Chapter 18: Lucas

I hauled Sutton upstairs, slamming the bedroom door behind me before depositing her on the bed. She scrambled back, putting space between us.

“Why would you think I already had a mate?” I demanded. “Who told you that?”

“No one,” she said strongly. “Well, I suppose you did. The way you described the mate bond… How else would you know that it could feel like that? Because that’s certainly not my experience. Then Tarrah shows up. She’s beautiful and kind and marked…  of course, she has to be…”

“Sutton, stop,” I commanded. She froze but still wouldn’t look at me. I grabbed her chin, forcing her to look me in the eye. “Listen to me. Take a deep breath.”

Pride and frustration alike filled me as I felt her jaw clamp shut in my hand. I sighed but didn’t release her, pulling her to her feet instead.

“Just do it, Sutton,” I ordered again, more gently this time.

Relenting, she closed her eyes and inhaled, long and slow. I leaned in, my lips brushing against the crest of her ear.

“Now, tell me, do you smell her anywhere in here?” I asked. “Do you smell any female scent?”

Her brow furrowed. “I can’t do…”

“Yes, you can,” I stated firmly. “You can, Sutton. Concentrate. Is there any other scent in this room other than yours and mine?”

She breathed in again. Some of the tension left her shoulders, but she didn’t say anything. I pulled her closer. My hand trailed down her side, resting on her hip as the other still held her face.

“I would never let anyone who wasn’t my mate sleep in my bed, Sutton,” I said with conviction. “No one else belongs in here.”

Her brow furrowed again as her eyes moved to anything but me. “But why put me in here?” she said weakly. “Even if you don’t have a mate, why…”

“I didn’t say I didn’t have a mate, Sutton,” I told her, hoping that it would start to make sense to her.

“But you just said…” She tried to move away, but I held her in place.

“Sutton…” I lifted her chin again. “I said exactly what I meant. No one else but my mate belongs in here. Ever. You know what I’m saying, Sutton. Don’t fight it.”

Her chest rose and fell. Her breathing quickened as the realization set in. Her eyes widened and she shook her head.

“No,” she said forcefully, her hands going to my chest to push me away. “No, I can’t be… That’s not…” Tears started to fall, and I could hear the panic in her voice. “No, no, no.”

I wrapped my arms around her, keeping her from fleeing. A piercing pain shot through my heart as she fought against my hold. I prayed I hadn’t ruined everything, terrified I had moved too fast. I kept saying her name, desperately urging her to calm down.

“Sutton, please,” I begged. “Listen to me.”

“I can’t,” she sobbed. “You can’t… Please, don’t. Not again.”

Her knees buckled beneath her and we sank to the floor as I continued to hold her tightly. Rhonen was going crazy in my head. Threatening to never forgive me if I didn’t make this right. I grabbed her face, swiping at the tears that ran down her cheeks.

“Sutton, I’m not him,” I said frantically. “I’m not Mason. Baby, just listen to me. I can explain everything. I swear I’m not going to hurt you. You know that I won’t hurt you.”

“I don’t know anything about you…”

“Yes, you do,” I insisted. “You feel it, Sutton. You feel our bond.”

She tried to push away again, shaking her head. “No, that’s not possible.”

“Yes, it is,” I urged. “Human or not, you can feel it. Feel it, Sutton. Stop thinking. Stop remembering. Just feel it. Don’t trust me. Trust what you feel.”

Her sobs slowly ebbed away and her tears stopped. She sniffled but wasn’t fighting my touch anymore. If anything, she was leaning into it for support. Her energy spent from the emotional rollercoaster she had experienced. But I could see her mind working through what I had said.

“I can’t be trapped again,” she said softly. “I won’t be trapped again. I don’t want this.”

Hearing her say that was like a vice had tightened around my chest. But I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it. She was just scared. She needed to know she had control. She had a choice. This wasn’t being forced upon her.

“Then reject me,” I blurted out, practically choking on the words. Rhonen snarled viciously in my head.

“W-what?” she stuttered out.

I pushed my fingers into her hair at the nape of her neck as I rested my forehead on hers. Knowing I was taking the biggest risk of my life.

“Reject me, Sutton,” I repeated. “If you truly believe I’m a danger to you… that you don’t want me… then reject me.”

“I can do that?”

I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat but nodded all the same.

“Just say your name and mine,” I told her. “Say it out loud… that you reject me as your mate. I’ll… I’ll accept it and let you go. But you better be sure, Sutton. You better not have any doubts. Because when you do it… you’ll rip my heart out.”

She inhaled sharply. It was the first time she chose to look me in the eye on her own. But she held my gaze intently. Her fingers wrapped around my wrist, my fingers still buried in her beautiful locks. I was preparing for her to pull it away. I waited for her to realize that she had all the power right now. She’d never trust me if I took this from her. Rhonen knew that, too. He hated it — pacing aggressively in the back of my mind as he anticipated the pain.

“I… I can’t.”

My body took over. Days of pent-up elation and desire burst forward as my lips slammed into hers. Fireworks erupted and electricity engulfed every molecule of my being. It was everything I had been waiting for and more.

I was done. I’d never survive her rejection. There was no going back now. Everything in my life surrounded Sutton and winning her over.

“MINE.”