To Break a Wolf

Chapter 26: Fractures

She disappeared down the hall, and the silence she left behind might as well have cracked his ribs wide open.

Bastian stood frozen in the doorway, jaw tight, hands fisted at his sides, her words still burning a brand into his skin.

You barking orders as if I belong to you.

But she did.

Gods help him, she did. The bond wasn’t just a whisper anymore; it was a storm, a pressure rooted in his bones that pulsed with every breath she took. It didn’t matter that she glared as if she wanted to throw the nearest object and break it. It didn’t matter that she fought him at every turn. His wolf had chosen her. The mark had sealed it. And now every time she looked at him as though he were the threat, he turned feral.

The worst part? She wasn’t wrong.

He was snapping, barking, acting as if he were a cornered dog. Because that’s exactly what he was; cornered by instincts he couldn’t outpace by a mate bond he didn’t fully understand, and a girl who refused to submit just because destiny said she should.

The bathroom door slammed at the end of the hall, and the echo of it rattled something loose inside him.

He turned to leave, to disappear into his own storm, when Selene’s voice cut through the quiet behind him.

“You handled that well.”

Bastian exhaled hard through his nose, biting down on the retort crawling up his throat. “Not now, Selene.”

“Oh yes,” she said, stepping into the room as though she owned it. “Now is exactly the time. Because that girl has more control over herself than you do right now, and someone needs to say it.”

He turned, deliberate and dangerous, his eyes faintly gold. “You really want to do this now?”

“Yes,” she snapped. “Because I’ve been where you are. I know what it’s like to feel that bond tearing through you. But you’re not even trying. You’re spiraling. And she’s the one taking all the fallout.”

“I’m protecting her.”

“You’re choking her.”

The words hit as a blow to the chest. He looked away, jaw twitching.

Selene’s voice softened, just enough to take the sting out of her following words. “She’s stronger than you think. You’re treating her like glass, but she’s not fragile. She flipped me on my ass today, by the way.”

That made him blink.

“She’s trained,” Selene continued. “Jiu-jitsu. Purple belt, maybe more. She’s focused, quick, and knows how to move. It caught me off guard.”

Bastian stared, stunned. “She never said anything.”

“No,” Selene said with a hint of a smile. “She didn’t. Because she’s still trying to figure out who she is in all of this. You keep looking at her as if she’s going to break, and she’s doing everything she can to prove she won’t.”

His throat tightened, guilt slamming into him full force.

“I can’t think,” he admitted. “She’s in my blood, Selene. I hear her heartbeat before she walks into the room. I smell her before I see her. Every time she fights back, it’s as if—”

“You want to slam her against the wall or kiss her senseless?” Selene deadpanned.

He glared.

She didn’t flinch. “It’s the frenzy. It’s coming on fast.”

Bastian ran a hand down his face, pacing now. “The bond is stronger than it should be. It’s not just instinct. It’s need. My wolf is pacing all day. He doesn’t sleep. He doesn’t rest. He wants her.”

“Then tell her.”

He stopped mid-step.

Selene’s voice leveled out, calm and cutting. “You’re running out of time. The full moon is four days away. If you don’t start working with her, she’s going to get hurt.”

“I would never—”

“I know you wouldn’t,” Selene said quietly. “But your wolf? Your wolf only knows what it needs.”

He flinched.

“She’s reading the books Ellie left,” Selene added. “She’s smarter than you give her credit for. She’s piecing things together much faster than you expected her to.”

“She doesn’t know enough.”

“She’s learning. Fast. If you don’t tell her what she needs to hear before the moon rises, she’ll stop trusting you. And once you lose her trust, Bast…”

She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t need to.

Selene turned and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll make her something to eat. As for you? Take a walk. Or punch a tree. Figure out how to talk to your mate as though she’s a woman, not a ticking bomb.”

Then she was gone, the clink of a mug on the counter the only sound left behind.

He stood there for another moment, Mira’s scent thick in the air, everywhere, and it was killing him. He was drowning in it.

He was about to turn and walk out, maybe lose himself in the forest and run until the beast in his chest shut the hell up, when something pulled him down the hall.

He didn’t think. He just moved.

The air got heavier the closer he got. Warmer. Mira’s scent was stronger now, softened by steam and soap. The bathroom door was cracked open, fog slipping and spilling into the hallway. His heart slammed once, hard, and then she stepped out.

Wrapped in nothing but a towel, water still glistening on her skin, her hair wet and sticking to her collarbone. Her eyes widened when they met his, sharp, startled, showing so much else. Something charged.

Bastian didn’t breathe.

His wolf surged forward so fast it nearly knocked him off his feet.

She didn’t run. Didn’t flinch. Just lifted her chin in confidence as though she didn’t care that she presented nothing but temptation wrapped in a piece of terrycloth.

“Can I help you?” she asked, voice low and rough.

He tried to speak. Failed. Every part of him screamed to close the space between them further, to pin Mira to the wall and f**k her senseless. Hard, fast, desperate. To leave a mark she couldn’t ignore. His fingers twitched with the effort it took to stay where he was.

He backed up instead, just as a coward would, until his spine hit the doorframe behind him.

“Put some clothes on,” he rasped, voice barely human. “Now.”

She arched a brow. “Maybe stop looking at me as if you want to rip the towel off with your teeth.”

“I might,” he growled.

“Not without my permission,” she shot back.

That broke something.

His wolf howled inside him, clawing and biting, begging to be let loose, and he found himself closing the distance. He only noticed it when he saw her back into the wall. Part of him hated that momentary flash of fear in her eyes, quickly replaced by her pulse quickening, nostrils flaring, and a scent of arousal that made him lean a hand next to her head and lean in a little closer, his eyes picking up on the pulse at her neck.

“You drive me insane,” he muttered, his face inches from hers, but he couldn’t help but smirk as it made her lose the tight grip on the towel, giving him a quick glimpse at the peak of her beautiful breasts.

“Good,” she said sweetly, lifting her chin in defiance as she slipped away, knowing she had just set his entire nervous system on fire.

The towel slipped a little as she went.

He groaned, dragging both hands down his face as her door clicked shut. Four more days until the full moon. He wasn’t going to survive.