CHAPTER 2 - Emery

The sound echoed in the empty corridor, too loud, too final. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my throat. I'd spent the entire walk here convincing myself this was the right decision. That I deserved answers. That maybe, just maybe, I'd been wrong about what I'd seen in his eyes.

The door swung open.

Kael stood before me, golden eyes widening in surprise. He'd changed out of his formal uniform, wearing only a loose white shirt and dark trousers. His hair was slightly damp, as if he'd just washed his face.

"Emery," he said, and the sound of my name on his lips sent a shiver down my spine. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "About the ceremony. About what happened."

His jaw tightened. "There's nothing to talk about."

"There is." I stepped forward, and to my surprise, he stepped back. Let me in. "You felt it. I know you did. The bond. We're-"

"Don't." His voice was sharp, but there was something underneath it. Something that sounded almost like pain. "Don't say it."

"Why?" My heart was pounding so hard I could barely think. "Why did you walk away? Why didn't you-"

But I stopped.

Because Kael was looking at me. Really looking. His golden eyes swept over my face like he was seeing me for the first time. There was something in his gaze I couldn't read, something that flickered between confusion and want and something that looked almost like fear.

He didn't speak. Neither did I.

The silence stretched between us, thick and uncomfortable. I could hear my own breathing. Could hear the distant hum of students in the halls below. Could hear my heart hammering against my ribs.

"Kael?" I whispered.

He still didn't answer. He just kept staring at me, his expression unreadable, his jaw tight.

Then he crossed the distance between us in two strides. His hands cupped my face, tilting my chin up. His eyes searched mine for one long, breathless moment.

"Why?" I managed. "Why did you-"

"I don't know," he said, and his voice cracked on the words. "I don't fucking know."

Then he kissed me.

Soft at first, hesitant. Like he was testing something, trying to understand what he was feeling. I was frozen, too shocked to respond. He'd walked away from me. He'd ignored me. He'd made me feel like nothing.

So why was he kissing me?

But then his lips moved against mine, warm and insistent, and something inside me broke open. I didn't understand. I didn't care. I just wanted to be wanted.

I leaned into him.

My hands found his chest, gripping the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer. The kiss deepened, grew hungrier, like he was starving and I was the first meal he'd had in years.

His hands slid down my sides, finding my waist, pulling me against him. He walked me backward until my knees hit the edge of his bed. He pressed me down onto the mattress, his weight settling over me, his body covering mine.

I gasped against his lips. This was happening. This was really happening.

He kissed me again. Harder this time. His tongue swept into my mouth, and I moaned, arching up against him.

Then his mouth left mine. Trailed down my jaw. My neck. His teeth grazed my skin, and I shivered.

"Kael," I breathed.

He didn't answer. He just kept kissing lower, his lips brushing against my collarbone, dipping into the neckline of my dress. His breath was hot against my skin, sending sparks of pleasure through my body.

Finally, finally, someone wants me.

His hand came up to cup my breast through the fabric of my dress, and I gasped. I'd never been touched like this before. 

I felt a tear slip down my cheek. I didn't know why I was crying. I wasn't sad. I was just… overwhelmed. So overwhelmed.

But then-

He stopped.

I felt it immediately. The way his body went rigid. The way his hand stilled on my breast. The way his breath caught.

I opened my eyes.

Kael was looking down at me. His expression had shifted. The heat was gone, replaced by something cold. Distant. Regretful.

"Kael?" My voice was small. Scared.

He pulled away from me so fast I gasped. He stood, crossing to the door, opening it.

"Get out," he said.

I didn't move. Couldn't. "What?"

"I said get out." His voice was flat. Unfeeling. "This was a mistake."

"Kael, I don't understand-"

"I said get out." He grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet, shoving me toward the door. "Don't come near me again. Don't talk to me. Don't even look at me."

And then he walked out. Left me standing in his empty room, my lips still tingling from his kisses, my heart shattered into a thousand pieces.

I chased after him like a fool.

Down the hallway. Down the stairs. Through the corridors until we burst out into the courtyard.

Students were everywhere. They'd finished dinner, were milling about, laughing, talking. And now they stopped.

Because Kael Moore had a woman chasing after him. And that woman was me.

"Kael, please," I begged. "Just talk to me. Just tell me why-"

He spun on me. His eyes were cold. Cruel. Nothing like the man who'd kissed me just minutes ago.

"Stay the fuck away from me," he snarled.

The courtyard went silent.

"Did you really think I wanted you?" Kael laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Look at yourself. Look at you. You think someone like me could ever want someone like you? You're an embarrassment. The idea of being tied to you for eternity makes me sick."

The words hit me like physical blows. Each one a knife. Each one landing exactly where I was weakest.

"You're too big," he continued, his voice carrying across the silent courtyard. "Too ugly. Too pathetic. I don't want you. I will never want you. The bond is a mistake. The universe made a mistake with you."

Please. Please stop.

My wolf howled inside me, wounded and furious. ‘He doesn't deserve you. He never did.’

But Kael wasn't done.

"I sever the bond," he announced, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Before all these witnesses. I reject you, Emery Silva. I reject you and every connection we might have had. You are nothing to me. You have always been nothing."

And then he did it.

The golden thread that had connected us, the one thing that had made me believe I might finally be worthy of love, snapped.

I felt it break, felt something inside me die.

I didn't cry. I'd learned long ago not to cry in front of people. My face remained blank, my expression shuttered, a mask I'd perfected over years of abuse.

But inside, I was screaming.

I'm not pathetic. I'm not pathetic. I'm not-

‘You're pathetic.’

The words echoed in my head. Not just Kael's. Every bully. Every insult. Every time someone told me I wasn't good enough.

Maybe they were right.

I turned and walked away. My steps were measured, controlled. I would not let him see me break.

But as I walked, the world swam around me. The edges of my vision went grey. And then-

I tripped.

My foot caught on something. Someone's shoe. I fell hard, my palms scraping against the stone, my knees taking the brunt of the impact.

The laughter started immediately.

I looked up from the ground.

A male student stood over me, smirking. His friends, another male and a female, flanked him. They were the ones who'd tripped me.

"Well, well," the male said, his voice dripping with mock sympathy. "Look who's fallen."