CHAPTER 3: The Night Everything Changes

Isabella's POV

Three days.

Three days since I overheard Giselle talking about vampires and offerings. Three days since Alpha Nolan shoved me out of his study. Three days of scrubbing floors, dodging whispers and pretending I didn't feel the mate bond eating me alive from the inside.

I was in the kitchens washing dishes when the summons came.

"Isabella." The head servant stood in the doorway. "Alpha Nolan wants you in his chambers. Now."

Every head in the kitchen turned toward me.

My stomach dropped.

"Why?"

She shrugged.

"I don't ask questions. Neither should you."

The other servants exchanged looks... knowing looks. Pitying looks.

I dried my hands and followed her out with my heart hammering.

This was bad. Alpha Nolan never summoned me. He avoided me like I was a disease.

We reached his door and the servant knocked twice.

"Enter," his voice called from inside.

She opened the door, shoved me in and closed it behind me.

I stood there awkwardly.

Alpha Nolan was by the window with his back to me and his shoulders tense. The room smelled like him... pine and rain and something wild that made my wolf stir immediately.

"Alpha," I said quietly. "You wanted to see me?"

He didn't turn around.

"Lock the door."

"What?"

"Lock. The door."

I hesitated and then did as he said. The click echoed in the silent room.

He finally turned and... Goddess.

His eyes were wild. Gold flickered in and out. His jaw was clenched so hard I thought his teeth might crack.

"Three days," he said roughly. "I've tried for three days to ignore this. To focus on my duties. To think about Giselle. To be normal."

He stepped closer.

"But I can't."

My breath caught.

"Alpha Nolan..."

"My wolf won't shut up," he continued. "He's clawing at me. Demanding I go to you. Claim you. Mark you. And I... I can't fight it anymore."

The bond flared between us and I gasped, pressing a hand to my chest.

"That's not my fault," I whispered.

"Isn't it?" He crossed the distance in two strides and grabbed my arms. "You did something to me. Bewitched me somehow. This isn't real. It can't be real."

"I didn't do anything! The bond..."

"Don't talk about the bond!" he snarled.

But even as he said it, he pulled me closer. His hands moved to my waist and his grip was bruising.

"I hate you," he said against my ear. "I hate that I want you. I hate that I can't stop thinking about you."

"Then let me go."

"I can't."

He kissed me and it wasn't gentle. It was desperate. Angry. Like he was trying to punish both of us.

I should've pushed him away. Should've slapped him. Should've had some dignity.

But the bond... Goddess, the bond was screaming at me to get closer.

He lifted me and I wrapped my legs around him instinctively. He carried me to the bed and dropped me onto it.

"This doesn't mean anything," he said, already pulling at my dress. "You understand? Nothing."

"I understand."

I didn't. But what was the point in arguing?

He took me roughly... desperately... like he was trying to fight something inside himself and losing. And I let him. Because the bond wouldn't let me do anything else.

***

Afterward, he rolled off me and sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.

"You need to leave," he said flatly.

"I know."

"This was a mistake."

"I know that too."

He stood and pulled on his pants without looking at me.

"You've bewitched me somehow," he muttered. "There's no other explanation. This isn't real. The bond isn't real."

I sat up slowly.

"Alpha Nolan..."

"Don't." He finally looked at me and his eyes were cold again. "Don't say anything. Just... get dressed and get out."

I opened my mouth to respond when the door slammed open.

We both froze.

Luna Giselle stood in the doorway.

Her face was pale. Her eyes wide. And then... they narrowed into slits of pure fury.

"What. Is. This?"

Oh no.

Oh Goddess, no.

Nolan stepped forward.

"Giselle, I can explain..."

"EXPLAIN?!" she shrieked. "You're in bed with the breeder! With HER!"

I scrambled off the bed, clutching the sheet around me.

"Luna Giselle, I..."

"Shut your mouth!" She pointed at me with her hand shaking. "Don't you DARE speak to me!"

She turned back to Nolan with tears streaming down her face.

"How could you? How could you do this to me?"

