[POV: REMI]
"Is this the part where you tell me you're having the time of your life, or should I just keep guessing?"
I turned toward the voice, my silk slip dress shifting against my thighs like a second, cooler skin. The air in the penthouse was a pressurized chamber of bass, expensive gin, and sweat. My heart wasn't just beating; it was a rhythmic hammer against my ribs, a dull ache that radiated through my chest.
"I'm fine, Leo," I said, tilting my head. My throat felt tight, as if a pair of invisible hands were slowly closing around my windpipe. "Better than fine. I'm free."
Leo, the captain of the rival city’s team, leaned against the marble counter. He smelled of sea salt and clean linen, a stark, refreshing contrast to the dark, suffocating musk that usually haunted my lungs. My palms, usually slick with cold sweat when I was near the mansion, were finally dry.
"You don't look free," Leo remarked, his eyes tracing the line of my jaw. "You look like someone waiting for the floor to drop out."
"Maybe I like the drop," I countered. I took a sip of my drink, the liquid burning a cold trail down my throat.
The room was a blur of neon and shadow. I could feel the eyes of the city's elite on me, the "little sister" finally stepping out of the MVP’s shadow. My skin felt electric, a thousand tiny sparks dancing under the surface. It was a rebellion. Every breath I took in this room was a strike against the silence Jaxson had tried to drown me in.
"He’s going to come for you," Leo whispered, stepping closer.
His proximity didn't trigger the fire. The mark on my neck remained dormant, a cold piece of lead beneath my hair. It was a relief so sharp it almost brought tears to my eyes. I wanted this. I wanted to be near someone who didn't make my blood boil and my soul scream.
"Let him," I said, my voice gaining a jagged edge. "I want him to see. I want him to know that I’m not a prop he can just leave in a basement."
"You're bold tonight, Remi." Leo reached out, his thumb grazing the skin of my wrist.
The touch was light, almost nothing, yet my heart jolted. Not with desire, but with the sheer, terrifying realization of what I was doing. I was playing with a wildfire, standing in the middle of a dry forest with a handful of matches.
"I'm tired of being afraid," I lied.
The lie tasted like copper in my mouth. My stomach twisted, a hard knot of dread forming in the pit of my gut. My ears began to ring, a high-pitched drone that started to drown out the thumping bass of the party.
Then, the vibration started.
It wasn't the music. It wasn't the movement of the crowd. It was a low, sub-audible frequency that hummed through the soles of my feet, crawling up my calves and settling in my marrow. The floorboards seemed to moan under the weight of an approaching storm.
"Do you hear that?" Leo asked, his posture straightening, his eyes darting toward the heavy oak doors of the penthouse.
"I feel it," I whispered.
The air in the room suddenly turned freezing. The scent of dark chocolate and ozone—heavy, oppressive, and violent—ripped through the aroma of the party. It was a physical force, a tidal wave of pheromones that made the other guests stagger.
The heavy doors didn't just open; they were thrown back with such force the handles embedded themselves in the drywall.
Jaxson stood there.
He didn't look like a hockey star. He looked like a god of war who had lost his way in a neon wasteland. His eyes were glowing, two embers of amber light that locked onto me with the precision of a heat-seeking missile.
[POV: JAXSON]
"Get your hands off her before I tear them from your shoulders."
The words didn't feel like they came from my throat. They came from the beast that had been clawing at my chest since the moment I realized she had left the house. My blood was a river of liquid fire, surging through my veins until I thought my skin would split from the pressure.
I stepped into the room, and the crowd parted like water before a shark. I didn't see the faces. I didn't see the luxury. I only saw her.
And him.
The sight of Leo’s hand near her skin was a physical wound. It felt like someone had reached into my chest and squeezed my heart until it bruised. The mark on my neck was no longer burning; it was screaming. A white-hot agony that blinded me, leaving only the scent of her as my guide.
"She’s a guest, Jaxson," Leo said, though his voice wavered. He stepped in front of her, a pathetic shield. "She doesn't belong to you."
"You have no idea what belongs to me," I growled.
The floor vibrated with every step I took. My lungs felt like they were filled with broken glass, each breath a sharp, biting reminder of the distance between us. I could smell the sea salt on her now—the scent of him clinging to the silk of her dress.
It made me want to burn the building to the ground.
"Remi, we're leaving," I commanded. My voice was a jagged rasp, stripped of any humanity.
She didn't move. She didn't flinch. She stood there, her small frame framed by the city lights, her honey-gold eyes wide and defiant.
"No," she said.
The word was a bullet. It hit me square in the chest, stopping my momentum. The silence that followed was deafening, a vacuum that sucked the oxygen out of the room.
"What did you say?" I asked, my voice dropping to a whisper that made the people nearest us flee toward the balcony.
"I said no," she repeated, her voice steady, cold as the ice I lived on. "I'm not your lucky charm. I'm not your prop. And I'm certainly not your sister."
The revelation of the blood test hung in the air, a hidden blade finally drawn. I felt the shock ripple through me, a cold drenching of my rage. She knew. She had found out the lie I had been guarding like a dragon over its gold.
"You don't know what you're talking about," I hissed, taking another step forward.
