OPPOSITE WORLDS

CHAPTER TWO

ALLEGRA’S POV

My heart is racing. My breath is uneven. And worst of all?

Kace knows it.

His silver eyes gleam with amusement, as if he’s enjoying every second of this twisted nightmare. As if he likes watching me squirm under the weight of the bond.

I want to slap that smirk right off his face.

Instead, I do the next best thing.

I turn on my heel and storm away.

I expect him to stop me. To grab my wrist, block my path, do something—because Kace Bianchi has never let me have the last word. But he doesn’t.

He lets me go.

And for some reason, that pisses me off even more.

I don’t stop moving until I’m outside the pack house, the cool night air doing nothing to ease the fire burning beneath my skin.

I can still feel him.

The mate bond is cruel like that. Even when I’m not looking at him, my wolf knows he’s close. It’s like a thread between us, constantly pulling, constantly reminding me that no matter how much I despise him…

He’s mine.

A low growl rumbles in my chest. No. No, I refuse to accept this. I refuse to be his.

The Moon Goddess must have made a mistake.

“Allegra.”

I stiffen at the sound of my name, my fingers curling into fists. I don’t need to turn around to know who it is.

Of course he followed me.

I whirl around, my glare sharp enough to cut through steel. “What part of ‘stay away from me’ did you not understand?”

Kace stands a few feet away, hands in his pockets, expression unreadable. The playful smirk is gone, replaced by something dangerous.

Something that makes my wolf pause.

“Reject me,” he says.

The words slam into me like a punch to the stomach.

I blink, caught off guard. “What?”

“You heard me.” His voice is calm, but there’s a challenge in his eyes. “If you don’t want this, reject me.”

I open my mouth—ready to do just that.

Ready to say the words that will sever this bond, that will rip this curse from my soul and set me free.

But… I don’t.

The words lodge in my throat, refusing to come out.

Because rejecting him means pain.

Not just emotional, but physical. The mate bond isn’t something that just disappears—it shatters, like glass, tearing both wolves apart in the process.

And the worst part?

My wolf won’t let me do it.

I grit my teeth, furious at myself.

Kace watches me, his expression darkening. “That’s what I thought.”

I clench my jaw. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“I don’t have to.” He takes a slow step forward, and I swear the air between us crackles. “You feel it, Allegra. You know what this means.”

I take a step back. “I know I want nothing to do with you.”

His eyes flicker with something unreadable. “Then fight it.”

“I am fighting it.”

“Not hard enough.” Another step closer.

I glare at him. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

He tilts his head, considering. “Maybe a little.”

I growl in frustration. “I hate you.”

His smirk returns. “Keep telling yourself that, little wolf.”

I spin on my heel and stalk away, my wolf raging inside me. I need to think. I need to breathe.

Because this?

This is war.

And I am not losing.

I don’t go home. I don’t go back to Sicana’s room. I just run.

The night air is sharp against my skin, my breath coming fast as my feet pound against the forest floor. My wolf is restless, pacing inside me, but I shove her back. I don’t want to hear her thoughts. I don’t want to feel anything.

I just want to be free.

Away from him. Away from the pull of the bond that keeps wrapping around my throat like a noose.

I don’t know how long I run. Maybe minutes, maybe hours. But when I finally stop, my lungs burning, I find myself standing in the middle of the training grounds—silent and empty at this hour.

Fitting.

This place is where I learned to fight. Where I learned to be strong.

Where I learned how to defend myself against people like him.

I force my breathing to slow, staring up at the moon. “Reject him,” I whisper. “Just say the words.”

But my wolf growls in protest, and my throat stays locked tight.

Coward.

I clench my fists, hating this. Hating him. Hating myself.

“I figured you’d come here.”

I go rigid.

Of course he followed me.

Kace’s voice is smooth, controlled, but there’s something beneath it. Something unshakable.

I don’t turn around. “Do you ever take a hint, Bianchi?”

“I take plenty of hints.” His footsteps are slow, deliberate, as he moves closer. “I just don’t care about them.”

I exhale sharply, my patience snapping. “Go away.”

“No.”

I whirl on him, ready to shove him back, but the second I face him, my body betrays me.

Because the mate bond slams into me all over again, hitting me with the full force of his presence.

He’s standing there, his tall frame relaxed, his silver eyes locked onto mine. The moonlight casts sharp shadows over his face, making him look even more untouchable. But there’s something different in his expression now.

Something I don’t know how to fight.

“I told you to stay away,” I say, but my voice is weaker this time.

Kace steps closer, his tone softer but no less intense. “And I told you—I won’t.”

The space between us crackles, like the universe itself is pushing us together.

I hate it.

I hate that my wolf isn’t snarling at him, that she isn’t rejecting him the way I want her to.

I hate that a part of me—deep, buried, hidden—wants to step closer instead of away.

“You don’t get to decide this for me,” I say, my voice sharper now, stronger. “I will never be yours.”

Kace studies me for a long moment. Then, to my utter shock—he laughs.

Not mocking. Not cruel. Just… amused.

And somehow, that infuriates me more.

I scowl. “What the hell is so funny?”

He shakes his head, his smirk lazy and confident. “You’re cute when you’re in denial.”

I lunge.

Or at least, I try to.

But the second I move, Kace is faster. One second, I’m going for his throat, the next—I’m pinned.

He twists my wrist, spinning me until my back is flush against his chest, his arm wrapped around my waist. I gasp, struggling, but he’s too strong.

And worse?

The second we touch, the bond explodes.

Heat floods my veins, my skin burning everywhere he presses against me. My wolf whines at the contact, wanting more, wanting closer, and I want to scream at her for betraying me like this.

Kace’s lips brush my ear, his breath warm. “Careful, little wolf. If you keep touching me like this, I might start thinking you actually want me.”

I snarl, twisting violently in his grip. “Let. Me. Go.”

To my shock—he does.

He steps back, hands raised, but the smirk never leaves his face.

I spin around, my pulse pounding. “You—”

“Don’t look at me like that,” he drawls. “You’re the one who threw yourself at me.”

I seethe. “You are the most insufferable, arrogant, manipulative—”

“I prefer persistent.”

“You mean delusional.”

He smirks. “You’ll come around.”

I laugh sharply. “I’d rather die.”

His expression darkens slightly, but he doesn’t break eye contact. “Don’t say things you don’t mean, Allegra.”

My breath catches.

Something about the way he says my name makes my skin prickle. Like it’s a promise. Like it’s something I’ll never be able to outrun.

I shake my head, shoving everything down. The bond. The heat. The pull.

I won’t let him win.

“This changes nothing,” I snap. “I don’t want you. I never will.”

Kace just watches me for a long moment, something unreadable flickering behind his gaze. Then, to my shock, he nods.

“Alright,” he says simply.

I blink. “Wait—what?”

“You don’t want me? Fine.” His voice is calm, controlled. “Then prove it.”

I hesitate. “…Prove it how?”

His smirk returns. “Fight me.”

I freeze.

He steps closer again, but this time, it’s not to corner me—it’s to challenge me.

“You want me to back off?” he says. “Then make me.”

My stomach clenches.

He knows exactly what he’s doing. He knows I can’t resist a fight.

And worst of all?

I know he’s going to win.