The Genetic Bride: Alpha's Obsession

ISABELLA The silence in this mansion was heavy—it always was, but tonight it felt like it was actually pressing down on my chest, making it hard to breathe. I lay flat on the massive bed, staring up at the carved ceiling. When Sebastian first brought me to this island ten months ago, I thought the house was beautiful. Now, every single detail just feels like a mockery. The silk nightgown I was wearing stuck to my skin. I was damp with a mix of sweat and raw nerves. Every time I tried to shift my weight, the iron cuffs around my wrists yanked back, the metal biting right into the raw, scraped skin underneath. It was almost funny. A year ago, I was walking runways in Paris, wrapped in designer clothes and expensive jewelry. Now, my only accessories were a pair of shackles. The heavy oak doors clicked open before my thoughts could spiral. I didn't even have to turn my head to know who it was. The air in the room instantly shifted, turning cold and heavy. Sebastian Whitlock’s presence alone was entirely suffocating. My brain still couldn't connect the giant standing in the shadows with the older foster brother I grew up with. He was the one who held me when my parents died. I had trusted him completely. But the man who dragged me out of my life and forced me onto this island was a stranger. An Alpha who didn't care about the word no. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself as his heavy boots clicked against the marble floor. He can lock me in this room, I told myself, repeating it like a mantra. He can chain me to this bed, but he doesn't own my mind. The mattress dipped under his weight, and a sudden, sharp heat flared near my ankle. Sebastian's fingers brushed against my skin. It was barely a touch, but a violent shiver went through me before I could stop it. My own body was betraying me. "You're trembling, Bella," he murmured. His voice was a low, heavy rumble that vibrated right through the mattress. "Is it fear... or are you finally ready to admit the truth?" I bit the inside of my lip until I tasted blood, forcing myself to stay quiet. Silence was the only weapon I had left against him. His hand moved up, agonizingly slow. His palm traced the line of my calf, moving up to my thigh. There was no hesitation in the way he touched me. He moved like a man who knew he owned every single inch of the room. "Bastian, stop," I rasped. I hated how thin my voice sounded. "You can lie to me all you want," he said softly. He leaned over me, blocking out the moonlight from the window. He caught both of my chained wrists in one hand, pinning them flat against the pillow. He wasn't violent about it—instead, he was terrifyingly gentle, which only made it more agonizing. "But you can't lie to the bond, Bella. Look at me." His soft tone broke, dropping into a harsh, raspy demand. I kept my eyes locked tight. He leaned lower anyway, his hot breath splaying against my neck as he inhaled deeply. I flinched when the sharp edge of his fangs scraped right over my pulse point. It was a warning. "If I mark you tonight, the game ends," he whispered, his tone thick and dark. "You'd be mine. Completely." Tears of frustration pricked my eyes. I hated him for trapping me here. But what terrified me more was the sudden, sick heat pooling in my stomach, and the way my heart was hammering against my ribs just because he was close. "No," I choked out, trying to wrench my wrists out of his grip. "Never." Sebastian froze. For a long, heavy second, he didn't move. The only sound was his ragged breathing against my skin. I could tell he was fighting himself—the Alpha who wanted to just take what he wanted, and the man trying to hold the beast back. Slowly, he let go of my wrists and sat back. His golden eyes searched my face, dark and hungry, but there was a flash of genuine bitterness in them. "You're stubborn," he said, his mouth twitching into a cold smile. "But you won't fight me forever, Bella." "I'll die before I ever belong to you, Sebastian," I spat, staring up at him with everything I had left. He stood up, towering over the bed, looking down at me like a predator that had already won. He bent slightly, his hand reached down, gently pushing a stray strand of hair away from my forehead. The tenderness made it worse. "You were born to be mine, Bella," he murmured again, like it was just a fact of life. "Every breath you take belongs to me. I can give you time." He turned and walked out after that, slamming the heavy doors behind him. The tension in the room snapped, and I collapsed against the mattress, a single tear running down my cheek. I didn't break tonight. But as I stared at the dark ceiling, a small, terrifying thought crept into my head. What if he's right? **** SEBASTIAN She fought me again. I stood in the hallway just outside her doors, my hands clenched into tight fists until my nails bit into my palms. I could still feel her skin under my hands. I could still smell her—that sweet, sharp scent mixed with defiance that was driving my wolf crazy. MINE. The word slammed around inside my head, tearing at my self-control. She belonged to me. She had been destined for me before she was even born. I knew it the second my family brought her home as an orphan. She was my fated mate. The other half of my soul. But she looked at me like I was a monster. She looked at me with hatred, her heart still belonging to that human photographer. A guy who didn't deserve to even look at her. A low growl rumbled deep in my chest—a dark, heavy sound that vibrated against the stone walls. I needed to get away from her door before I lost it completely, went back inside, and took what destiny promised me. I stormed down the long hallways of the house, threw open the front doors, and hit the cold night air. The woods of Eldenhart stretched out ahead of me, dark and quiet under the full moon. I ripped my shirt off, throwing it into the dirt as the pressure in my chest grew too heavy to breathe. Shift. Run. Hunt. The wolf was screaming at me. I let the transformation happen. The violent, familiar agony of the shift ripped through my body, and I welcomed it. The physical pain was a perfect distraction against her rejection. My bones cracked, snapped, and reshaped themselves. Midnight-black fur burst from my skin as my spine arched, my fingers lengthening into heavy claws. My jaw extended into a snarling muzzle, and when I opened my eyes, the darkness cleared into sharp, vivid shades of predatory gold. The man was gone. A massive black wolf took his place. I shook out my heavy shoulders, muscles rippling under my coat, and bolted. I became a black blur as I hit the tree line at full speed—running until the world turned into nothing but the heavy pound of my paws against the dirt, the snap of branches against my ribs, and the rush of blood in my ears. I wanted to outrun the memory of her. I wanted to forget the way her breath hitched when my teeth touched her skin. I wanted to forget the terrified, broken look in her eyes—like I was a nightmare she couldn't wake up from. With a burst of absolute rage, I slammed my shoulder hard into a pine tree, splitting the trunk with a heavy, splintering crack. But the ache didn't stop. The hunger didn't fade. I sprinted to the edge of the highest cliff, right where the trees opened up to the moon. I threw my head back, my jaws parting as a sound tore straight out of my chest. It was a howl of heartbreak, frustration, and desperation. The wind carried the sound across the isolated island—a warning to anyone who dared get in my way. I would never let her go.