CHAPTER 4
Their hearts will be tested, and something happens between Daniel raw dominance and forest smoke tangled with something warmer she couldn't name.
When the silence thickened, the hairs at the back of her neck rose.
He was there.
Mia froze, her rag slipping from her hand. Slowly, she lifted her head. Daniel stood in the doorway, half-shadowed, his golden eyes burning like fire in the dark.
She scrambled to her feet, lowering her gaze instantly. "Alpha," she whispered, voice trembling.
For a long moment, he said nothing. His steps were slow, deliberate, echoing in the empty hall as he moved closer. Her heart hammered so violently she thought it might leap from her chest.
When he stopped in front of her, the air shifted, charged and heavy. She kept her head bowed, but her body was painfully aware of his nearness, of the heat radiating from him, of the raw power in his stillness.
"Look at me," he commanded.
Her breath caught. Slowly, unwillingly, her chin lifted. Their eyes met, and the world narrowed to just the two of them. His stare was searing, unreadable, both cruel and hungry.
For a moment, no one breathed.
Then, faster than she could react, he moved. His hand shot out, gripping her wrist, dragging her forward until her chest nearly collided with his. A sharp gasp escaped her lips. She felt the strength in his hold, the heat of his body, the unyielding dominance in the way he towered over her.
"You think I don't feel it?" His voice was low, rough, almost a growl. "This bond. This... pull. Do you know how much I hate it?"
Her lips parted, but no words came. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe. His breath brushed her cheek, his grip on her wrist tightening until her pulse thundered against his fingers.
Daniel's head lowered, his lips brushing dangerously close to hers, though he didn't close the distance. His eyes burned into hers, torn between desire and defiance.
"I rejected you," he whispered, voice jagged with conflict. "And yet..." His chest rose sharply, his wolf growling beneath the surface. "...all I want is to claim you."
Mia's knees weakened, her body betraying her with the way it leaned into him, the way her breath trembled with need. His free hand lifted, brushing against her jaw, tilting her face up further. For the briefest moment, she thought he might kiss her.
But then, with a guttural curse, he shoved her back.
The space between them burned like fire and ice.
His chest heaved, his golden eyes blazing with rage, not at her, but at himself. "Stay out of my sight," he snarled, voice laced with fury and something darker.
And then he was gone, vanishing into the shadows as quickly as he had appeared
Mia stood trembling, her wrist tingling from his touch, her lips burning with the ghost of what almost was. Tears filled her eyes, not from pain, but from the terrifying truth.
She was his mate. He could deny it with words, with cruelty, with rejection. But his body had already betrayed him.
And hers had betrayed her too.