"Giselle, listen..."

"I gave you everything!" she cried. "My love, my loyalty, my life! And you... you throw it away for a wolfless whore?!"

"She's not..."

"Don't defend her!" Giselle screamed.

She looked between us and then her face changed. The tears stopped. Her eyes sharpened.

"You feel it, don't you?" she said quietly. "The mate bond."

Nolan's jaw tightened.

"There is no mate bond."

"LIAR!" Giselle laughed bitterly. "I can see it. The way you look at her. The way you're standing between us right now like you're protecting her."

She stepped closer.

"You're mates."

"No," Nolan said firmly. "She means nothing. You're my chosen Luna, Giselle. I love you."

"Then prove it."

"What?"

Giselle's smile turned cruel.

"Reject her. Right now. In front of me."

My heart stopped.

"Giselle," Nolan said carefully. "That's not necessary..."

"Reject her," Giselle repeated. "Or I walk out that door and you'll never see me again."

Silence.

Nolan looked at me and for just a second... just one second... I thought I saw regret.

Then it was gone.

He turned back to Giselle.

"Fine."

No.

No, no, no...

He faced me fully with his expression hard.

"I, Alpha Nolan of Silvermoon Pack," he said clearly, "reject you, Isabella, as my mate."

The bond snapped.

Pain exploded through my chest and I gasped, falling to my knees. It felt like someone had reached inside me and ripped out my heart.

My wolf howled.

The pain was everywhere... burning, tearing, suffocating.

"Say it," Nolan said coldly. "Accept the rejection."

I looked up at him through tears.

"Why?"

"SAY IT."

I could barely breathe but I forced the words out.

"I... I, Isabella... accept your rejection."

The bond shattered completely.

But... something was wrong.

The pain should've stopped. The bond should've been gone.

But I could still feel it. Faint. Barely there. But still there.

What...?

Giselle grabbed Nolan's arm.

"There. It's done. She's nothing now."

Nolan didn't look at me.

"Get out, Isabella."

I stood on shaking legs, grabbed my dress and stumbled toward the door.

"Oh, and Isabella?" Giselle called sweetly.

I stopped but didn't turn around.

"If I ever catch you near my Alpha again," she said softly, "I'll kill you myself."

I left.

***

I didn't go back to my room.

I couldn't.

The pain was too much. The rejection. The humiliation. The bond that somehow refused to die completely.

I wandered the halls aimlessly until I found myself near Giselle's chambers again.

Voices.

"...she's still alive," Giselle was saying. "That's a problem."

"Then take care of it," a male voice responded.

"I will. Tonight. I'll send word to the rogues at the border. They'll handle her."

My blood ran cold.

She was going to have me killed.

I backed away slowly... and ran.

I didn't think. Didn't plan. I just ran.

Through the halls. Out the back entrance. Into the forest.

The night air hit my face and I shifted... or tried to. My wolf was too weak from the rejection.

So I ran on human legs with branches tearing at my skin and my bare feet bleeding.

I had to get away. Had to survive.

Behind me, I heard them.

Howls. Snarls. Rogues.

They were hunting me.

I pushed harder but they were faster. Stronger.

A rogue slammed into me from the side and I hit the ground hard. Pain exploded through my ribs.

I rolled and kicked out, catching him in the jaw. He snarled and lunged again.

Another appeared. Then another.

Three rogues. Circling me like I was prey.

"Giselle sends her regards," one of them growled.

I scrambled backward.

"Please... I'll leave. I'll disappear. Just let me go."

"Too late for that."

The largest rogue lunged and I screamed, throwing up my arms...

A massive force slammed into him mid-air.

The rogue went flying.

I blinked.

Wolves... huge wolves I didn't recognize... poured out of the trees. They moved with deadly precision, taking down the rogues in seconds.

One wolf shifted into a man... tall, broad-shouldered, with dark eyes and an air of authority.

He looked at me with his eyes widening.

"She carries a lycan's essence," he said sharply. "Bring her to Alpha Kieran immediately."

"What...?" I whispered.

Everything went black.