"You hate me," Aylin whispered again, more for herself than him. Her voice was hoarse with confusion and fire. "But you feel it too… don't you?"
Ryder didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Didn't breathe.
The shadows from the bonfire twisted across his face, catching on the sharp edges of his cheekbones, dancing over the scar that curved along his jaw like a cruel reminder of past wars. His eyes — crimson and cold — bore into hers like he was trying to find something inside her worth hating more than the pull dragging them together.
And maybe he would have.
If she hadn't taken that one step closer.
The space between them evaporated like mist beneath the sun. The tension wasn't just heavy — it was suffocating. Aylin's skin prickled as Ryder's hand shot out and gripped her arm, fingers tight, unforgiving. He pulled her into him so fast her breath slammed out of her lungs.
His body was heat and fury, all lean muscle coiled with restraint, trembling on the edge of violence.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about,I hate you but I can't resist you because of your irresistible smell, you are seducing me on purpose right?" he growled low, close enough for her to feel the rumble in his chest.
Aylin didn't flinch. She tilted her chin, fire flashing behind her silver eyes. "if you don't Then let go of me, you said I am seducing you but you are the one coming closer and not being able to resist me."
"You think I want this?" Ryder's voice cracked around the edge of something broken. "You think I chose to be tied to you?, to all of these, you are cursed remember"
Aylin's stomach tightened at the way he said it — like her name, her existence, tasted like poison on his tongue.
"I didn't choose it either," she snapped. "But it's happening. Whether we want it or not, so come on mate claim me, if you don't want to fuck me, tell me or reject me"
Ryder's fingers flexed around her wrist, and for a split second, she thought he might actually push her away.
But instead—
He slammed her back into the stone wall behind the fire pit.
The crowd had faded long ago. No one dared come close now. The lunar eclipse had passed, but the magic in the air still pulsed like a living thing. The curse had awakened. The bond had chosen.
Aylin gasped, but not from pain. Her back hit the stone, but it was the look in his eyes that took the breath from her.
Ryder stepped in, caging her with his body, pressing his palm flat against the wall beside her head. Their bodies didn't touch — but she could feel every inch of his power bleeding into her, sparking against her nerves, lighting her skin on fire.
"I should hate you," he muttered, his voice like gravel sliding over embers. "I do hate you. You're the reason everything went to hell, but I can't resist you, I want to touch you, I want to feel you, I want to fuck you but at the same time I don't want to be cursed so stay away, I can't break the rules"
Her lips parted. "Then why are you shaking?, you can't escape my curse cause we are bound to each I thought you were the alpha but seems you are weak, and can't even get what you want, you are afraid of me, and that's why you can't fuck me, if you can then claim me, I command you"
His eyes flared.
And then
He kissed her.
No warning. No build-up. Just collision.
His mouth crushed against hers with nothing gentle, nothing sweet — it was violent, raw, and hungry. His teeth caught her bottom lip, and she gasped. That was all he needed. He seized the moment like a wolf devouring prey, tongue sliding against hers, demanding, conquering, taking.
And gods help her, Aylin kissed him back.
She didn't know when her hands had risen, when her fingers had tangled in the dark strands of his hair. She didn't know when the heat between her thighs had started to pulse like a second heartbeat. She only knew the taste of him — smoke and rage and something darker — something hers.
Her mark flared. Bright. Unbearable.
Ryder tore his mouth away from hers, panting, fury dancing in his eyes like wildfire.
"I'm not your mate, even though I am, so if you dare challenge me again, I will teach you a lesson," he said through gritted teeth.
"Tell that to the mark," she whispered, voice wrecked.
Something snapped in him.
His hands gripped her thighs, hoisted her up against the wall like she weighed nothing. Aylin let out a sound — half shock, half hunger — as her legs wrapped around his waist without thinking. His body pressed into hers now, hard and hot, every ridge of him grinding into every curve of her.
"You don't get to challenge me, not like this" he hissed against her throat, lips grazing the sensitive skin just beneath her jaw.
"I think it's too late for both of us," she said, voice breathless, dazed.
He growled — low and guttural — the sound vibrating against her chest as his lips found her collarbone, trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses along her neck, biting and marking without care. Her back arched. She dug her nails into his shoulders.
Every nerve in her body screamed for more. For everything.
But just when she thought he'd lose control completely—
He stopped.
Like someone had poured ice water through his veins. " why did you stop" she wanted to ask but she ignored
Ryder's body went rigid. His breathing ragged. His eyes flickered between red and gold, the beast inside him howling to take her.
But he pushed her away.
Shoved her.
Not hard — not to hurt. But hard enough that she stumbled back onto her feet, flushed, dazed, lips swollen and throat tingling from his mouth.
He turned from her like she'd burned him.
"This never happened," he said, voice dark with denial.
"you can't deny it, it happened," she whispered, straightening. "You're going to remember every second."
His back was tense. Coiled.
And then, without another word, he shifted — bones cracking, fur erupting — and vanished into the trees, his massive red wolf disappearing into the dark like a storm running from its own destruction.
Aylin stood alone by the fire, heart hammering, lips bruised, breath catching on the sharp edge of lust and fury.
She touched the mark on her chest.
Still burning.
Still pulsing.
Still wanting him wanting more, "I need more"