"I know that you've been lying to me since the day our parents married," she said, her voice rising, cutting through the heavy atmosphere. "I know that there is no blood between us. Which makes this—" she gestured to the space between us, to the invisible, agonizing bond— "so much worse."
She stepped around Leo, walking right into my personal space. She was so close I could see the pulse jumping in the hollow of her throat. She was so close I could feel the heat radiating from her body, a siren call to my soul.
"Are you going to drag me out in front of everyone, Jaxson?" she challenged. "Are you going to show them exactly how much of a monster you are?"
My hand twitched. My claws were itching to emerge, to claim, to mark. But I stayed my hand. The power was shifting. She was holding the leash now, and she knew it.
"You're making a scene," I managed to say, my jaw aching from the effort of not lunging.
"I'm making a choice," she snapped. "And my choice isn't you."
She turned her back on me.
She turned her back on the bond.
I felt a roar build in my chest, a primal, devastating sound that shook my very foundation. The world turned red. The scent of Leo’s sea salt on her skin became an insult I could no longer endure.
[POV: REMI]
I took a step away from him, my legs feeling like they were made of lead. My heart was a frantic drum, a chaotic rhythm that made my head spin. I had done it. I had faced the monster and walked away.
But the air behind me didn't move. It ignited.
Before I could take a second step, a hand wrapped around my upper arm. It wasn't a shove or a pull; it was a total claim. Jaxson swung me around with a grace that was terrifying, pinning me against the marble pillar that stood in the center of the room.
"Leo, move," Jaxson said, his eyes never leaving mine.
"Jaxson, stop it—" Leo started, but Jaxson didn't even look at him. He just threw a backhand that sent the other man sprawling across the floor.
"I won't tell you again," Jaxson growled.
I was trapped. His body was a wall of muscle and heat, pressing me into the cold stone. I could feel the individual buttons of his shirt pressing into my chest. The scent of him was a drug, a thick, intoxicating cloud that began to dissolve my resolve.
My hands came up to push him away, but they ended up gripping his forearms. His muscles were like cords of steel, vibrating with a tension that felt like it could shatter the room.
"Let go," I whispered, but my voice lacked the fire it had moments ago. The mate-mark was winning. It was pulsing a rhythmic heat into my nervous system, turning my bones to wax.
"Look at me," he commanded.
I looked. I looked into the eyes of the man who had lied to me my entire life. I looked into the eyes of the man who was currently destroying my only chance at a normal life.
"You smell like him," he whispered.
His voice had changed. It was no longer a roar. It was a low, velvet promise. He reached up, his hand moving slowly, deliberately. I expected a strike. I expected him to shake me.
Instead, his large, calloused hand slid around my throat.
He didn't squeeze. He didn't choke. His thumb rested right over my windpipe, his fingers splayed across the back of my neck, covering the burning mark with his palm. It was the most possessive, terrifyingly gentle gesture I had ever experienced.
"I can smell the salt on your skin," he breathed, leaning down until his lips were a hair’s breadth from mine. "I can smell where he touched your wrist. It’s like a rot in the air."
My breath hitched. My heart skipped three beats in a row. The electricity between us was no longer a spark; it was a localized lightning storm. I could feel the hair on my arms standing up. I could feel the moisture return to my palms, but this time it wasn't cold. It was hot.
"I don't care," I choked out, though the lie was so thin it was transparent.
"Liar," he whispered.
He leaned in closer, his nose brushing against mine. The tip of his tongue flicked out, tasting the air between us. I felt a shiver cascade down my spine, a violent, beautiful tremor that made my knees buckle.
He held me up by the throat, his grip tightening just enough to let me know I was his. The world around us—the party, the music, the gasping guests—vanished. There was only the stone at my back and the fire in front of me.
"Did you think I couldn't smell him on you?" he asked, his voice vibrating through my skull. "Did you think I’d let you walk around carrying another man’s scent like a trophy?"
"You have no right," I managed to say.
"I have every right," he countered. "Every drop of blood in your body knows who you belong to. Every breath you take is mine to give."
He leaned in, his lips finally grazing the corner of my mouth. It wasn't a kiss. It was a claim.
"You're coming home," he murmured against my skin. "And once we’re behind those doors, I’m going to scrub every trace of him off you until you can only smell me."
He pulled back just an inch, his eyes searching mine. I saw the obsession there. I saw the madness.
And then, his eyes shifted. They moved to something behind me, something over my shoulder. His grip on my throat tightened instinctively, his entire body coiling like a spring.
"What is it?" I whispered, my heart leaping into my throat.
He didn't answer. He looked at the elevator across the room, which had just chimed.
The doors slid open, and a man in a dark suit stepped out, holding a black leather case. He didn't look like a party-goer. He looked like an executioner.
"Jaxson?" the man called out, his voice cutting through the silence of the room. "The board has made their decision. Given the... recent revelations about your family status, your contract has been terminated."
The world went still. The MVP, the god of the ice, had just been stripped of his crown.
Jaxson’s hand dropped from my throat. He turned toward the man, his face a mask of cold fury. But before he could speak, the man continued.
"And Remi? You might want to come with us. Your real father just touched down at the airport."
