Chapter 115
Elena's POV
When we broke apart again, both gasping, his forehead rested against mine. His eyes had changed, pupils blown wide, that amber-gold color rising to the surface. In the moonlight filtering through the trees, they almost seemed to glow.
"Look at me," he commanded softly.
I did. God, I did.
"If I marked you right now," he said, voice dropping to something dangerous and primal, "if I bit down on that pretty neck and claimed you the way every instinct in my body is screaming at me to—do you think you could still go through with the engagement?"
His hand moved to my throat, fingers tracing the line of my neck. The touch sent electricity racing through my veins, and my body responded to him in ways that both terrified and thrilled me.
I couldn't answer. Couldn't think past the feeling of his fingers on my skin, the heat of his body pressed against mine, the way his eyes were completely gold now, his wolf rising to the surface.
"One bite," he murmured, and I felt his breath hot against my neck. "That's all it would take. One permanent mark and you'd be mine forever. Damon wouldn't want you. Your father couldn't sell you. The whole damn arrangement would fall apart."
The words died when I felt the sharp edge of his canines against my skin, not breaking the surface but so close, so painfully close. My body went rigid, some part of my brain finally screaming that this was wrong, that letting him claim me in desperation wasn't the answer, that even if it solved everything else, we'd both regret it.
Then, suddenly, he went completely still.
For several seconds, neither of us moved. I felt the tension in his body, the way he was trembling with the effort of restraint. Then, slowly, agonizingly, he pulled away.
His hand fell from my neck. His eyes, still that unnatural amber-gold, looked at me with a mixture of hunger and horror.
"I almost—" He cut himself off, taking another step back. "Fuck."
The air between us felt electric, charged with everything that had nearly happened. My heart was still racing, my skin still burning where he'd touched me.
When he finally dropped his hand, his eyes had returned to normal.
Temporarily.
"I need a reason." His words came out low and strained. "Don't tell me it's about your mother. I already gave you a solution for that."
He was right. My mother was just an excuse I could grasp onto. But beneath it were all the other reasons I couldn't say out loud—I didn't deserve him, that I'd already hurt him too many times, that taking his money and his future and his freedom would make me just another person who used him and left him with nothing.
I didn't want to reduce what we had to a transaction, a trap, a cage.
I took a shaking breath, forcing my voice to steady even as my heart shattered. "I've thought about it. Why would I settle for a bastard when I could marry the legitimate heir and become a proper Luna? Being with you would only ruin my reputation."
The word bastard tasted like poison on my tongue, but I forced it out anyway. It was the one thing I knew would cut deep enough to make him let go, the one wound that had never fully healed.
Caleb didn't respond. He just stood there, still as a statue. I watched the last flicker of hope die in his eyes, watched his face go cold and distant. I'd driven the knife in deep enough that he'd stop trying to save me.
I turned and walked away, my vision blurred with tears I refused to let fall until I was out of sight. Behind me, I heard nothing. No footsteps following, no voice calling me back.
Just silence, vast and final, like a door closing forever.
---
I locked myself in the guest bathroom, sliding down against the cold marble wall until I hit the floor. My reflection stared back at me from the mirror—lips slightly swollen with a small cut where Caleb had kissed too hard, face pale like I'd lost several pints of blood. Eyes rimmed red.
I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on my face, trying to wake myself from this nightmare. But all I could see was his expression when I'd said those words. Each syllable had been a silver blade stabbing into my own chest.
I'd done exactly what those childhood bullies had done to him. I'd weaponized his deepest wound.
Tears spilled over without my permission. I bit down hard on my lip, tasting copper, refusing to make a sound.
I couldn't hide in here forever. I forced myself to stand, to fix my face as best I could, then returned to the living room.
Isabella sat on the sofa with Damon beside her. Both looked up as I entered.
"Are you alright, dear?" Isabella's gaze landed on my split lip. "What happened?"
"Stomach pain." The lie came easily now. "I bit my lip."
"If it hurts that badly, you should see a doctor—"
"I'm fine." I turned to grab my coat. "I should go. Thank you for having me."
Damon stood. "I'll drive you."
"No need." Too quick. I softened my tone. "I'll call a car. Stay with your mother."
Isabella touched my arm gently. "We'll discuss the engagement details with your father this week. The venue, the dress—"
I nodded mechanically, not really listening. I just wanted to leave this house, to get away from that bell tower where I'd just destroyed everything.
Outside, the cold hit my face like a slap. I pulled out my phone with shaking hands and called for a ride. Somewhere in the darkness beyond the security lights, Caleb might still be standing there. But I couldn't look back. If I looked back, I'd shatter completely.
---
That night I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Moonlight filtered through the curtains, casting shadows that looked like prison bars.
My parents were both asleep. The house was silent, but my thoughts were anything but quiet.
I kept seeing his face. The moment hope died in his eyes, replaced by that terrible, familiar emptiness.
I had put that look there. Me.
He'll never forgive you, a voice whispered in my head.
Everything was ruined. Ruined by me.
Sleep didn't come. I just lay there in the darkness, tears leaking out endlessly.