Chapter 6 – No Going Back
866 Words
My mother walked into the living room with a bright smile, completely unaware of the tension that still hung in the air.
“There you two are,” she said. “Have you eaten? We brought dessert.”
Kai’s glowing eyes slowly returned to normal. He took a step back from me and forced a calm expression onto his face.
“I’m not hungry,” he replied. “I’ll be in my room.”
He glanced at me one last time — a silent warning — before walking up the stairs. The moment he disappeared, the heavy pull in my chest eased slightly… but it didn’t disappear.
My mother looked at me with concern. “Are you okay, Lila? You look pale.”
“I’m just tired,” I lied. “I think I’ll go to bed early.”
She didn’t push me. I was grateful for that.
Upstairs, I closed my bedroom door and leaned against it, trying to steady my breathing. Everything Kai had said kept repeating in my head.
Werewolf.
Mate bond.
Mine.
It sounded insane. If I hadn’t seen his eyes change and those men appear, I would have thought he was mocking me. But I had seen it. All of it.
A soft knock suddenly sounded on my door.
I froze.
“Lila.” Kai’s voice came from the other side, low and controlled. “Open the door.”
“I need time to think.”
“You’ve had time.” There was a pause. “Open it… or I’ll open it myself.”
I knew he wasn’t joking.
Slowly, I unlocked the door and stepped back. Kai walked in and closed it quietly behind him. He didn’t turn on the light. The only illumination came from the moonlight spilling through my window, casting shadows across his face.
He looked dangerous in the dark.
“You shouldn’t be in here,” I whispered. “If my mom—”
“She’s downstairs with my father,” he interrupted. “They won’t come up for a while.”
Kai leaned against the door, watching me closely. The silence between us felt charged.
“You’re scared of me now,” he said.
“I don’t know what I am.”
He pushed away from the door and walked closer. Every step he took made the pull between us stronger. It was getting harder to breathe when he was this near.
“I told you there was no going back,” he murmured. “You felt the bond before I even explained it. That’s why you can’t ignore me. That’s why your heart races every time I get close.”
I took a step back and hit the edge of my bed. Kai stopped right in front of me, close enough that I had to tilt my head up to meet his eyes.
“What happens if I reject it?” I asked quietly.
His expression darkened.
“You can try,” he said. “But the bond doesn’t just disappear because you want it to. It will keep pulling us together. It will get stronger. And the more you fight it… the more it will hurt both of us.”
His hand lifted, and this time he didn’t stop himself. His fingers brushed along the side of my neck, slow and deliberate. My pulse jumped under his touch.
Kai’s eyes followed the movement. Something hungry flickered across his face.
“I can hear your heartbeat,” he said, voice rough. “It’s been driving me crazy since the day you arrived.”
I grabbed his wrist, trying to push his hand away, but he didn’t move.
“Kai… this is wrong. You’re my stepbrother.”
“I don’t care.”
The honesty in his voice made my stomach tighten.
He leaned down until his forehead almost touched mine. His scent wrapped around me — clean, dark, and wild. The mate bond throbbed between us like a living thing.
“Those wolves will come back,” he said quietly. “Next time, they might not just talk. I need you to listen to me if you want to stay safe.”
“And what do you get out of this?”
Kai’s eyes locked onto mine. For a moment, all the cold arrogance disappeared, replaced by something raw and intense.
“You,” he said simply.
My breath caught.
Before I could reply, Kai suddenly tensed. His head turned slightly toward the window, eyes narrowing.
“What is it?” I asked.
He didn’t answer right away. His body had gone completely still, the same way it had earlier in the parking lot.
Then his voice dropped into a low growl.
“They’re close.”
Fear shot through me. “The same ones from earlier?”
Kai’s hand slid from my neck down to my waist, pulling me tightly against him in one smooth movement. His body was burning hot.
“No,” he said, eyes beginning to glow gold again. “Worse.”
A long, eerie howl echoed in the distance.
Kai’s grip on me tightened as he looked down at me, expression deadly serious.
“Stay behind me, Lila… and don’t scream.
- Writer
