"You think I became a werewolf because I love blood?"
My voice shook, not from fear—but from fury.
Mom flinched. She always did when I raised my voice. But I didn't care. Not this time.
She had just said it again:
"He's using you, Arwen. He's not like us. He never will be."
I laughed—sharp, hollow. "No, Mom. He's not like us. That's why I loved him."
Her lips parted, eyes wide with disbelief. But I had already turned away. What was the point of explaining? She wouldn't understand. None of them would.
Kael Drennon wasn't a mistake.
He was a storm I *walked into* with open arms.
***
Three Months Earlier.
The first time I saw him, he looked like trouble. The kind of trouble you don't run from—but toward. He leaned against the hood of a black muscle car just outside campus, hoodie low over his eyes, jaw clenched like he'd just lost a fight—or wanted to start one.
I should've walked past.
Instead, I stared.
He noticed.
Those eyes—silver with a ring of ash—locked on mine. For a moment, the noise around us disappeared. I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
Then he smirked. Just a little. Enough to make my skin heat.
"Lost, pretty girl?"
His voice was deep. Low. Dangerous.
"I'm not the one standing outside a psychology building looking like a vampire after finals," I shot back before I could stop myself.
He raised a brow, clearly amused. "You don't know what I am."
And just like that, he walked away. No name. No explanation.
Just one hell of a warning.
***
Back to present…
"I love him, Mom," I whispered "And he loves me too"
She said nothing. Just watched me with sad, broken eyes.
Too late.
I was already changed.
Already marked.
Already his.
---
"I need to go back to my husband's house. I'm leaving," I said quietly, brushing past my mom before she could stop me.
She didn't call me back. Maybe she finally understood—this wasn't her fight anymore.
As I reached the gates of the Moonclaw Pack, I paused.
The air felt heavier here. Colder. As if the trees themselves knew what I was walking back into.
I sighed and started the engine.
***
Kael's house—our house—stood tall and silent. The lights inside glowed dimly, casting long shadows against the walls. The mansion, gifted to him by his father, looked more like a fortress than a home.
I opened the door carefully, trying not to make a sound. Maybe I could slip in, get to the bedroom, and—
"Where are you coming from?"
The voice hit me like a wall.
I froze.
Kael stood by the stairs, arms folded, shirt half-unbuttoned like he had just gotten out of bed. But his eyes... they were sharp. Suspicious.
"I—uh..." I stammered. "I went to see a friend."
His brow lifted slowly. "Which friend?"
"Claire," I said quickly, avoiding his gaze.
He gave a cold chuckle and took a few steps down.
"I already called Claire. She said she hasn't seen you in weeks."
I swallowed hard. There was no point lying now. I looked away and muttered, "I went to see my mom."
The silence that followed was loud. Tense.
"Your mother," he repeated, his voice now flat.
"I just needed to breathe, Kael. She's worried about me."
"She's worried about me," he corrected, stepping closer. "About what I'm doing to you."
I didn't respond. Because he was right.
And wrong.
He had done something to me—but not just what my mother feared.
He made me fall for him.
That was the real danger.
---
"I told you I didn't want to see you among humans again, didn't I?" Kael's voice was calm, but each word struck like a whip.
"I am human," I shot back, my voice lower than a whisper.
He stepped forward, his eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. "No. You're not. You're a werewolf now. My mate."
He let the last two words drop like a final verdict—unshakable, suffocating.
I didn't respond. What could I say? That I never chose this? That I didn't ask to be turned, claimed, or marked?
"I should've let you rot in your precious little human world," he muttered, more to himself. "But no… I had to bring you into mine."
He walked past me, heading upstairs, but paused. "You should go have a bath."
I turned my head slowly.
"I smell betrayal on you," he added, without looking back.
I clenched my fists and silently made my way to the room. My chest burned, but my pride wouldn't let me show it. He didn't love me. I knew that. But sometimes he spoke like he *almost* did… and that was more dangerous than hatred.
Just as I was about to shut the door behind me, his voice came again, colder than before.
"From this moment on, you're not allowed to go anywhere near your family."
I froze.
"You belong here. With me. And I won't tolerate any more disobedience."
He walked away, leaving me standing in the doorway—trapped in a life that looked nothing like the future I once imagined.
And yet… I wasn't done with him.
Not yet.
I spent more than an hour in the bathroom, letting the hot water run down my body, trying to cry out the pain clinging to my chest like a second skin. But no matter how hard I cried, it wouldn't wash away. The mark on my neck still burned—a constant reminder of the night everything changed.
When I finally stepped out, my eyes were swollen, my limbs heavy.
He was already on the bed, scrolling through his phone like he hadn't shattered me hours ago. Like I wasn't slowly fading away right beside him.
I didn't say a word. Just took out my nightwear and slipped it on.
Climbing into the bed felt like lying next to a stranger. Or worse—a captor I once mistook for a savior. I used to think Kael was everything I ever dreamed of—charming, protective, even kind. That was before the night he marked me, before the man I loved became the Alpha who owned me.
I turned my back to him, desperate to shield what was left of myself.
Then I felt it—his hand sliding across my waist, firm, possessive.
Here we go again.
He didn't speak. He never needed to. His actions said it all.
Since the night we got married, I hadn't been his partner, his equal, or even his mate. I was his tool. A body to satisfy instincts. A claim he'd marked as his territory.
I closed my eyes, my heart aching.
I loved him once. I still did.
And maybe that was the worst betrayal of all.
---