Chapter 10 Ten
For a long moment, no one moved. The forest stood utterly still, as if even the wind held its breath. Ezra’s declaration hung between us like a spell, thick and heavy, impossible to ignore. I felt it inside me like a second heartbeat, a pulse that did not belong to my own body yet echoed through it with undeniable truth.
Orion stepped slightly in front of me again, but I could feel his hesitation. The bond was too strong. Even he could sense it now. His shoulders stiffened as the weight of reality settled deeper on him. He had always been certain I would be his. But the bond chose differently, and fate had never been kinder to him.
Ezra kept his gaze locked on me, not Orion. His eyes did not shine with triumph or arrogance. They held something gentler, something steady and unshakable. A certainty I did not want to see. A certainty that terrified me more than anything.
“Zara,” Ezra said softly. “Come here.”
The words brushed against my senses with a strange warmth. Not a command. Not a demand. A pull. A call. Something inside me responded instinctively, leaning forward without my permission, drawn toward him like gravity.
Orion felt it instantly. His hand closed around my wrist and he pulled me back behind him, his voice tight with fear. “Do not go to him.”
Ezra tilted his head, his tone calm. “She is not coming because of me. She is coming because of the bond. You cannot stop it.”
Orion bared his teeth with barely restrained fury. “I can try.”
Ezra’s gaze sharpened briefly. “And you will hurt her if you do.”
Silence hit like a physical blow. Orion’s grip on my wrist loosened. He looked down at my hand, at the way my pulse jumped under his fingers. A quiet tremor ran through me, not of fear but of confusion. The bond tugged toward Ezra even as Orion tried to anchor me.
“Let her speak for herself,” Ezra said gently.
Orion’s jaw clenched. “Zara. Tell him you do not want this.”
I swallowed, struggling to breathe. “I do not want the bond,” I whispered.
Ezra did not look hurt. His voice stayed calm. “And do you feel it.”
I closed my eyes tightly. “Yes.”
The single word shattered everything. Orion stepped back as if struck. His chest rose sharply and he looked away, unable to hide the pain that tore across his face. Lola inhaled sharply behind me, hand covering her mouth.
Ezra took a slow step closer. Not threatening. Not aggressive. Just steady and sure. “It will only get stronger.”
My heart raced. “I do not want it stronger.”
“Neither did I,” Ezra said softly. “But it happened the moment you touched me.”
His eyes softened at the memory, and my cheeks burned with the same unwilling heat that had haunted me since that accidental kiss. My mind screamed to run, but my body reacted without permission.
Ezra’s presence wrapped around me like warm smoke, invading my senses, whispering reminders of that single moment of contact. My breath shook as I forced myself to stay rooted in place.
Ezra stopped several steps away, as if respecting an invisible boundary. “I will not force you. But I will not turn away from you.”
Orion turned back toward me. His voice cracked. “Zara. Look at me. Please.”
I lifted my eyes to him. He looked broken in a way I had never seen. “I love you,” he whispered. “I choose you. I still choose you.”
Tears burned my eyes. “Orion. I choose you too. I always have. But the bond…”
He shook his head, desperate. “Do not say it.”
“The bond keeps pulling me,” I said softly. “I am trying to fight it.”
Ezra closed his eyes briefly as if the words hit him too. When he opened them, something intense and unreadable swirled in his expression.
“Zara. Come closer.”
The pull hit me again. Stronger. Deeper. Warm. My breath caught and I stepped forward before I even realized I had moved. Every instinct screamed against it, but the bond ignored my mind completely.
Orion grabbed my hand again. “Zara. Stop. Please stop.”
I clenched my teeth and fought against the pull. My muscles trembled with the effort. “I am trying. I am trying so hard.”
Ezra’s voice lowered. “I can help ease it. If you let me.”
“No,” Orion snapped instantly. “You are not touching her.”
Ezra looked directly at him. “She is hurting.”
Orion’s expression twisted. “And it is your fault.”
Ezra’s jaw tightened slightly. “I did not choose the bond. Neither did she.”
Orion stepped toward him. “You did not refuse it either.”
Ezra did not waver. “You cannot refuse a mate bond. Not even you.”
