Five

"Lower your voice," I whispered.

Crystal looked at me as if a second head had grown out of my neck. "You're completely out of your mind. You want me to believe that son of a bitch is your soulmate?"

"I feel it," I said, quieter. "It's real. My wolf won't stop howling."

Crystal held up her hands. "Maybe your wolf is delirious too. Eve, listen to me, it's impossible. Axel is everything we swore we'd destroy. Half of our people died because of him. He killed our parents.”

"I know," I said, my voice cracking. "Do you think I want this?"

Horror and anger filled Crystal's eyes. "Reject him. I don't care if the Moon itself bound that pact. Tear it out, burn it, spit on it. Do you hear me?"

I wanted to tell her you don't rip a bond out, but I stayed silent because I didn't know how to explain that it wasn't that simple.

Crystal stopped pacing, breathing hard. "You said he didn't react, right?"

I nodded.

"Good," she spat. "Then let him stay blind. Act like you feel nothing. When the truth comes out, and it always comes out, it'll crush him, not you. We'll tear his pride apart, we'll crack that heart of ice."

Her voice shook with rage; under it I felt fear. The kind of fear that comes with knowing exactly what Axel could do.

Axel didn't just break bodies, he spat on the rules. If he ever smelled weakness he made it law. Letting him wake up with a claim in hand would give him a weapon we'd never take back.

When I woke the light had shifted, sliding through the curtains. My wolf stirred before I opened my eyes. That low buzz in my chest returned.

He was near.

I didn't need to see him; his scent came from the open corridor, and my body recognized it before my mind did.

It felt insanely intimate; I wanted to cry.

I kept my eyes closed and pretended to sleep because what was I supposed to say to the beast that had become both my lifeline and my ruin?

The air grew heavier. My wolf trembled; under that tremor a fierce joy brushed my ribs. I ordered her to be quiet.

Crystal wasn't in the room. I suddenly realized how small the space was between him and me.

The clink of metal pulled me out of my head. Axel checked the IV like I was a problem to solve. The closer he came the stronger I felt, and that was humiliating.

Each step tightened the loop in my chest. I held my breath so I wouldn't make a sound.

My wolf purred under my skin and whispered that he was healing us.

I smothered that thought. No. He wasn't healing us. The demon was ignoring us, the bond, the thing that tied us. 

Axel leaned and took my chin between his fingers. "Open your mouth," he said, flat, like I was one of his soldiers rather than a woman whose pulse thudded under his palm.

I obeyed before I thought, my eyes fixed on his face. His thumb brushed my skin as he lifted my head. I hated how easily he could unmake me. His gaze flicked to my tongue, to my eyes, to the monitor. His scent was everywhere, crawling under my skin, possessing me.

I logged the lie: a bond does not equal claim. I repeated it like a mantra.

The bathroom door creaked. Crystal came out, still drying her hands, and when her eyes landed on us she rushed forward.

Axel turned his head to her. That look froze her. The disgust on his face was plain; he did not even bother to hide it.

I met Crystal's eyes over his shoulder and begged without speaking. Say nothing. Don't react. Please.

Axel let go of my jaw and headed for the door. He left as quietly as he had come, but the scent he left clung to me long after he was gone.

As soon as the door closed Crystal exploded. "Did you see that? Did you see how he just stood there like he was made of ice?" she spat, raw. "He felt it, Eve. No one with an ounce of humanity lets a bond hang in the air. They react. They claim. He did nothing."

I stared at the ceiling because looking at her meant admitting she was right. "Maybe he's really that cold," I said.

Crystal let out an ugly laugh. "Cold? He's worse than cold. He plays god with people's lives and feelings. He chooses who matters and who can die. Seeing him ignore you was watching a man test the limits of his toy." Her smile was cruel and proud. "He touched you and didn't claim you. He left you raw.”

The words hit me like blows.

A toy. That's what it had felt like. Something to test.

My face burned. "I am not a toy."

"Good." Crystal sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed my hand hard. "Repeat. You are a weapon. Anyone who thinks they can use you and spit you out will find out how wrong they are."

She leaned in. "We're going to make him pay. We're going to make him feel every inch of the humiliation he put on you. We'll drown him in his own pride. Play dead if you have to. Act like you feel nothing. And when his guard drops, we strike."

My chest tightened and a laugh escaped me. "You mean use him?"

"Use him, break him, kill him, take everything he thinks is his. Make every bastard who hurt you pay with their lives."

She pulled back and collected herself. "Rest now. Get stronger. For now keep a neutral face. Let him think he reduced you to nothing. Then we'll show him how dangerous a broken thing can be."