Chapter 59 MORE CONSEQUENCES
MERRIELYNN.
It had been four days since I accidentally marked Cormac.
Four days of trying to avoid him, pretending like nothing had changed, and hoping he’d do the same.
We passed each other in the halls like strangers, but every time, I could feel the tension crackling between us, pulling tighter and tighter, like a rubber band about to snap. My heart raced every time I saw him, but I kept my head down and walked by as if he wasn’t there. If he noticed, he didn’t show it.
At least, not until after lunch that day.
I was heading to class, my stomach still twisting from the nerves that came with knowing Cormac was somewhere nearby. I’d seen him sitting with his friends, laughing like nothing was wrong, but every now and then, I’d catch him looking my way. His gaze burned through me, and I knew this uneasy peace wouldn’t last.
I didn’t expect it to break so soon.
The moment the hallway cleared out, I felt a hand wrap around my wrist, tugging me sharply to the side. “What the—” I started to protest, but the words died on my tongue when I saw who it was.
Him.
He didn’t say anything, just pulled me into the janitor’s closet and shut the door behind us.
The small room was cramped and dimly lit, and the smell of cleaning supplies made my nose wrinkle. But none of that mattered because Cormac was standing so close that I could feel the heat radiating off him. His eyes were wild, crazed almost, and his chest rose and fell like he’d been running.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, yanking my arm free.
“We need to talk,” he said, his voice low and rough.
I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to put some distance between us, but there was nowhere to go. “This couldn’t wait until after school?”
“No,” he snapped, running a hand through his hair. It was then that I noticed how tense he looked, how strained his every movement was, like he was holding himself together by sheer willpower. Something was wrong.
“What’s going on with you?” I asked, frowning.
He hesitated, his jaw tightening like he was trying to decide whether or not to tell me. Then he exhaled sharply, meeting my eyes. "I’m going into a rut.”
The words hit me like a fucking slap.
I stared at him, my mind racing. “What?”
“You heard me,” he growled accusingly. “Thanks to you.”
His words were like a punch to the gut. My stomach dropped, and I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe. “You’re saying this is my fault?”
I wracked my brain for ever single thing I knew about ruts.
Everything I knew about mate bonds.
Male wolves didn’t handle situations like these the way females did.
Their wolves had less control.
Cormac didn’t answer right away. He looked at me, his expression torn between anger and something else I couldn’t quite place. “I’m saying,” he said slowly, “that you marked me. And now my body thinks it has a sick... claim to it's mate. But it doesn’t, not really. And that’s a problem.”
I pressed my back against the wall, my heart pounding. “Okay, so what does that mean? What are you saying?”
Goddess, please don’t let him say what I know he’s about to say.
He stepped closer, and I couldn’t help but notice how the air in the small room seemed to shift, growing heavier, hotter. “It means,” he said, his voice low, “that if this keeps going, I’m going to lose control. My wolf isn’t going to care about logic or choice. It’s going to take what it wants. And that’s you.”
I stared at him, horrified. “You can’t be serious.”
“I wish I wasn’t,” he said, his tone almost apologetic. “But that’s how it works. When an unmated male goes into rut, there are only two ways to stop it.”
I didn’t want to hear what he was about to say, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “What ways?”
He held my gaze, his eyes dark and intense. “Either I mark my mate… or I mate her.”
Sex.
He meant sex.
The words hung between us, heavy and suffocating. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Cormac, this is insane. You can’t expect me to—”
“I’m not expecting anything,” he cut me off, his voice sharp. “I’m just telling you how it is. This isn’t something I can control. And if it gets bad enough, I won’t be able to stop myself.”
I shook my head, panic rising in my chest. “There has to be another way. There has to be.”
“There isn’t,” he said firmly. “You know that as well as I do.”
I felt like the ground had been pulled out from under me. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t supposed to happen. “Why are you telling me this now?” I whispered.
“Because you need to understand what’s at stake,” he said, his voice softening. “I’m giving you a choice, Merrielynn. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to lose control. But if this keeps going, the consequences are...” he stopped, clenching his jaw.
I stared at him, my mind spinning.
He was serious.
Dead serious.
And the worst part was, I knew he was right. I’d heard the stories, the warnings about what happened to unmated males in close proximity to their mates during rut. I just never thought I’d be the one in the middle of it.
“This isn’t fair,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I know,” he said, his expression pained. “But it’s reality. And you’re the only one who can stop this.”
I wanted to scream, to cry, to hit something. But none of that would change the situation we were in.
I didn't want him to mark me.
But I didn't want to sleep with him either.
His jaw tightened, and for a moment, he didn’t answer. “I’ll do my best to stay away from you,” he said finally. “But I can’t promise that’ll be enough. If my wolf takes over…”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence. I knew what he meant.
I closed my eyes, trying to calm the storm of emotions swirling inside me. Anger, fear, guilt—they all fought for control, leaving me feeling raw and exposed. “I need time to think,” I said, my voice shaky.
Cormac nodded, stepping back to give me space. “Take all the time you need,” he said, his tone softer now.
I opened my eyes and looked at him, taking in the tension in his shoulders, the desperation in his eyes. He was holding on by a thread, and we both knew it.
Without another word, he opened the door and stepped out, leaving me alone in the closet. I leaned against the wall, trying to catch my breath, but it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room.
What the hell was I supposed to do?
Cormac was right. This wasn’t fair. None of it was. But it was happening, whether I liked it or not. And the choice he’d given me wasn’t really a choice at all. If I didn’t do something, his rut would take over, and I’d pay the price for it.
But could I really go through with it? Could I let him mark me—or worse, sleep with him—just to fix a problem I never meant to cause?
I didn’t have an answer. All I knew was that the clock was ticking, and the weight of what came next was pressing down on me like a ton of bricks.
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself, but the truth was, I didn’t know if I could handle this. I didn’t know if I was strong enough.
But one way or another, I was about to find out.