Chapter 6: Irresistible
1005 Words
GIDEON
Isla’s apartment was exactly what I’d expected. Small, clean, filled with books in languages I recognized and some I didn’t.
The kind of space someone lived in when they were waiting for their real life to begin.
That life had just started, whether she was ready for it or not.
She stood in the center of her living room, arms wrapped around herself like she was trying to hold the pieces together.
Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying, her hair a mess, wearing sweatpants and an oversized shirt that read “University of Washington Linguistics Department.”
She looked nothing like the polished woman I’d seen in the ballroom.
She looked real. Vulnerable.
But most of all, she looked mine.
My wolf surged forward, demanding I close the distance, wrap her in my arms, make her understand that she was safe now. That she’d always be safe with me.
I forced myself to stay by the door. Even if it took every part of me to do so.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Isla said quietly.
“I know.”
“I told you to go away.”
“You did.” I slid my hands into my pockets to keep from reaching for her. “I didn’t listen.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re my mate.” The words came out rougher than I intended. “Because I can feel your pain through the bond, and it’s driving my wolf insane. Because the thought of you alone and hurting in this apartment makes me want to–” I stopped, clenched my jaw.
“I needed to see that you were alright.”
She laughed, but it was hollow. “Do I look alright to you?”
No. She looked devastated. Broken. And I wanted to find Jaxon Ashford and finish what I’d started on that terrace.
“You look like someone who needs to not be alone right now,” I said instead.
“And you think you’re the solution?” She shook her head.
“I don’t even know you. A few hours ago, I barely knew you existed. And now you’re in my apartment at one in the morning telling me we’re mates, and I’m supposed to just– what? Accept it? Trust you?”
“No.” I took a careful step forward. “You’re not supposed to do anything. I’m not here to force you into anything, Isla.”
“Then why are you here?”
Good question. The rational answer was that I should have stayed away. Given her space. Let her process the betrayal before introducing the complication of the mate bond.
But I wasn’t feeling particularly rational.
“I’m here because I can’t stay away,” I admitted. “I’ve spent most of my life believing I’d never have a mate. That my bloodline was too dominant, that the Moon Goddess had other plans for me. And then I saw you on that terrace, and everything I thought I knew became irrelevant.”
Isla’s arms tightened around herself. “I don’t want this.”
The words hit harder than they should have. “I know.”
“I don’t want to feel this… this pull toward you. I don’t want my wolf recognizing yours. I don’t want any of this.” Her voice cracked.
“I want Jaxon to have kept his promise. I want the last eight years to have meant something. I want–”
“Him,” I finished quietly. “You want him.”
She looked away, and that was answer enough.
I should have left then. Should have given her the space she was asking for. But something Isla needed to understand, something I needed her to hear, kept me rooted to the spot.
“Can I tell you something?” I asked.
She didn’t respond, but she didn’t tell me to leave either.
“Mate bonds aren’t something that can be faked,” I said. “There’s no spell, no magic, no amount of wishful thinking that creates what we felt on that terrace. The Moon Goddess chooses. And for reasons I don’t understand, she chose us.”
“Maybe she made a mistake.”
“The Goddess doesn’t make mistakes.” I took another step closer. “I know deep down that you know that, but I also know you don’t want to hear this right now. I know you’re hurting because of what Ashford did. But that bond you felt? That recognition? It’s real, Isla. The realest thing either of us will ever experience.”
“You don’t know that,” she whispered. “You said it yourself. You’ve never had a mate before so this isn’t possible. Maybe it’s just… I don’t know, attraction or–“
“It’s not just attraction.” Another step.
I was close enough now to see the pulse hammering in her throat, to smell the jasmine that was distinctly her beneath the acrid scent of burned fabric.
“Attraction doesn’t make me want to tear apart anyone who’s ever hurt you. It doesn’t make my wolf howl for you like you’re the only thing that matters in this world. And it sure as hell doesn’t make the Apex of the Untouchable Seven show up at your apartment at one in the morning, desperate just to make sure you’re breathing.”
Her eyes met mine, and I saw it; confusion, fear, and something else.
Something that looked dangerously like hope.
My wolf was screaming inside.
Take her. Take what’s ours. She needs us.
SHE NEEDS US.
I knew that, damn it. But she didn’t, and I wasn’t going to force ourselves onto somebody that was still so clearly broken.
But I couldn’t deny that it was getting harder and harder to control myself, to control my wolf.
Especially as she stood there just one step away from me and in just one move I could hold her, wrap her in my arms, and…
Claim every inch of her.
- Writer
