Chapter 6 - Isla
770 Words
I couldn’t breathe.
The second his hand left my mouth, the space between us felt worse instead of better, like something had been holding everything in place and now it was unraveling too fast for me to keep up with.
This wasn’t happening.
It couldn’t be.
Not him.
Not us.
Not after everything.
“Nico…” My voice came out quieter than I meant it to, strained around everything I was trying to hold back. I shook my head, taking a step back and then another, putting space between us like it would actually do something this time.
“Please… don’t force this.”
The words felt wrong the second they left me.
I hated that.
Hated that I sounded like I was asking him for something—like I had any right to ask him for anything at all.
But what was I supposed to do?
Stand here and accept it?
Pretend this made sense?
Like the moon goddess hadn’t just decided to tie me to the one person I had already destroyed?
“I’m sorry,” I added, quieter now, the words catching before I could stop them. “I didn’t—”
I cut myself off.
Because there was nothing I could say that would fix any of this. Nothing that would undo what had already been done. Nothing that would give him back what I had taken.
His expression didn’t shift.
Not even a little.
That was worse than anger.
At least anger would have meant something.
This—
This was controlled.
Final.
“You don’t get to decide what happens here,” he said evenly.
My chest tightened, something sharp pushing past the guilt now, turning into something a little more dangerous.
“I’m not staying,” I said, firmer this time, lifting my chin even if everything inside me was anything but steady. “I’m leaving.”
Even as I said it, I knew how it sounded.
Like I thought I still had control.
Like I thought I still had a choice.
His gaze didn’t waver.
“You can try.”
Something in my stomach dropped.
I stared at him for half a second longer, like I was waiting for him to stop me right there—like part of me almost expected him to.
He didn’t.
Big mistake.
I shook my head, more to myself than to him, and turned before I could think about it too much. Because if I stood there any longer, I wouldn’t leave.
And I needed to.
I took a step.
Then another.
Then I just—
Kept going.
Faster this time, like if I moved quickly enough, I could outrun whatever this was. Like distance would fix it. Like the bond would just… give up if I ignored it hard enough.
It didn’t.
It tightened instead.
Sharp. Immediate. Unforgiving.
Every step I took pulled at something deep in my chest, like it was stretching too far, like it was trying to snap back into place whether I liked it or not.
I pushed through it anyway.
No.
I wasn’t doing this.
I wasn’t staying.
I wasn’t letting this decide my life after everything else already had.
Of all the people—
Of all the possible matches—
The moon goddess chose him?
That had to be a joke.
A cruel one.
Because there was no way this was real.
There was no way this was happening.
I made it past the edge of the cemetery, my pace just shy of a run now, my breathing uneven as anger and panic tangled together into something sharp and reckless.
“Isla.”
His voice came again.
Closer this time.
Too close.
I didn’t stop.
I couldn’t.
If I stopped, I was done.
So I kept going, pushing forward harder, like stubbornness alone could carry me out of this.
“You’re not leaving.”
Yeah?
Watch me.
I didn’t say it out loud.
Probably should have.
Might’ve been the last win I got.
Because the next second—
Everything shifted.
Not physically.
But inside me.
The bond snapped tight, sudden and sharp, like it was reacting to the distance, pulling harder the farther I tried to go. It hit my chest like pressure, like something invisible had wrapped around my ribs and decided to squeeze.
My breath caught.
My steps faltered.
Just for a second.
Just enough.
And that was all it took.
Because I felt him behind me.
Close.
Too close.
The air shifted with him, heavy, controlled, inevitable in a way that made my stomach drop before I even turned.
And I knew—
I wasn’t getting away.
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