Aidan.

I was furious the moment she pushed me away.

The anger hit first, sharp, blinding, immediate. She was my mate. My fucking mate. The bond burned in my blood, screamed in my bones, and yet she stood there defying me like I was nothing. Like what existed between us wasn’t written by fate itself. She belonged to me. I knew it. My wolf knew it. So why, why would she resist me like that?

I stood there, chest heaving, trying to steady the storm raging inside me. I had told her the truth. I had claimed her with words sharp enough to carve into stone. She was mine. She always had been. Repeating it in my head was the only thing keeping me from losing control completely.

Then she laughed.

It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t mocking. It was small and broken, and it terrified me.

The sound hit my chest like a crack splitting through solid ground. Panic surged through me, sudden and unwelcome, coiling tightly around my heart. That laugh wasn’t submission. It wasn’t fear. It was defiance mixed with pain, and it unsettled me more than her resistance ever could.

"I don’t belong to you, Alpha Aidan," she said quietly.

Her voice was steady, but something in it twisted deep inside me. A dull ache spread across my chest, unfamiliar and unwanted. I clenched my jaw, my hands curling into fists at my sides as I stared at her, searching her face for something, anything, that would reassure me she was wrong.

"I belong to..."

I didn’t let her finish.

I couldn’t.

The thought of her claiming someone else, of her choosing another over me, was unbearable. My body reacted before my mind could catch up. I stepped forward abruptly, closing the distance between us until there was barely any space left to breathe. The air between us grew thick, charged, heavy with everything I refused to name.

My lips hovered close to hers, close enough that I could feel her breath, close enough that instinct screamed at me to claim what was already mine. Desire surged through me with brutal force, hot and overwhelming. My wolf pushed hard against my restraint, snarling, demanding, restless.

She’s yours. Take her.

But I didn’t.

I held myself back with everything I had. My control was fraying at the edges, stretched thin whenever she was near. Lately, my wolf had been slipping closer to the surface, reacting violently to her presence, to her scent, to her defiance. And I hated that she had that kind of power over me. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Anger still burned hot in my veins, anger at her words, at her rejection, at the way she made me feel unsteady. I pulled back suddenly, forcing distance between us before I did something I wouldn’t be able to undo.

"I promise you, Maria," I said, my voice low, cold, and carefully controlled, "you will come begging for me."

The words were a shield. A threat. A vow. I needed to say them, to remind both of us who held the power here, even if a part of me wasn’t so sure anymore.

I didn’t wait for her response.

I turned away sharply and walked off, my strides long and tense as I headed straight for my room. Each step felt heavy, like I was dragging the weight of unfinished truths behind me. My chest still ached, my wolf still restless, but I refused to look back.

Whatever she thought she was doing, whatever she thought she wanted, this wasn’t over.

Not even close.

The moment I stepped into my room and shut the door behind me, something inside me snapped.

A frustrated howl tore from my throat before I could stop it, raw and unrestrained, echoing off the walls like a wounded beast trapped in its own cage. I dragged my hands through my hair, pacing the length of the room as if movement alone could burn off the chaos raging inside me. My chest felt tight, my breath uneven, my thoughts scattered in a way I had never experienced before.

I was losing control.

That realization struck harder than any enemy ever had. I had faced battles, bloodshed, and loss without flinching, yet now, now a single woman had me unraveling at the seams. Vulnerability was a foreign weakness I despised, and yet every time Maria crossed my mind, my heart ached with a sharp, relentless pull.

"This has to be the mate bond," I muttered to myself, grasping at the explanation like a lifeline. "It has to be."

I repeated it, over and over, as if saying it enough times would make it true. As if reducing everything I felt to a biological curse would make it easier to bear. It couldn’t be more than that. It wasn’t more than that. I refused to believe otherwise.

Only now did the truth sink in, just how dangerous this bond truly was.

I moved to my bed and dropped onto it heavily, elbows resting on my knees, head bowed. The room felt too quiet, too empty, and within seconds my mind betrayed me. Uninvited, unwanted, her image slipped in.