I felt the pressure building inside me, like a coil tightening. My chest ached with each breath. My knees weakened. Lola gasped and stepped toward me.
“Zara. You look dizzy. Sit down.”
I tried to speak but the words tangled in my throat. Everything felt hot and electric. The air seemed thicker. Ezra felt closer, even though he had not moved.
Ezra’s voice reached me again, gentle and steady. “You need to come to me. Just enough to ease the bond. You do not have to accept me. But you need relief.”
Orion stepped in front of me sharply. “She is not going to you.”
Ezra’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Then she will collapse.”
My vision blurred for a moment and I staggered back. Orion caught me instantly and lowered me onto a fallen log. Lola pressed a hand to my forehead.
“She is burning up,” Lola whispered. “This is bad.”
Orion knelt in front of me and touched my cheek. “Zara. Look at me. Stay with me.”
I forced my eyes open. His face was the anchor I needed. But Ezra’s presence pulsed in the back of my mind like a heartbeat inside a heartbeat. Each pulse grew stronger, sharper, hotter.
Ezra took one step closer and spoke quietly. “You are in bond distress. It happens when mates stay apart after the bond sparks. The longer you fight it, the worse it becomes.”
Orion clenched his teeth. “How do you know that.”
Ezra looked at me, not him. “Because I feel it too.”
My chest squeezed painfully. The bond twisted inside me like a rope of fire. I leaned forward and clenched the fabric of my shirt.
Ezra’s voice softened. “Just come closer. Just enough for the bond to calm. You can step away afterward.”
Orion grabbed my shoulders. “Zara. I am begging you. Do not go to him. Stay here. Stay with me.”
My heart broke at the desperation in his tone. But the pain inside me grew sharper until breathing turned difficult.
Lola looked between us with wide, frightened eyes. “Orion. She is in trouble. The bond is too strong. She cannot keep fighting it like this.”
“No,” Orion said. His voice trembled. “I cannot lose her. Not to him. Not like this.”
Ezra spoke softly again. “She will not survive this if you keep her away from me.”
Orion stood slowly. His hands shook. His breathing was uneven. He looked like a man who had lost everything in a single moment.
Finally, with a broken whisper he said, “Zara. Go to him.”
My heart shattered. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I shook my head. “Orion. I do not want to hurt you.”
“You already are,” he said softly. “But if this helps you breathe, then go.”
Lola whispered, “Just go to ease the bond. Then we will figure out what comes after.”
I rose shakily to my feet. Ezra watched me with an intensity that burned through the air. When I took the first step toward him, the pain in my chest loosened slightly. Ezra’s eyes closed briefly as if he felt the same relief.
Another step. Another release of pressure.
Orion’s breath hitched behind me. Lola held his arm as if he might collapse.
When I reached Ezra, I stopped several feet away. He did not reach for me. He simply opened his hand in a quiet invitation.
“Zara,” he whispered, “give me your hand.”
My fingers trembled violently. I looked back at Orion one last time. His eyes were red. His jaw was locked. But he nodded once, silently, painfully.
I turned back to Ezra and slowly placed my hand in his.
The moment our skin touched, the bond surged through me with a rush of heat and light. My knees weakened and Ezra stepped closer instinctively, steadying me with gentle hands on my arms.
The pain dissolved instantly. The pressure faded. My heart steadied into a warm, electric rhythm that hummed through my chest.
Ezra exhaled shakily. “There you are.”
His voice wrapped around me like a whisper of warmth. My body leaned slightly toward him without my permission, drawn by the bond’s pull. He brushed a thumb lightly across the back of my hand. The touch sent a shiver through me, soft and warm.
“Zara,” he murmured, “I have waited for you.”
My breath caught.
Behind me, Orion let out a quiet, broken sound.
I pulled my hand back and stepped away from Ezra abruptly. The bond hummed in protest, but I fought it with every breath.
Ezra looked at me with a mix of longing and restraint. “You can fight it. But it will always pull you back.”
“I do not want this,” I whispered.
His voice dropped to something tender and raw. “Then why does your heartbeat match mine.”
I froze.
Because it did. Perfectly.
He heard it too.
The mate bond had spoken.
And my heart was no longer only mine.