The Weston Bond

5

I didn’t sleep that night.

I lay in the guest room Zane had shown me to, staring at the ceiling while the bond twisted quietly inside my chest like something restless and alive. Two men. Two pulls. One impossible situation I had walked straight into with my eyes open and my common sense apparently left behind at the ball.

The room was large and cold and smelled like cedar wood and old stone. I hated how comfortable the bed was. I hated it more than I could feel both of them. Not close. Not touching me. But present, like two separate fires burning in rooms nearby, and my body was apparently a compass pointed at both of them at once.

I pressed my face into the pillow and told myself to sleep. Sleep did not come.

Then I realized that I needed to get some water. I had been bothered all night.

I walked out of my room and headed down the hallway that led to the stairs. The kitchen was somewhere downstairs. Just when I thought I could get the hang of all that was going on, I heard a voice.

Not just a voice, but someone moaning. They were moaning Cain’s name.

I froze in my tracks. It was Cain’s room. He brought a woman to his room?

That bastard. I should have known that nothing good was ever going to come out of this mess I’m in.

Why does this affect me so badly? It felt like my heart was being ripped out. I let out a gasp and moved closer to the door. To my surprise, the door was slightly open already.

I gently peeped in and saw Cain on top of a woman. She was moaning his name. I stood there stupidly. My eyes met the woman’s, and she smirked at me.

Cain didn’t notice that I was watching. I can’t believe this. I feel like a fool. I should have known that he would never choose me. He was never someone I was fond of from the start, so why does the Moon Goddess see it fit to punish me with a man like him?

Why do I have to have two mates? I’m not a w***e, but this whole thing is starting to make me feel like one.

I ran downstairs. I wiped the tears off my face. I’m such a fool. I feel bad that I’m going to deal with this for the rest of my life.

I stumbled into the kitchen, breathing hard like I had run for miles instead of just down a flight of stairs.

My chest burned.

I gripped the edge of the counter, trying to steady myself while tears blurred my vision.

This was stupid.

Stupid.

Why should I care what Cain did? I barely knew him. Half the time, he looked at me like I was a complication he never asked for.

Yet seeing him with another woman felt like someone had shoved silver straight through my ribs.

I sucked in a shaky breath and reached for a glass from the shelf with trembling hands.

The kitchen lights were dim, and only the moonlight spilling through the tall windows.

I didn’t hear the footsteps until a voice spoke behind me.

“You look like hell.”

I jumped so hard the glass slipped from my fingers.

A hand caught it before it hit the floor.

Zane.

He stood beside me, holding the glass casually, dark eyes narrowing as he studied my face.

His expression changed immediately.

“What happened?”

“I’m fine,” I said too quickly.

He didn’t move.

Didn’t blink.

“Were you crying?”

“No.”

“Liar.”

The word wasn’t harsh. If anything, it sounded almost concerned.

That somehow made everything worse.

I turned away from him fast, wiping my face angrily.

“I said I’m fine.”

Silence stretched between us. Then Zane gently placed the glass on the counter.

“Did Cain do something?”

My throat tightened.

I hated that he guessed so easily.

Zane’s jaw flexed the moment he saw my expression.

“What did he do?”

I laughed bitterly, though it came out broken.

“Nothing.”

“Doesn’t look like anything.”

I shook my head hard.

“You know what? Forget it. This whole thing is insane anyway.”

“What thing?”

I spun toward him.

“This!” I snapped. “The bond. The mate situation. Having two mates like I’m some kind of mistake the Moon Goddess forgot to fix.”

Zane’s eyes darkened.

“You’re not a mistake.”

“Really?” My voice cracked. “Because I just stood outside Cain’s room while another woman moaned his name.”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop instantly.

Zane went completely still.

I laughed again, more painfully this time.

“And the worst part? It hurt. It actually hurt.” I pressed a hand against my chest. “Why? I don’t even like him.”

Something dangerous flickered across Zane’s face.

“He brought a woman here?” he asked quietly.

I nodded once.

For a second, Zane looked furious.

Not annoyed.

Furious.

Then his expression softened when he looked back at me.

“You shouldn’t have seen that.”

“Well, I did.”

I grabbed the glass and filled it with water just to give my shaking hands something to do.

“I feel pathetic.”

Zane watched me carefully.

“No,” he said firmly. “You feel rejected. There’s a difference.”

His words hit harder than I expected.

I stared down at the water.

“I don’t want this,” I whispered. “I don’t want to be torn between two people forever.”

Zane was quiet for a long moment.

Then he stepped closer. Close enough that I could feel his warmth.

“The bond complicates things,” he said lowly. “But nobody gets to make you feel worthless because of it. Not Cain. Not anyone.”

I swallowed hard.

“Easy for you to say.”

His eyes locked onto mine.

“No. It isn’t.”

For the first time since arriving here, I saw something raw in his expression. Something almost painful.

Before I could understand it, heavy footsteps suddenly echoed from upstairs.

Then Cain’s voice rang through the hallway.

“Where the hell is she?”

I spun around, and our eyes met. He gave me a deadly look. He looked like someone ready to attack.

I glared hard at him. “Who are you looking for?”

He rolled his eyes. “You, of course. You'd better stay in your lane next time, woman. I don’t want you peeping on my business.”

I scoffed. “I don’t give a f**k who you have s*x with.”

He smirked. “You sure about that?”

“Cain, please don’t start,” Zane said.

Cain didn’t even look like someone who cared. “f**k this stupid bond. You know what, he got something to say anyway,” Cain said flatly.

Zane stepped slightly in front of me without thinking.

Cain’s gaze flicked to him. “I’m not here for you.”

The kitchen went still. My heart hammered.

“Then say it,” I whispered.

Cain’s jaw tightened.

For a second, I saw it—the hesitation. Like whatever he was about to do wasn’t easy even for him. Then he exhaled slowly.

“I’ve thought about it,” he said. “About the bond.”

My stomach dropped.

Zane’s expression changed instantly. “Cain—don’t.”

But Cain ignored him.

His eyes stayed on mine.

Cold. Certain.

“I reject it.”

The words didn’t echo.

They hit.

Straight into my chest.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

The bond didn’t just hurt, it snapped. Not fully gone, but violently torn, like something alive being ripped away while still holding on.

I staggered back a step.

Zane turned sharply toward me. “Hey—look at me.”

But I couldn’t. All I could feel was the sudden emptiness where something had been burning just hours ago.

My voice came out broken.

“You… what?”

Cain didn’t flinch.

“I reject the bond between us,” he repeated. “It’s not going to work. Not now. Not ever.”

Silence swallowed the room whole. I laughed once, but it sounded hollow.

“So that’s it?” I whispered, almost in tears. “You humiliate me, you bring another woman into your room, and then you just… reject me like I’m nothing?”