Chapter 13
The moon hung low over the forest, casting silver light over the trees and illuminating the path Aria reluctantly walked. She tried to ignore the tension coiling in her chest. Every step brought her closer to Kael, the mate she hated yet could not deny. Every instinct screamed for her to run, but every thread of her being whispered that running was impossible.
Kael waited at the edge of the clearing, his silhouette tall and commanding, yet there was something different in the way he looked at her tonight. The harshness, the teasing cruelty of their past, had softened slightly, replaced by a raw intensity that made her pulse spike.
"Aria," he said, his voice low, almost a growl. "Don't make me chase you again."
She spun on her heel, wanting to yell, to tell him she wanted nothing to do with him—but the sound stuck in her throat. His eyes held her, unyielding, magnetic. He was every nightmare and every fantasy rolled into one, and she hated herself for feeling drawn to him.
"I'm not running," she lied, her voice tight, brittle with tension.
Kael stepped closer, the scent of him overwhelming her senses. His presence was a force, undeniable and inescapable. "Don't lie to me, Aria. You tried for years. You fought it. You hated me. But you're mine. And you've always known it, even when you refused to admit it."
She swallowed, anger flaring alongside a strange heat. "You're cruel," she spat, but her knees betrayed her as they weakened slightly.
"Cruel?" he echoed, stepping even closer, so close that she could feel the warmth radiating off his body. "I've been waiting for this moment for years. Watching you struggle, watching you fight me, and yet… you never could resist me. You'll never be able to."
Her stomach twisted. How could he know? How could he see through her so completely? She wanted to scream, to tell him to leave, to let her be—but the words dissolved into the night air, leaving her breathless and vulnerable.
Kael reached out, brushing a lock of hair from her face, his fingers lingering against her cheek. The touch should have set her on fire with anger, but instead, it ignited something she couldn't name—a dangerous, forbidden thrill. She pulled back slightly, shaking her head.
"This is wrong," she whispered, almost to herself. "Everything about this… it's wrong."
He smiled, slow and knowing, his thumb tracing the line of her jaw. "Wrong? Maybe. But desire doesn't ask permission, Aria. It doesn't care about past pain or old grudges. It only exists… here, now, and with you."
Her mind screamed for reason. He was her sister's fiancé, the bully who tormented her childhood, the wolf she despised. And yet… every nerve, every heartbeat, every instinct screamed that she could never truly escape him.
Kael's gaze softened for a fleeting moment, and he spoke with a vulnerability that caught her off guard. "I hated seeing you suffer, Aria. I hated seeing you think you were unloved, unwanted. But I never stopped needing you. Even when you pushed me away, even when you screamed that you hated me… I couldn't stop. You were always mine."
Tears pricked her eyes, a mixture of anger, fear, and unwanted longing. She wanted to deny him, to reject the claim that had existed before her birthright had even been fulfilled. And yet, the truth in his eyes mirrored the truth in her own heart, the truth she had spent years running from.
"I… I can't," she said, voice trembling. "I won't let this happen. I won't let you control me like this."
He stepped even closer, the power between them electric, a tension that threatened to snap the very air around them. "Control? Aria… I don't want to control you. I want you. All of you. Your heart, your soul… even your hate. Every part of you belongs to me. And you're going to realize it, whether you like it or not."
The forest seemed to hold its breath as they stood there, the space between them shrinking until it was nothing. Her pulse raced, her body betraying her as she trembled in both defiance and desire.
She could run. She could fight. She could refuse him. But the moment their eyes met, the war inside her ceased. There was no fighting the pull of her mate, the bond that had always existed, waiting for the day it would claim her completely.
And deep down, in a place she couldn't deny, she wanted him to.
Kael leaned in, close enough for her to feel his warm breath, the untamed wildness of him pressing against her. "I won't hurt you," he murmured, his lips almost brushing hers. "Not if you let me love you… fully."
Her resolve wavered. The hatred, the resentment, the pain of the past—they all clashed with the raw, magnetic pull she couldn't escape. And in that moment, Aria realized the war was over. Not with him… but with herself.
The first taste of surrender, of recognition, of desire, hovered between them like fire waiting to ignite. And as the night pressed in, Aria knew one undeniable truth: her mate had arrived… and there was no running from him anymore.
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