Chapter 3: The Wolf Prince

INDY

The first thing Rome did was gently grab Clara and pull her into his arms. Lucio straightened and cleared his throat, turning to the side and crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

Rome inspected Clara’s wound carefully before turning to me with a sharp glare. I had the urge to raise both hands to claim my innocence, but I couldn’t even do that. I—this character—had done this to Clara. 

“Lucio,” he started off, his voice deeper than what I had imagined. No wonder he was the most wanted man in this country. I shook my head. I was getting distracted again. 

“Take Clara to the hospital.”

“Yes, brother,” Lucio said, bowing his head slightly.

Clara tried to counter his request. “It’s really alright, Alpha. Lady Lucindabella didn’t mean to do—”

Rome cut her right away. “No arguments.”

Lucio took Clara’s arm and pulled her in the direction of the clinic, glaring at me one last time.

Goodness, I may get cooked alive with how heated all of these people were staring at me—especially Rome. As soon as Clara was out of the room, his eyes stayed on me, burning. I looked around, evading his gaze. However, it was near impossible to ignore. His eyes were really piercing.

Curse me for writing him to be so handsome! 

“Everyone... leave.”

There was a collective gasp heard inside the manor, one of them including mine. I didn’t even realize I had done so. Rome truly had the aura of the main character.

Everyone scrambled, looking to be both satisfied and fearful at the same time.

Heck, I wrote this character from the inside and out, and he, too, was scaring me!

I turned around, preparing to bolt although I didn’t know where, when I felt a strong hold on my arm. I flinched in pain and tried to jerk my arm away from his hold. However, it was no use. He pinned me down with a single hand and pulled me closer to him.

I could see his face more clearly from this angle, and I really did write him to be my ideal man in terms of looks. I tried to evade his gaze, but he held onto my chin with his free hand and forced me to look into his eyes. 

It was the gaze of a man who loathed me.

“What did you do this time?”

I opened my mouth to argue it wasn’t me, but I couldn’t even do that. I knew that I was the one who did it even though I technically did not.

“I know this might sound crazy—”

He scoffed, not letting me finish. “You can give me all the reasons in the world, but I still wouldn’t believe you. Just because I went to another city for some business, you think I didn’t hear about what you’ve been doing to Clara?”

I followed his words inside my head. He really spoke just as I wrote him to say.

“That was because you invited her to dinner! You’ve never invited me. Don’t think that I didn’t see you kiss her right after! She deserves everything I’m doing to her!”

Fuck. 

I covered my mouth once I realized those words came from me. I wasn’t even aware of it. It seemed that this universe wanted to follow the script at all costs. 

His eyes darkened as his disdain increased further.

“Is that so?”

He chuckled without humor, pulling me even closer to him until his lips were just a breath against mine. I couldn’t breathe properly, but even then, the minty scent of his hot breath filled my senses. 

“You’ve always tormented me for my kiss,” he continued. “Is that all you want in order to leave me alone?”

My eyes widened. Right—I nearly forgot. This was the part where Rome finally kisses Lucinda to appease her obsessions. It was the scene right before asking her to break off the engagement, but Lucinda becomes even more obsessed right after and does everything within her power to stay with Rome! 

I needed to stop this before it happened.

However, before I could even react, I felt heat against my lips—a rough, wet sensation that left me gasping for air. My eyes widened even more before they closed when he held tighter onto my jaw.  

Rome kissed me fervently, and although all I could feel was hatred, the sparks that went through my body were also undeniable. I had been kissed in my older body, but it never felt like this. I guess the mate bond really doesn’t lie.  

It felt so good that I found myself letting out a small sound against his lips despite my reluctance. He deepened the kiss even more, massaging my tongue with his, making me release another moan.  

“Rome,” I said his name unconsciously.  

With my utterance, he pushed me away, making me feel more lightheaded than I already was. I couldn’t comprehend anything for a couple of seconds, so I merely looked at his lips, which were red and bitten. However, the moment I looked into his eyes, I snapped back to reality.  

“You finally got your long-awaited kiss,” he smirked. “That’s what you wanted all along, right?”  

“Now, stop holding onto me.”  

I looked down and saw that I was still holding onto his collar. I was about to pull away, but he didn’t give me the opportunity to do so. He pushed my shoulder forcefully until I fell ass-first to the ground.  

“Ouch,” I muttered, looking up at him.  

“That’s just a fraction of what you did to Clara. I have been enduring until now because you are my mate, and we have been arranged by your father and mine. However, at this point, I cannot lie anymore.”  

“I loathe you with all of my heart, and I will gladly die first rather than marry you in this lifetime.”  

I felt a sharp ache inside my chest despite only having personally known this man for a couple of minutes. I clutched my chest, right where my heart was, and felt heat rise in the back of my eyes. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried my hardest not to cry.  

Gosh. This mate bond was truly a pain in the ass. It was forcing me to feel things I didn’t even feel!  

“You have stopped every attempt to break off this engagement, but this time, I’ll make sure you won’t succeed.”  

He stepped closer and kneeled down, looking deep into my eyes, causing a tear to fall from my own.  

“If I could reject you at this moment, I would.”