17. Carter
Carter
A few minutes later, she’s still quiet.
Too quiet.
She’s curled into my side, limbs tangled with mine, skin slick and glowing from the high we just shared— but something’s off.
Her breathing’s gone shallow.
Her body’s gone stiff.
Like her heart is still here, but her brain just caught up to what the fuck I did.
What I took.
“Kitten?” I ask, low and gentle, brushing her curls back from her cheek. “You okay?”
She blinks up at me, dazed.
Those kiss-swollen lips are still parted. Her cheeks are flushed. She looks like sex and sin and everything I’ve ever wanted— but her eyes?
Her eyes are not okay.
“You bit me.”
Her voice is soft.
Not angry. Not shocked.
But definitely not happy.
Not even close.
“I—I didn’t mean to.”
The words tumble out, hoarse and cracked.
“I mean, I did, but I lost control. Fuck, MJ. I didn’t mean to pressure you. I swear. You said you were mine, and I just—something snapped. I felt it. The bond. You?—”
“You didn’t mean to?” she cuts in, her tone clipped, sharp like broken glass. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, should I, Carter? You told me you didn’t want a mate.”
That hits harder than any punch I’ve taken in my life.
Harder than any fist.
Harder than the guilt I’ve buried under a lifetime of regrets.
“I didn’t,” I admit. “But I was wrong. I didn’t know you existed when I made that decision.”
She laughs .
But it’s hollow.
Cracked.
The kind of laugh you let out when everything inside you is coming apart and you’re trying to hold it together with tape and tears.
“And now what? I’m just supposed to believe you changed your mind? Like that?” She snaps her fingers. “I’m supposed to think you really want me now—just because your Lion finally decided I’m worth keeping?”
“No,” I say, reaching for her. “I decided. Me. Carter. Not the beast. I want you. I love?—”
She jerks away from me so fast, I barely catch the flick of panic in her eyes before she’s already moving.
Off the settee.
Away from me.
Fast.
Pulling her skirt down so the material covers her up, fumbling with it, but putting it between us like armor— and I hate it . I hate that she is upset and that she’s putting up walls.
But what can I do?
Her heels click across the floor as she rights them and takes a few steps back.
Her hands are shaking.
And so is her voice .
“Sex is one thing, Carter. I was prepared for that. I wanted that.”
She swallows, then chokes out, “But your bite? I didn’t ask for that. I don’t want to be tied to someone who doesn’t want me?—”
“MJ, I want you!”
“No, you don’t! You don’t just get to flip a switch when it’s convenient for your dick. Or because you got jealous that I talked to a few other guys tonight.”
I flinch like she slapped me.
“That’s not what this is?—”
“Oh my God,” she cuts me off, her eyes wild now. “You’re like a toddler, Carter! You saw someone else look at me and what—decided I was yours? Just because you wanted to mark your territory?”
I try to speak. I do. But there’s no breath in my lungs.
Because she’s not wrong.
And it kills me.
“I don’t want to be bound to someone who only wants me when he’s afraid someone else might,” she says, her voice trembling. “I deserve more than that. And you know what? I demand more than that. So whatever this is—whatever you think this is? No, I don’ t want it.”
I flinch again.
She’s gutting me.
Carving out my chest with every word and leaving nothing but splinters behind.
Her eyes shine.
But not with lust.
With pain.
With betrayal.
And then—she turns.
And she’s gone.
Out the door.
Down the stairs.
Gone like smoke through my fucking fingers.
And I just stay there.
Frozen.
Staring at the empty space she left behind like maybe, if I wish hard enough, she’ll come back.
She doesn’t.
The silence swallows me whole.
Only the scent of her lingers— salt and heat and sugar and sex.
Her tears still on my skin. Her heartbeat still echoing in mine.
And all I can do is whisper, “Shit,” like that’s going to fix anything.
Like that’s enough .
I drag a hand down my face, my chest heaving, pulse thudding like war drums under my skin.
I want to chase her.
God, I need to.
But the way she looked at me?
Like I was just some possessive asshole who took what he wanted without thinking about the wreckage he’d leave behind?
That look will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Because she’s not wrong.
I was selfish.
I did mark her before I earned her trust.
Before I told her what she meant.
Before I told her who the fuck I really was.
So, yeah, she ran.
And now?
Now I have to become the man who’s worthy of chasing her.
Even if it takes everything I’ve got.
Even if it kills me.
Because this time?
I’m not just fighting for a mate.
I’m fighting for my future.
For our forever.
And I’ll do whatever it takes to earn it. I owe her that and so much more .
“I’m coming for you, Mate,” I whisper into the night.
A vow. A promise.
I am coming for her.
And when I do?
I’m never letting her walk away again.