CHAPTER 45
1272 Words
ADINNA’S POV
Everywhere is still silent as they begin to stare at me, and then suddenly I begin to feel a low, strange vibration crawling beneath my skin like something alive.
At first, I think it’s just my nerves, my panic, and my heartbeat hammering too fast, but then I see it. The way the boys all flinch, the way the air thickens. The connection that had been quietly pulsing between us all night suddenly surges, ripping through the air like a live wire.
And then it hits.
It feels like lightning crawling through my veins. Every sense sharpens. Every heartbeat doubles. My knees buckle under the force of it. The warmth from before turns molten, unbearable, and I scream.
The sound tears out of me before I can stop it. I clutch my head, as if that’ll help contain whatever’s clawing to get out. My skin feels like it’s burning from the inside.
“Adinna!” Riley’s voice cuts through the chaos, distant and panicked.
I barely register her hands on me before the next wave hits me stronger and sharper. My vision flickers between light and darkness.
Across the room, Hunter’s growl shatters the silence. It’s not human. It’s deep and feral, like the sound of a predator losing control. His body trembles, and his veins rise under his skin. His eyes flash gold for a heartbeat, then brighter as his wolf fights to break free.
“Hunter, no!” Dean snaps, but his voice wavers, strained. “Get a grip on yourself.”
“I can’t,” Hunter grits out, his claws already pushing through his fingers. “It’s— it’s pulling—”
Riley tightens her grip around my shoulders, trying to steady me as I scream again. The heat inside me is unbearable now, like my soul is being ripped open.
“Make it stop!” I gasp, but no one answers. They can’t.
Dean’s voice comes, low and grim. “It’s no use,” he says quietly, his eyes locked on me. “The mate pull already exists.”
His words hang heavy in the air. Final.
It’s real.
Everything Riley said. Everything I tried to deny. It’s all happening now.
The bond isn’t asking anymore. It’s claiming.
Hunter’s chest heaves, his fangs just barely visible now as he snarls against the pull. Salem grips a nearby chair so hard it splinters in his hand, the sound echoing like a gunshot. Jace paces like a caged animal, his jaw tight, his eyes glowing faintly with his wolf’s color.
And me—
I can’t breathe.
It’s like the air has turned to fire. I can feel them, all of them, pressing against the edge of my consciousness. Four threads tugging at my core, demanding to be acknowledged. My wolf howls inside me, desperate, feral, and wanting.
Riley’s voice is barely a whisper now, but I can hear the fear in it. “Adinna, you need to focus.”
“I can’t,” I choke out. “It’s too much—”
The warmth turns to heat, then to fire, then to something that doesn’t even have a name. I feel their pain, their panic, their hunger, all tangled together until it’s impossible to tell where mine ends and theirs begin.
Dean takes a step forward, reaching for me. “Adinna, listen to me.”
“Don’t,” I gasp, stumbling backward. “Don’t come closer.”
Because every step he takes makes it worse. The heat flares each time one of them moves toward me, like my body’s screaming at me to close the distance, to complete the bond.
Hunter slams his fist into the wall, cracking it. “She can’t control it. None of us can!”
“Then what do you suggest?” Jace snaps. His voice sounds raw, ragged. “You want to just stand here while we all lose our minds?”
Salem’s tone is deceptively calm, but there’s a tremor underneath. “Maybe that’s exactly what’s happening. Maybe this is what the bond wants.”
Hunter growls again, louder this time, his eyes blazing gold. “Shut up.”
My body feels like it’s being pulled in four directions at once. I can hear my wolf’s cry in my head, echoing with theirs, tangled in a chorus that doesn’t sound like it belongs in this world.
Riley pulls me back, trying to shield me even though she doesn’t understand what’s happening. “We have to get you out of here,” she breathes.
Dean’s voice comes again, low and steady, but there’s an edge of despair in it. “You can’t break it. The bond’s already formed. It’s too late.”
I shake my head, tears burning down my cheeks. “No. No, I didn’t ask for this.”
“I know,” he says softly, his gaze breaking. “But it doesn’t matter now.”
Hunter roars suddenly, the sound shaking the room. His control slips, just for a heartbeat, fur flickers across his skin, his claws fully extend, his eyes wild.
“Hunter!” Dean barks, stepping forward. “Fight it!”
Hunter’s voice is a growl. “I am fighting it!”
But it’s clear he’s losing.
Jace looks pale now, his breathing shallow, his hands trembling. His wolf is there too, clawing beneath the surface. “This is insane,” he mutters. “We’re not supposed to— we can’t all—”
“Be bound to one omega?” Salem finishes, his tone bitter. “Guess the universe didn’t get that memo.”
The bond surges again like it heard him and decided to prove him wrong.
My scream cuts through the chaos once more, sharp and raw. My body arches, my nails digging into the floor. I can feel each of them through the connection now—their rage, their confusion, their pain. It’s all bleeding into me, feeding the fire already burning inside.
Riley’s voice is breaking. “Adinna, breathe, just breathe.”
But breathing feels impossible when it feels like the air itself is burning.
Dean kneels beside me, his hand hovering over my arm but not daring to touch. “Look at me,” he says, voice steady. “You have to ground yourself. Try to push back.”
“I can’t,” I whisper. “It’s everywhere. It’s them.”
Hunter’s claws dig into the wall, his breath coming in sharp, ragged bursts. “If she doesn’t stop, I’ll—”
“You won’t hurt her,” Dean says, his tone firm.
Hunter snarls. “You don’t know what I’ll do when I shift!”
Riley pulls me tighter against her, glaring at them. “Then stay back! All of you!”
No one listens. The bond won’t let them. They’re drawn forward despite themselves, the invisible tether dragging them closer. The heat spikes again, and I cry out, trembling violently.
“Stop!” I scream. “Just stop!”
“I can’t do this,” I whisper, shaking my head. “I can’t take this.”
“Adinna—” Dean starts, but I’m already moving.
I shove away from Riley’s arms, ignoring her call. My legs feel like lead, but adrenaline pushes me forward. I don’t look at them. I can’t.
I run.
Out the door. Down the hall. Away from the unbearable heat that still burns under my skin.
Every step hurts, because the bond fights me and pulls at me, like invisible hands dragging me back. My wolf claws at my chest, desperate to turn around, to go to them, to stop the ache.
But I keep going.
- Writer
