Elora’s POV
My first instinct was to shove him off.
I couldn’t.
My body answered him without my permission, and before I understood what I was doing, I was kissing him back, deeper.
I pressed both palms to his chest, still warm from the shower.
I hated how much my body wanted him.
Hated what he did to me without trying.
“No,” I whispered against his mouth—and shoved him back, hard.
His lips curled into a smug, satisfied smirk.
He loved this.
Loved knowing he could crawl under my skin and set up house there.
He thought he had me exactly where he wanted.
“I suppose I’ll see you in two days, four-eyes.” He raked his eyes down and back up, smirk intact.
“Now get out of my room.
And don’t come here again.”
Shaken, humiliated, I did exactly as told and fled.
I hadn’t gone there to be ordered around.
Definitely not to be kissed.
And I’d failed at every single thing I’d walked in to do.
My head was a storm.
And I had to swallow the worst truth of all: Varek wasn’t going to let me go.
And he certainly wasn’t going to accept me, either.
Not now.
Not ever.
By the time I reached the dorm, the tears had come.
Not sad tears.
Furious ones.
I couldn’t believe I’d let him use me.
Let myself look weak.
I paced my room, replaying those awful words on a loop.
‘I, Prince Varek, do not accept your rejection.’
The rejection I thought would set me free had done the opposite.
It had welded me to him tighter than before, and now I knew: he wouldn’t release me until he’d broken me into pieces.
He’d promised as much.
He would torment me.
“Everything okay?”
Through the blur, a figure in my doorway swam into focus.
Hazel.
I’d been so lost in the wreckage I hadn’t heard her.
Even knowing it changed nothing now, I pasted on a small smile.
“Hey,” she said, letting herself in.
“Where were you?
What happened?”
“N-Nothing.” I shook my head, tasting salt as a tear slid into the corner of my mouth.
A lump sat in my throat that I couldn’t swallow down, and the words jammed there, refusing to come.
She crossed the room and laid a warm hand on my arm, her face soft with apology.
“You can talk to me.
About anything.”
I looked into those deep brown eyes.
She knew nothing about Varek, the bond, any of it.
But I needed to let some of it out.
If I didn’t, I’d start putting my fists through the walls in a matter of seconds.
She wrapped an arm around my waist and steered me to the bed.
We sat.
“I—” My voice cracked.
I didn’t know where to start.
“It’s Varek.”
“Varek?” Her brows shot up.
“As in the Varek?
Lycan Prince Varek?”
I nodded, hands shaking.
“He’s… he’s my mate.”
For a moment she just stared.
I braced for the hurt, the anger—she’d trusted me with her mate, and I’d hidden mine.
She had every right.
“Wait.” Her jaw fell open.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes?” It came out as a question.
And to my shock, she didn’t look betrayed at all.
“He hates me.
Doesn’t want me.
But he won’t let me reject him, either.”
She blinked, still catching up.
Then she grinned.
“Elora.” She practically glowed.
“If he didn’t want you, he’d have rejected you on the spot.”
“You really think so?”
“Yes!”
I frowned, lost.
“It’s not like that.
He said he’s going to torment me—”
“Then let him torment you!” she cut in.
“Do you know how many girls would kill to be where you are?”
“And I’d kill to be out of it.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I’m not worried.
Give it a few weeks.
That bond is too strong for him to keep pretending.
Like it or not, the two of you belong together.”
Wouldn’t that be nice.
Unfortunately, I had to disagree.
Varek wasn’t just anyone.
And something deep in my gut told me this bond wasn’t going to magically stitch anything back together.
I couldn’t forget his eyes when he’d said he’d torment me.
And something told me he hadn’t been joking.