RHYNA'S POV
I looked at him squarely, my green eyes locking with his, while defiance and frustration sparking inside me.
"Why is that?" I asked again, my voice sharper this time. I wanted, no, I needed, to know why he should be more conflicted than I was. Every nerve in me burned with the unfairness of it all.
He inhaled slowly, his jaw tightening as he searched for words. "I have a woman I love with all my heart," he said quietly, almost as if confessing a sin. "A woman of nobility... one whom the whole pack adored... my Fairi."
My hands clenched into fists at my sides. Only the goddess knows why I didn't punch him right there. Why the fuck was he telling me this? Why should I care?
"So why the fuck are you telling me this?" I demanded, my chest heaving, anger and confusion twisting together inside me.
His eyes softened, and he stepped closer, the air around him heavy with heat. "I'm telling you this because... now I'm bound to you."
I blinked, the words hitting me like a slap to the face. My knees nearly gave way. "Don't you see this madness?" I spat, voice trembling with disbelief. "You're bound to me while you... you have someone else you love?"
"Yes," he said, calm and unyielding, but I saw the tension in his jaw. "I am. And it's not something I wanted. Not something I chose. But the bond... it doesn't care about what we want."
"Then fucking go for her and leave me alone!" I snapped, fury and hurt burning in my chest. "Let me deal with my own mess!"
He shook his head slowly, green eyes unreadable. "Where have you ever seen that happen before?"
I stopped mid-breath. That was true.
Bonds were not easily broken. Once they awakened, once the threads of life and soul entwined, they could not simply be cut by words or anger. To break a bond... it required a ritual of the Moon Goddess herself, and even then, there were consequences.
I thought of what I'd read in the ancient scrolls as a child. To attempt breaking a bond meant risking one's life, one's sanity, and even the soul of the pack. The bonded parties would suffer. One could fall into madness, the other into endless grief. The pack itself could fragment, torn between loyalties and curses. And if the ritual failed... death was certain for at least one of those involved.
I swallowed hard, my hands trembling. I just stood there, staring at him, the weight of the truth sinking into my chest like stones.
"I'm an Alpha," he said, his voice low, almost a whisper now. "Of a very great pack... and I'm already betrothed to another. Do you know the conflict that will arise when my elders know about this? Do you know the chaos that will follow if the bond is challenged? If the pack senses division?"
I swallowed, my throat dry. My fingers curled into my sleeves.
"I... I stumbled on that scroll yesterday," he continued, voice tight. "You don't know how I felt, seeing it. Knowing..."
For a moment, his expression softened, and I saw it. I saw the pain that raged beneath his calm exterior. Pain at being bound to a woman he didn't choose. Pain at the duty forced upon him. Pain in being tied to... me, a lowly Omega no one even noticed, no one even cared about.
I felt it like a blade twisting in my chest. For a fleeting moment, the roles reversed. I was the conflict here, and I hated it.
"I... then please," I said, my voice breaking, my legs weakening under the weight of everything, "please let me go."
He shook his head gently, his hand reaching out to brush a loose strand of hair from my face. His touch was light, tentative, almost reverent, and my body betrayed me, shivering where his fingers lingered.
"I can't," he said softly, his voice low, almost a whisper meant for me alone.
Before I could react, before I could pull away, before I could speak another word, his lips were on mine. Not pressing, not demanding, not forceful. Just... there. A soft brush of warmth and breath, light against my lips, teasing, claiming.
My wolf erupted, a scream of ownership and fire, echoing through every vein of my body. Mine! it yelled, every hair standing on end, every claw itching, every muscle trembling with raw desire and warning.
And I... I didn't fight.
My heart thumped wildly, and chaos ran through me like wildfire. My entire body screamed, every nerve alight, mine, mine, mine, and yet my mind tried desperately to push it away. I tried to remind myself of duty, of control, of reason.
But the will wasn't mine anymore. Not fully. Not against the bond, against the pull, against him.
His hands cupped my face gently now, holding me as though I were fragile, and yet the force of the bond between us roared like a tempest, claiming, tying, binding. My wolf howled, a low, possessive sound, echoing the emotions I couldn't voice.
And with a soft, almost inaudible sigh, I finally let go.
I let him in.
