Chapter 5

Freya’s POV

“I need a dance,” Leo said quietly beside me.

I looked up from the glass in my hand, certain I had misheard him.

“A dance?” I repeated.

“With you.”

For a second I just stared at him. Then I let out a small incredulous laugh and glanced around the ballroom.

“Where’s your precious Caroline?” I asked lightly. “Isn’t she the one you’re supposed to be having this dance with?”

Leo’s jaw tightened.

“Tonight isn’t about her.”

“Oh, really?” I tilted my head. “What changed?”

He didn’t answer.

“You know she’s too dumb to understand anything about pack politics,” I said. “The only thing she’s actually good at is warming your bed.”

His eyes flashed.

“You really don’t want to create a scene right now,” he said quietly. “We have guests watching. You wouldn’t want them knowing we have marital problems, would you?”

I gave a short laugh.

“You do know how to twist a narrative, Leo. You’re the one having an affair, not me.”

“You were the one hugging my rival a few minutes ago,” he replied calmly. “Everyone saw that.”

That made me pause and for  a moment, I had nothing to say.

“One dance and then I'm going to rest.”

I had not danced with Leo in three years.

Not since the first weeks of our marriage, when I had still believed closeness was possible and I thought that if I stayed patient long enough, he might eventually let me in.

Then one day we simply stopped dancing.

And tonight, when Leo pulled me onto the floor and his hand settled at my back as the music began, the first thing I felt was shock.

We moved easily together, like our bodies remembered something our minds had forgotten.

The crowd around us began to cheer and murmur their approval.

“You two dance beautifully.”

“Perfect couple.”

I barely heard them.

When the song ended, Leo didn’t let go.

I gently pulled back.

“I’m going to rest,” I said quietly. “You don’t need to keep pretending. The committee has seen enough.”

I stepped away, but he caught my hand.

“Leo,” I said, frowning. “What’s your problem tonight? Why are you acting so strange?”

He didn’t answer.

He just stared at me with an expression I couldn’t read.

Before I understood what he was doing, he steered me off the dance floor and into a quiet alcove beside the hall.

My back met the wall.

Leo stepped in front of me, close enough that the noise of the ballroom faded into the distance.

“Leo,” I said slowly. “What are you doing? I told you, I’m leaving after…”

“You’re different tonight.”

I blinked.

“I don’t know what that means,” I said. “Let me go.”

He was standing so close that I had to press back against the wall just to create a little space between us.

And then his eyes dropped just briefly.

To my mouth.

My heart did something ridiculous.

It started beating too fast.

“Leo,” I whispered. “Please stop…”

He kissed me.

My mind went completely blank.

For a moment there was nothing except warmth and the feeling of his mouth on mine.

And then something else happened.

My wolf moved.

Not the faint stirring I had felt before from the dream, this was different.

It felt like something inside me had finally awakened.

Like two pieces of the same soul had snapped together.

And at the same moment something flared in my chest, something I had not felt since the night of our wedding.

The mate bond.

It rushed through me so suddenly it almost stole my breath.

It was overwhelming.

Tears burned behind my eyes because I had missed it so much and I hadn’t even realized how much until it came back.

Leo went completely still.

Then suddenly he shoved me away like my touch burned him.

“What did you do?”

I stared at him, stunned.

“What?”

“This clumsy trick again. Really, Freya?”

“I didn’t do anything,” I said quickly. “Leo, you kissed me. I didn’t…”

“Don’t play innocent.” His voice turned cold. “You think I don’t know what that was? You think a manufactured reaction will make me believe…”

“It wasn’t manufactured!” I said, my voice shaking. “That was the bond, Leo. I know you felt it. Why are you so scared of it? Why are you so scared of accepting your feelings?”

He laughed harshly.

“Do you know how desperate this is?” he said. “You think if you pull some stunt like that, fabricate a reaction, I’ll suddenly believe you’re actually my…”

“Say it,” I said quietly.

My voice came out steadier than I felt.

“Finish the sentence.”

He stopped and his eyes hardened.

“You were never my mate,” he said coldly.

“You have never been my mate. Whatever trick you just pulled, it changes nothing.”