CHAPTER 2:
1180 Words
Alex's POV
I waited until the music increased and the laughter got louder before slipping back inside.
No one noticed me weaving through the crowd toward the servants' staircase. They never did. Being invisible had its advantages when you'd spent your whole life being overlooked.
My room was empty, thank god. I locked the door and went straight to my closet, pushing past the designer dresses Taylor bought without asking what I liked. In the back, hidden behind shoe boxes, were my real clothes. Jeans and a leather jacket I'd bought online with cash I'd saved from birthday cards.
There were combat boots, too, that actually fit.
I changed quickly, my heart pounding. The gown pooled on the floor like a discarded rag.
Good riddance.
Getting out was easier than it should've been. I'd done this enough times to know the blind spots in our security, the route through the garden that avoided the cameras. Taylor thought I was tucked safely in my room. He had no idea I'd been sneaking out for months.
The forest welcomed me like an old friend. The cool air, the pine scent, the sound of my boots on the trail. Each step away from the estate made it easier to breathe. My wolf stirred, more alert than she'd been all night. She hated the crowds and the small talk as much as I did.
The clearing sat right on the boundary between territories. Neutral ground. The one place I could exist without being Rivern or Blyden or Taylor's responsibility. Just Alex. Just me.
I stepped into the open space and tipped my head back, letting moonlight wash over my face.
Better. This was so much better than that suffocating party.
"What the hell are you doing out here?"
I spun around, my heart jumping into my throat.
A man stood at the edge of the treeline. He was tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in dark clothes that made him somewhat blend with the shadows. But there was no mistaking who he was. Even after ten years, I'd have known him anywhere.
Noah Steele.
He looked different from the young man I remembered. He was older now and harder. His dark hair was shorter, and his face had lost any softness it might've had. He carried himself like someone used to being obeyed.
I frowned. Hello was also supposed to be my enemy.
"I asked you a question, Alexandra."
His voice sent a shiver down my spine.
"It's Alexis," I said quietly but defiantly
"And last I checked, this was neutral territory."
"Which means neither of us should be here." He took a step closer, and my wolf perked up with sudden interest. "Does your brother know you're wandering around alone at night?"
"I'm not a child who needs permission."
"You're twenty." His eyes swept over me, and I felt the assessment in his gaze. "Practically a child."
I felt anger well up in my chest
"I'm an adult. And I can go wherever I want."
"Can you?" Something almost like amusement flickered across his face. "Because from what I hear, Taylor keeps you on a pretty short leash."
The truth of it stung. "You don't know anything about me."
"I know you're trespassing—"
"So are you."
We stared at each other. The air between us felt charged, like the moment before lightning strikes. My wolf was going crazy now, pushing against my skin, whining in a way she never had before.
Then our eyes locked.
It felt like the world stopped spinning.
Heat exploded in my chest, spreading through my body like wildfire.
No. No, this wasn't possible.
The mate bond. I'd read about it once.
The recognition, pull. The absolute certainty that this person was yours and you were theirs.
Noah felt it too. I could see it in the way his eyes widened, in the sharp breath he sucked in. He took a step back as I'd burned him.
"This can't be real," he said, his voice rough.
But it was. Every cell in my body knew it. My wolf was singing, practically howling with joy. Mine, mine, mine.
This was wrong. I was supposed to hate him.
"You felt it," I whispered. "You felt it too."
"It doesn't matter." He was already shaking his head, already retreating. "You're Taylor's sister."
"So?"
"So everything about this is wrong."
The bond pulled at me, like a physical ache in my chest. I stepped toward him without meaning to, drawn by something stronger than logic or sense. "But you felt it. The bond. It's real."
"You need to stay away from me, Alexandra."
"Stop calling me that." My voice came out sharper than I intended it to. "And you don't get to decide—"
He moved faster than I expected, closing the distance between us in two strides. His hand caught my wrist, and it sent sparks racing up my arm. His breath was harder now, and this close, I could see the war happening behind his eyes.
"You need to leave," he said, but he didn't let go.
"Make me."
It was the wrong thing to say. Or maybe the right thing. Because something snapped in his expression, and then his mouth was on mine.
The kiss was nothing like I'd imagined a first kiss would be. It was hungry and desperate, like he was trying to devour me and push me away at the same time. His hand slid into my hair, tilting my head back, and I grabbed his jacket to keep myself from falling.
His other hand ran over my breast and slid down to my waist, pulling me closer.
I felt the mate bond wrap around us, pulling tight, sealing something I didn't fully understand.
When he pulled back, we were both breathing hard. His eyes had shifted, more wolf-like than human, and his grip on my wrist had tightened.
"This can't happen," he said, but his thumb was tracing circles on my pulse point.
"It already did."
He released me abruptly, stepping back like I was poison. The loss of contact hurt me physically.
"You're twenty years old. You're Taylor Blyden's sister. Ten years ago, I watched my parents die because of a war between our packs." His voice was ice now, all the heat gone. "Everything about this is impossible."
"Oh, you conveniently forgot that you killed my parents, too."
His gaze hardened, and he looked away, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"The bond is a mistake."
The words hit me like a slap. My wolf whimpered, confused and hurt.
Noah was already backing toward the trees. "Stay away from me, Alex. I mean it."
"But—"
"This never happened. Do you understand? Whatever you think you felt, it was nothing."
Then he was gone, swallowed by the darkness, leaving me alone in the clearing.
I stood there for a long time, touching my lips, feeling the echo of his kiss.
Nothing, he'd said.
I smiled and reached into my pocket, my fingers closing around something familiar.
He was a liar.
- Writer
