know what you did the very first day you ever gave yourself to me, baby. You woke up a part of me that doesn’t fucking sleep anymore.”
I took a step back, my breath snagging in my throat, “Please, Kester pleaded, “My mum… she might die if she ever finds out.”
He didn’t even blink when I said the woman who he had confe to love as his own mother was going to die from this.
Instead, he smirked, “Well then,” he said, like he was about to come up with the easiest solution in the world, “I guess we’ll find out when we inform them. Tonight.”
My heart gave a violent thud.
“What?” I gasped. “Tonight?”
He took a slow step toward me, like a predator toying with its prey.
“Yes, baby.” He smiled, “Tonight. We’re making us official. No more hiding. No more sneaking around. Everyone-our family, our friends, the whole fucking world-will finally know that You. Belong To. Me.”
His voice turned to thunder in my ears as he counted those words. And the room-the walls, the floor, even the air-seemed to tilt sideways.
And all I could do was watch as he turned away again, completely unaffected by the storm he had just dropped on my chest, and disappeared into the steam of the bathroom like nothing was wrong at all.
I instantly felt sick.
KESTER.
My little mate had decided to play stubborn.
So, I decided to be a little more firm with her now. I had to match her energy-only that I played to win.
At the hospital, she tried her best to sit far away from me, walk a few steps ahead of me, and barely speak to me. I nearly laughed in the hallway when she recoiled slightly as our hands brushed,
She didn’t want people to know we were mates. Did she think the mate bond was something everyone else saw with their naked eyes?
I bet she’d start moving around in sacks and veils the moment I make it official tonight.
The doctor said she was barely four weeks along. It was still fresh and new, and she gave us a long list of dos and don’ts that we should adhere to for now.
And then came my favorite part.
“Sex is still safe,” the doctor had said. “As long as there are no complications, it’s fine to continue being intimate.”
That was my favorite part of our visit to the hospital.
I glanced at Kasmine as she tried to disappear into the fabric of the chair when the doctor said that. Her jaw had gone rigid, and her spine stiff. I almost groaned on the spot, already imagining the sweet little defiance she would spit at me the moment we got out.
I loved when she tried to fight me. She didn’t understand-it only made the beast in me want her more.
We sat in the back seat of my blacked-out Bentley Bentayga on our way to the pack.
I guess she had accepted her fate already, and she knew she couldn’t fight me about going to the pack any longer because she was already fast asleep, her head resting on my shoulders.
If she ever woke up to find out that she was leaning on me, she’d probably try to scrub my scent off her skin, cuss me out, and threaten to kill me again.
A real smile tugged at the corner of my lips. The kind that only came when something you’d once lost had found its way back.
She was so fucking adorable. And I actually do adore her.
She didn’t know it yet, but she was already folding. I see what the mate bond was doing to her. She was a good fighter, I must say. She kep fighting it with all her might. But not for too long. Deep down, she was losing the fight, and she knew it.
And when she finally broke, she’d realize that the cage she feared wasn’t one I’d built to trap her.
It was one I’d built to protect her, even if it looked like madness to everyone else.
The Bentley rolled slow stop in front of the packhouse. Rain had started to drizzle lightly, smudging the tinted windshield with streaks of silver.
I stared at her for a second longer than I should have.
She looked so damn fragile like this.
I leaned in, brushing my lips against her forehead, with my fingers gently stroking her hair, tucking a loose strand behind her ear as I whispered against her skin.
“Wake up, sweetheart. We’re home.”
Her brows twitched, lashes fluttering. She shifted slightly, and then Her eyes blinked open, wild and disoriented like she had woken up in a cage, which, in a way, she had.
Her gaze darted around before landing on me. I saw fear in her eyes
Her body instantly went rigid, and her eyes glossed over with tears she hadn’t even tried to hide.
“No, she whispered in a hoarse and broken voice. “Kester, please… don’t do this.”
Her lips trembled. She turned fully to me now. Her eyes were drowning. “Please… don’t make me do this. Don’t parade me. I’m not ready-I can’t-
I cupped her face with both hands before she could spiral any further. She tried to look away, but I wouldn’t let her. My thumbs stroked her skin, catching the tears before they could fall. She was trembling under my touch like she already knew it was pointless to run
“Look at me,” I said, “I’m tired of hiding. I’m way more than that. I’m not some immature child who doesn’t know what they want. I am a man. I know what I want. And I am about to get it.”
She sniffled, biting her bottom lip to stop it from quivering. “But this isn’t right, Kester. They’re going to hate us. Our parents… they’ll never accept it. The pack… I’ll be the girl who-who slept with her stepbrother and ruined the family.”
I stared at her for a second. Then, I leaned in just a little.
“No. You’ll be the girl who was fated to her stepbrother. And didn’t run.”
“But…”
“I sincerely wouldn’t want to use my command on you, baby,” I interrupted, pressing my forehead to hers, closing the us until she had nowhere to run. “But I will if I have to. So, don’t make me.” I whispered with my eyes closed. space between
She flinched.
“I want you to walk with me tonight on your own two feet. I want you to come with me willingly. Just this once. Trust me.”
I pulled back, smoothed my palms down my thighs, and stepped out of the car. The light drizzle was heavier now, pattering against the hood of the Bentley as I adjusted the sleeves of my dark blue dress shirt, rolling them up just past my wrists.
I moved to her side of the car and opened the door slowly.
She was still curled slightly in the seat like she wanted to disappear into the upholstery.
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