Chapter 12 – Torn Between Two Worlds

Nick

I had her pinned beneath me, her back pressed into the soft mattress, and my body caging her in. My breathing was ragged, uneven, as if I’d just sprinted miles. My chest rose and fell violently, my skin hot, burning with something I didn’t want to name.

Her eyes were wide with fear.

She wasn’t saying anything, but her silence screamed louder than any word ever could. Her lips trembled, her hands slightly shaking where they gripped the edge of the sheet. She was scared of me.

I hated that.

“Take off your clothes. Now!” The growl tore from my throat, low and guttural, a sound that didn’t feel human. Because it wasn’t.

This wasn’t me.

I wasn’t the monster hovering over a terrified girl.

But the other side of me, the cursed side, had clawed its way to the surface. And now I was losing control.

I’ve been like this since I turned eighteen. Now I’m twenty and running out of time.

My mom, a werewolf, had fallen for another werewolf. My dad. but he left. and she remarried a human to hide our true origin. She told me to hide what I am. That I was cursed. That the world would never accept us. That humans hunted us down if they found out.

She warned me that I carried my real father’s curse. A father I never knew, never saw, but somehow... became.

And now, the price of that curse was hanging over my head: death, unless I found and mated with my true mate.

I did find her.

I marked her. I mated her. But only once. And now my body’s demanding more, demanding her over and over to keep me alive. I brought her here, told myself I’d just use her for a week. so that I’d survive. That she was just the key to my existence.

But I never meant to be like this. Not with her. Not this harsh.

I can’t let her see the truth of what I’ve become.

But the devil in me had taken over, controlling my limbs, my voice, my thoughts. I wasn’t asking anymore. I was commanding. That terrified part of me, the human part, was screaming inside to stop.

This was sexual assault. And I knew that.

As long as I was living in the human world, that’s exactly what this would be.

My hands trembled against the mattress. The pain was worsening since I’d only mated her once. I wasn’t supposed to stop at one. It was a ritual. A cycle. Mate, again and again, or I die. She was supposed to wither while I lived. That’s the curse.

But now?

Now I couldn’t imagine letting her die.

There had to be another way.

She whimpered, “Please… stop!” Her voice cracked, breaking through the chaos in my head like a lightning bolt through fog.

God.

I froze. The beast in me roared, but I shoved him back, gritting my teeth, my jaw locked so tight I could feel it strain.

I leaned down, brushing my lips against hers, not with lust, but apology. The same way I did the first time.

I kissed her softly, gently. A memory-erasing kiss. To erase this exact moment. One of the gifts, or curses, of my kind.

She gasped slightly... then stilled.

Her eyes fluttered closed. She fell asleep, immediately, peacefully. Like nothing happened. Like her body recognized the magic and surrendered.

I exhaled. My hands dropped to my sides.

The pain still throbbed inside me, deep and violent, but at least now… she was safe.

I stood slowly and pulled the blanket over her. She looked so small, curled up like that. Vulnerable. Her cheeks were flushed, lips parted slightly. She looked like a child.

And I’d almost hurt her.

God, what’s wrong with me?

I backed away from the bed and left the room quietly, the ache inside me growing worse with every step.

The moment I stepped into the hallway, I found Mirae, her best friend, standing there. Arms crossed, jaw set. She didn’t say a word, Just smilled like she was still star strucked by me.

“I’m going in,” she said, with a smile.

I didn’t stop her. I couldn’t even look at her.

I headed to my room, grabbed the bottle of pain suppressants, popped two pills into my mouth, and washed them down with water. My hands were still trembling.

The boys had been calling. My phone was buzzing like crazy. Game day.

I pulled on my hockey gear, shoved everything else into a bag, and headed out the door.

“Please take care of them,” I muttered to headmaid as I passed.

Just as I reached the hallway, someone rushed up and grabbed me. Soft lips crushed against mine.

What the hell—?

I yanked back and shoved her. She stumbled and hit the floor.

Rixa.

My ex.

She stared up at me, her red lips smeared, her black hair tangled.

“How could you?!” she screamed, scrambling up and waving her phone at me. “This? This is what you’re doing now?”

The screen flashed a photo of me carrying Lyra. Her unconscious form in my arms. My face twisted in panic and protectiveness.

“It’s none of your business,” I said coldly, brushing past her. “We’re done. You need to understand that.”

She grabbed my arm, nails digging into my skin. “Don’t you dare walk away from me!”

I clenched my jaw.

“I just came to warn you,” she hissed. “I’m going to make that little girlfriend of yours wish she was never born. I’ll ruin her life in school. Everyone will know.”

She spun on her heel, flipping her hair dramatically as she walked off, swaying her hips like she thought I still cared.

I didn’t.

But damn… that ass.

No.

What the hell are you thinking, Nick?

I gritted my teeth. “Make sure she never steps foot in here again!” I yelled to no one in particular as I stormed out to the car.

As soon as I got in, I yanked out my iPad and synced it with the hidden camera in my watch.

The same watch Lyra had stolen.

I let her take it. I knew she would.

That’s how I kept watch. Monitored her.

Maybe it was creepy. Maybe it was wrong. But after that first night with her, after I tasted her, after I marked her, I couldn’t get her out of my system.

I craved her like oxygen. Like my life depended on it.

Because it did.

Meeting her at the bar that night wasn’t a coincidence. I had been following her, watching her. Call it creepy, I don’t care. I saw her, and something in me shifted. I knew I needed to be around her, to get close. That night just gave me my shot.

And now, here I am. Me, the guy known for never sleeping with a girl twice, is craving the same girl again.

Lyra.

I tried shaking off the thoughts as soon as we pulled up at the school. I grabbed my iPad and slammed the door shut, walking straight to the locker room with the rest of the team. The locker room buzzed with tension. We all knew this was a big game, playoffs. Crowds. Cameras. But to me, it was just another damn game. Same rules. Same routine.

I stripped down and changed into my hockey gear, tuning out the noise around me. I fist-bumped the guys one by one, just out of habit, until I got to Jay.

I stopped.

Something about him rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was his smug face. Maybe it was how fake he acted around the coaches. Or maybe… maybe it was because of Lyra. Because I knew what he did. And I didn’t like the idea of him even breathing in her direction.

Why did I care so much?

I wasn’t supposed to care.

"Let's go now!" someone yelled, and the adrenaline kicked in. We charged out onto the ice, skates slicing clean into the surface. The crowd erupted, but I barely heard them. The puck dropped, and we were off, aggression, speed, control. This was where I ruled. This was my zone.

For a while, I lost myself in the game. We passed, we pushed, we fought hard, and the crowd kept screaming louder with every second. Everything blurred into motion and fire.

Until it happened.

That pain again.

A sharp, stabbing pain in my chest. Out of nowhere.

What the hell?

Could it be because I didn’t mate with her again?

The pain was getting worse, sharper, deeper. I was trying to fight it, but it felt like my insides were tearing apart. My head spun. My vision blurred.

Am I dying?

Everything started fading. Darkness clawed at the edges of my sight.

Then… her scent.

I stirred. My eyes fluttered open. I was in my room.

How did I get here?

And there she was, Lyra, standing a few feet away in nothing but her lingerie. Her body glowing under the soft light, her eyes locked on mine.

My heart stumbled.

What is she doing?

“Let’s do it again,” she whispered, voice soft, almost shy, Sliding down the strap of her lingerie.