Her lips.

Pale. Pink. Soft-looking. Wide enough to draw me in and ruin me all over again.

My jaw clenched as the memory sharpened, vivid and merciless. I could almost feel it, the heat, the closeness, the way my control had slipped so easily when she was beneath my hands. I had just left her moments ago, yet the craving roared back to life as if I’d been starved for years.

I wanted her again.

The thought was brutal in its honesty. Not once. Not briefly. Again and again, until she was no longer out of my sight, until the restless pull in my chest finally stilled. The idea of her walking away, of her being anywhere I couldn’t see her, ignited something dark and possessive deep within me.

I dragged in a sharp breath, trying to ground myself, but my mind refused to cooperate.

As if mocking me, her voice echoed in my head.

Please release me... let me go...

The words hit like claws scraping against my ribs. I froze, my hands curling slowly into fists as the memory replayed. The desperation in her voice. The fear. The way she had looked at me like I was something she needed to escape from.

My fists tightened until my knuckles burned.

"No," I growled under my breath.

The room seemed to vibrate with the force of my denial. I shot to my feet, pacing again, the wolf inside me restless, agitated, pushing hard against my restraint. Every instinct screamed at me to claim, to protect, to cage what was mine so it could never leave.

I stopped in the middle of the room, chest rising and falling rapidly.

"I won’t let you out of my sight, Maria," I said aloud, my voice low and fierce, filling the empty space. "You’re going nowhere."

The words echoed back to me, heavy and final.

Whether it was the bond, my wolf, or something far more dangerous, I didn’t know anymore. All I knew was that the thought of letting her go felt impossible.

I was still standing there, caught between fury and restless desire, when my thoughts scattered instead of settling. They churned violently, colliding over and over again, until restraint slipped from my grasp without warning. Before logic could catch up, my voice rang out, sharp and commanding.

"Guards!"

The sound echoed through the room, startling even me. Almost immediately, the door opened and one of the palace guards stepped inside, his posture straight, his gaze lowered in respect.

"Yes, Alpha Aidan?" he said, waiting for my command.

The words left my mouth before I fully measured them, driven by something darker than reason. "Tell Rogue 456 she is to serve me personally at the Alpha’s gathering this evening."

The guard nodded at once. "Yes, Alpha Aidan," he replied, bowing slightly before turning to leave.

"Wait."

He halted instantly, spinning back to face me, alert and attentive.

"There’s more," I added, my voice slower now, deliberate. "Tell her she is to come and clean my room two hours before the ceremony begins."

"Yes, Alpha," he answered again, his tone unwavering.

Satisfied, I waved my hand in dismissal. The guard bowed once more and exited the room, the door closing softly behind him.

Silence settled again, thick and heavy, but this time it felt different. My shoulders eased just a little as I remained standing where I was, replaying the exchange in my mind. The decision had already been made, spoken into existence. There was no taking it back now.

A slow smile tugged at my lips, dark, knowing, dangerous.

I turned away from the door and walked deeper into the room, my boots echoing faintly against the floor. My pulse had steadied, but something else had taken its place, a quiet, simmering anticipation. I could already imagine her reaction when the message reached her. The hesitation. The resistance she always tried so hard to hold onto. The way her defiance wavered when authority pressed down on her.

I exhaled slowly, rolling my shoulders as my wolf stirred beneath my skin, pleased, restless, hungry for control. Everything about her tested my restraint, and yet that struggle only fueled the certainty growing inside me.

She would come.

She always did.

I stopped beside the bed, my fingers curling briefly into the fabric of the sheets as my thoughts drifted back to her voice, her expression, the way she tried—and failed—to hide her fear and strength all at once. It only made the game more intoxicating.

"You will surely beg me, Maria," I muttered under my breath, the words carrying both promise and threat.

The smile on my lips widened, lingering long after the sound of my voice faded into the room’s silence.