TWO

ISABELLA’S POV

I could think of two things that made no sense at that moment. One, Grayson being in my room and two, my mind immediately imagining what it’d feel like to have those long, veiny fingers wrapped around something other than my chapstick.

My mind was a mess and the heat that suddenly bloomed low in my stomach as he stepped closer wasn’t helping. Uselessly, I swallowed and quickly dismissed the latter thought, stretching my hand to collect the chapstick.

“Oh, thank you,” I took another dangerous step towards him before the tiny tube could settle in my hands, my breath almost hitching as our skin brushed against each other. “I didn’t realize it I could have- you didn’t have to come all the way here just because of that. You could have knocked too.”

“The door was open,” he cleared his throat as he replied me. “And I called out to you before walking in. in case I was interrupting anything.”

I couldn’t even argue, simply nodding in agreement. I couldn’t dare to meet his gaze and before another minute could pass with us being in this room, I spoke up. “You can head downstairs now. Your dad’s probably looking for you or something. Um, I’ll join you guys later. I just need to get my- my- I came here to search for my-”

“So you felt it too.”

“What?” my mouth worked faster than my brain, the words of confusion leaving almost immediately. “Felt what?”

“This,” he didn’t move an inch from where he stood but instead, allowed his eyes drop from my face to my mouth and slowly back up, before deciding to have them rake my entire body from head to toe.

My toes curled as I remained in place, too frozen to move. Unable to figure out how it happened, my eyes had now met his and it was threatening to remain glued there, my fingers curling, goosebumps flooding my skin.

His eyes were lingering too long and with every attempt to get him to stop, I found myself silenced again, wondering how much I could actually endure. It was like a challenge. All he had on me was his eyes and if I couldn’t survive just that for five minutes, there was no way I was going to survive living as his stepsister for the rest of my life.

His lips parted like he was about to speak and subconsciously, mine did the same, a tiny heated breath escaping it. My breathing was slowly getting heavier and my body yearned to lunge forward but I remained in my position, pushing myself even harder.

“The mate bond. You felt it too.”

My heart skipped. No, it stumbled. Then fell to the ground. Then definitely shattered.

And then he finally took a step towards me, making me feel like he was there to pick up the pieces of my heart and put it back together.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

In my entire twenty-two years of living, I’d never uttered a more obvious lie. The corner of lips twitched in amusement and I could tell even he was disappointed by how terrible I was at lying.

“Our parents are getting married in a week,” I surprised myself by speaking up. “We are going to-”

“You felt the bond,” every word I’d uttered went straight out of the window as he spoke up again. “How strong was it? Did you sense it before today? Or did you have to lay your eyes on me to confirm it?”

My lips parted again but this time, no sound came out. Not when he had taken another step towards me and did nothing but stare at my lips as he uttered the words capable of throwing several tantrums in my stomach.

“Did you-”

The glimpse of his arm moving made me immediately flinch and taking advantage of that break, I quickly spoke up, pouring the words out before my heart could dare betray my brain.

“We cannot be mated to each other. Our parents are getting married. I cant say the moon goddess made a mistake but something isn’t right somewhere. And it is our duty to correct it. I will correct it. By rejecting you so the two of us can move on with our lives and pretend like none of this ever happened.”

“I’m bad at pretending though,” he reached for my arm just as about to move, my shoulders immediately slumping. “And even if I was good at it, I can’t possibly pretend this never happened. Cause it did happen. And it will keep on happening.”

“No, it wont.”

“If that’s the version of the story you’re choosing to gaslight yourself into believing then have fun doing that,” he loosened his grip on me, having me struggle to regain my balance for a second. “But you can’t force me to do the same.”

“What?”

“You’re my mate,” he went on, beating me to run fingers through his hair. “In simple terms, meaning you are destined to be with me. You belong to me.”

“I do not-” I couldn’t even get the words out of my throat successfully.

“So,” the smirk on his face was almost mocking as he continued. “You can lie to yourself, try to reject me or do whatever you please. But you should know now that won’t stop me.”

“Because you’re mine. You belong to me. And I have absolutely no intention of acting otherwise.”