His hand was still wrapped around my wrist.
Warm. Firm. Familiar.
Wrong.
The bond surged wildly at the contact, flooding my body with heat and dizzying awareness. My wolf pushed forward desperately, trembling with relief at the closeness she had been denied for two long, unbearable days.
Mate.
The word echoed again, louder now, aching and hopeful.
I hated it.
I hated that my body still knew him.
That my heart still reacted to him.
That my soul still reached for him like nothing had changed.
Slowly, I pulled my wrist from his grasp.
The loss of contact felt like stepping into winter after standing in sunlight.
"You rejected me," I whispered. "That doesn't disappear just because you touched me."
His jaw clenched.
The music and laughter from the hall faded into a distant blur, as if the world itself had stepped back to watch us break each other all over again.
"I know what I did," he said quietly.
The words surprised me enough that I looked up.
Regret burned in his eyes now, raw and unguarded, and it shook something deep inside my chest.
No.
I couldn't allow that hope back in.
Hope was dangerous.
Hope destroyed people.
"Then why are you asking questions you already know the answer to?" My voice trembled despite my effort to steady it. "The bond didn't die, Alpha. It just… learned to hurt differently."
His breath hitched.
The silence stretched between us, thick with everything we couldn't say.
"Does it hurt?" he asked, his voice rougher than before.
The question sliced straight through the walls I had spent the entire day building.
I swallowed hard. "Every time I breathe."
His eyes closed briefly, pain flashing across his face like lightning before he masked it again.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then footsteps approached from the hall.
"My Alpha?"
Lady Selene's voice.
Soft. Sweet. Possessive.
The bond twisted violently at the sound of her, jealousy and grief crashing together inside me like a storm. My wolf recoiled, wounded and furious.
Kael stepped back instantly.
The distance returned like a slammed door.
"Is everything alright?" Selene asked as she reached his side, her gaze sliding over me with cool curiosity. "Oh… it's you."
Not my name.
Not even an attempt.
Just a reminder of my place.
"Yes," Kael said, his voice once again calm and controlled. "Return to the hall. I'll be there shortly."
Selene's eyes lingered on me for a moment longer before she smiled and slipped her arm through his again.
The bond screamed.
I felt it this time not just my pain, but his. A faint echo pulsed through the connection, sharp and fleeting, like a crack in stone.
He felt it when she touched him.
The realization hit me like a sudden breath of cold air.
He felt the difference.
He felt the bond.
He just chose to ignore it.
Something inside me went very still.
"I should go," I said softly.
He didn't stop me this time.
I walked away without looking back, each step heavy but steady.
Because for the first time since the rejection, I understood something clearly.
The bond might tie us together.
But love?
Love had to be chosen.
And he hadn't chosen me.