CHAPTER 49
1442 Words
ADINNA’S POV
The air between us feels electric, and the sound of my heartbeat fills the training room, pounding in my ears really loudly.
Hunter looks at me like he’s trying to solve a puzzle that refuses to fit together. His jaw is tight, his eyes sharp and restless, the faint gold of his wolf flashing behind them. I can feel that same pull again, the same unbearable thread that ties my heartbeat to his, that hums beneath my skin like it’s alive.
“Adinna,” he says, voice rough and low. “Stop pretending.”
I stiffen. “Pretending about what?”
He takes a step closer. The scent of him hits me and it steals the air from my lungs.
He doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he watches me like he’s waiting for me to crumble. Then he says, quieter now, “You can feel it too.”
The words hit me harder than I expect.
For a moment, I forget how to breathe. I shake my head automatically, the denial slipping out before I even think. “No. I don’t. Whatever you’re feeling, it’s not me.”
Hunter’s expression twists into something darkly amused. “You really think you can lie to me?”
I take a step back, my back hitting the wall. The cool surface presses against me, grounding me in the only reality I can control. “I’m not lying.”
“Then why are you shaking?”
My throat closes. I hadn’t realized I was trembling until he said it. My hands are cold, but there’s heat crawling up my neck, flooding under my skin in waves.
He moves closer towards me again. Every instinct in me screams to move away, but I don’t. His presence presses down on me, heavy and magnetic, like gravity itself is bending toward him.
“I can hear your heartbeat,” he says quietly. “It spikes every time I’m near you. You think I don’t know what that means?”
I glare at him, though my voice comes out softer than I want. “You don’t know anything about me.”
Hunter lets out a dry laugh, but there’s no humor in it. “Don’t I?”
Something flashes in his eyes, that same haunted look he had during the Solstice Ball like he’s been fighting this connection longer than I have. Like he hates it just as much as he needs it.
He takes one more step, and now he’s close enough that I can see a faint scar under his jaw, one I’ve never noticed before. He’s breathing unevenly, and for a moment, I can’t tell if he’s angry or scared.
“I didn’t want this either,” he says, the words breaking through gritted teeth. “But pretending it’s not real won’t make it go away.”
My chest tightens.
I want to tell him he’s wrong, and that this isn’t real, that it’s some mistake, some cruel joke the universe is playing on me. But the truth is, my wolf is clawing inside me, howling his name, and calling him ‘mate’ in a voice that I can’t silence.
Still, I force the words out. “There’s no this. Whatever you think is happening between us is not real. It can’t be.”
Hunter’s expression flickers, and for the first time, I see something like hurt cross his face. But it’s gone as quickly as it came, replaced by that sharp, defensive edge.
“Keep telling yourself that,” he says quietly. “But your wolf knows better.”
His tone sends a shiver through me. I hate that he’s right. I hate that part of me wants to believe him.
I push past him, needing space, air, anything to get away from him. “You’re wrong,” I snap. “I don’t feel anything.”
The lie burns as soon as it leaves my lips.
Hunter lets out a low growl, one that makes my pulse stutter. “You can lie to yourself,” he says, stepping closer again, “but not to me.”
I freeze when he reaches out, his hand hovering near my face but not quite touching. His fingers curl into a fist instead, trembling like he’s holding himself back.
The silence between us is thick and heavy enough that it could break.
I can feel his breath against my skin, warm and uneven. My wolf stirs again, whispering his name in my head, over and over until I can’t tell where her thoughts end and mine begin.
“Hunter…” I whisper, but I don’t know what I’m trying to say.
He leans in, eyes locked on mine, and for a heartbeat, the world narrows to just his gaze, my breath, and the invisible tether thrumming between us.
Everything feels suspended.
My body betrays me. My heart races, my hands tremble, and I can feel the warmth rising through me again, slow dangerous, and undeniable. It’s not just attraction. It’s something deeper, something ancient, something that I can’t fight.
And maybe I don’t even want to.
“Why are you doing this?” I whisper, my voice breaking.
Hunter’s jaw clenches. “Because pretending we’re not bound is killing me.”
The raw honesty in his voice hits me harder than a scream would. I can see it now. The exhaustion in his eyes, the quiet desperation he hides behind anger.
“I don’t want this,” I whisper back. “I didn’t ask for this.”
He nods once, slowly. “Neither did I.”
The distance between us is barely a breath now. His eyes flick to my lips, then back to my face. There’s a war happening inside him, and I can see it in every muscle of his body, in the way his hand twitches like he’s about to reach for me before stopping himself.
The bond hums between us, like a live wire strung too tight. I can feel it pulling, begging, and demanding. My wolf is losing her mind, clawing to get closer, to touch, to claim.
I whisper, “This is wrong.”
Hunter shakes his head slowly. “No. This is fate.”
He moves a fraction closer, so close that the air between us disappears. My breath catches, the pull snapping so tight I think it might break me in half.
For a moment, everything inside me goes still.
The world narrows to one heartbeat. His. Mine. They sound the same.
And then he leans in, so close that I can feel his breath ghost across my cheek. His scent fills every corner of my senses, and it’s dizzying. My wolf howls in triumph, the word ‘mate’ echoing through my bones like a spell.
But just when his lips almost touch mine, he stops.
Hunter jerks back like he’s been burned. His chest rises and falls fast, his hands clenched into fists. “No,” he mutters under his breath, shaking his head. “I can’t.”
The sound of his voice, low and rough, slices through the silence.
“Hunter…” I start, but he cuts me off.
“This isn’t supposed to happen,” he says, voice hoarse. “I can’t—”
He curses softly, the sound filled with something between pain and frustration. Then, without another word, he turns and walks toward the door.
I watch him disappear into the shadows, the echo of his footsteps fading into the night.
For a long time, I just stand there, my heart racing, my hands trembling. The silence feels heavy, almost suffocating.
The room still smells like him.
My chest aches with confusion, anger, and something I refuse to name. I slide down against the wall until I’m sitting on the floor, staring at the space he left behind.
“What the hell just happened?” I whisper to no one.
My wolf is quiet now, but I can still feel her pulse against mine, steady and certain.
“Mate,” she murmurs softly, her voice a blend of wonder and inevitability.
I press my hands to my face, shaking my head. “No,” I say out loud, like if I repeat it enough times, it’ll undo everything that just happened.
But deep down, I already know the truth.
Whatever this is, whatever bond ties me to Hunter and the others, it’s real. It’s powerful. And it’s only getting stronger.
And as I sit there, trying to catch my breath, one thought sinks into my bones like a warning I can’t ignore.
Soon, I realize, my chest tightening, I’m going to be mated to them.
- Writer
