All Chapters of The cursed mate's return : Chapter 191 - Chapter 200

Maia's povThe bathroom door slammed behind me before I even realized I’d moved. My breath came hard, uneven. The fluorescent light above the mirror flickered, throwing my reflection in sharp, broken flashes, pale skin, wide eyes, hair sticking to my face with sweat.I gripped the edge of the sink until my knuckles went white.What are the odds? Out of every city, every kitchen, every shadowed street — why here? Why him?I stared at myself, trying to slow the tremor running through my hands. It shouldn’t be possible. I’d buried that life. Buried *him.*Six years of running. Six years of silence.But when he caught me, that single second in his arms, something flared. His scent hit like smoke and earth, old as the forest I’d left behind. And the mark I’d carved out of my memory burned like fire waking up.It shouldn’t have. The bond was dead. I’d made sure of it.I pressed my palm flat against my chest, as if I could quiet the ache underneath. “No,” I whispered to the empty room. “You d

Kael's povThe meeting room emptied slowly, voices scattering like the last drops of a quietness. Papers shuffled, chairs scraped against polished marble, and yet my focus hadn’t moved once.She was gone.The girl from the kitchen, the one who’d run. The one whose presence made the mark on my wrist flare alive after six long, silent years.I’d told myself it was nothing. A mistake. Some remnant of memory twisting my senses. But I knew better. Wolves didn’t hallucinate their bonds.Even if her scent was gone — buried, muted, human — that flash of warmth beneath my skin had been real.I stood by the window, watching her disappear down the corridor, the sound of her footsteps echoing too fast, too desperate. My hand clenched at my side.“Sir?”Mr. Seong’s voice snapped me back. He lingered by the conference table, cautious. Everyone else had already gone.“Everything alright?” he asked.“Yes,” I said, too quickly. My tone made him straighten. “Good work with the meeting. Send the final r

Kael's povThe city never slept, but tonight it felt like it was holding its breath.Rain slicked down the glass of my office windows, washing the skyline into streaks of silver and shadow. From this high up, everything looked small, manageable. Controlled.Except me.I hadn’t been able to shake it, that scent that wasn’t a scent, that flicker in the kitchen, the way my mark had burned like someone had pressed a live wire into my skin.It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be.She was gone.I’d buried that truth six years ago when I buried the last of my patience with the pack. When Maia walked away, she took everything that was left of what was human in me.And yet, standing in that boardroom earlier today, for one suspended moment, I’d felt the exact same pull. The same invisible thread tugging somewhere behind my ribs.Not the same scent, she had none. Whoever that girl was, she was masked perfectly. But that spark… my wolf had recognized it long before I could deny it.I’d watched her w

Maia's povIt had been three days since the board meeting. Three days since I’d seen him again, not as Rylan Daire, the CEO, but as Kael.My Alpha.My past.I told myself it didn’t matter. That I could live around his shadow like I had for years — work, breathe, ignore. Pretend the mark on my shoulder didn’t still hum every time he walked into the same room.But pretending only works until scent betrays you.The first time I saw him again after that night, it wasn’t at a meeting or the office. It was at the Silvercrest lounge, the kind of place where people whispered deals over wine and never looked too long at anyone. I’d been called there to deliver a report — updates on the new restaurant branch, cost adjustments, supplier lists.Work. Simple. Safe.Until the elevator opened.And there he was.Kael — or Damon, or whatever mask he wore for the city — standing at the bar with his fiancée.Her laughter carried first, light and practiced. Her hand rested on his arm, possessive.She loo

Maia's povI sat by the window of my tiny apartment, city lights flickering through the rain. My shirt sleeve was rolled up, and there it was the mark that should have faded six years ago.I pressed my thumb hard against it, trying to smother the glow, trying to convince myself it was just stress. Just exhaustion. Just a trick of memory.But deep down, I knew better. The bond never lies.I’d run from the pack, from Kael, from the blood-soaked war that tore our lands apart. I’d run to this city to be no one—no Alpha’s mate, no lost heir, no shadow of what I used to be. Just Maia Hayes, head chef at Silvercrest Events.And yet here he was again. Kael. Damon. Whatever name he used in this glass-and-steel world.I had thought he would never find me. But fate had a cruel sense of humor.My phone buzzed on the counter. I nearly jumped.From: Mr. Han'Emergency board meeting tomorrow morning. You’ll represent the culinary division. Corporate presence mandatory.'My stomach twisted. Corporate