Chapter 80 - His Unmaking
Chapter 80 - His Unmaking
Evren
He ground his teeth, fingers flexing at his sides as the words tumbled out despite every instinct screaming to hold them back.
"The bond. This thing between us—you made it real with him." His voice trembled with heat he couldn't hide, rage and something uglier curling beneath.
Jaquelyn peered at him through tear-swollen amber eyes, confusion and pain mixing. "What the hell are you even talking about?"
He let out a rough, ragged breath, chest heaving, fighting the bond's pull. "Don't pretend you don't feel it. Don't act like you don't know what this does to the rest of us."
The words felt like claws dragging through his ribs, every confession ripping him open. He refused to look at the others, focused on her like it was life or death. This wasn't for them. This was for her.
He raked a hand through his hair, voice rising, broken. "I thought you were a shifter. That's what you smelled like when we met." He paused, closing his eyes, inhaling her scent, all open fields and deep forests.
"Female. Compatible. It made sense in that fucked-up way these things do. It felt like it was supposed to happen eventually. I told myself I had time. I thought I could let it wait, let it sit without forcing you. Let you feel it."
His hands moved helplessly, as if to catch words before they fell.
"But then you—" His voice cracked, bitter, raw. "You went and bonded with the vampire. Claimed. Marked. Made it real with him. You can't do that twice. It doesn't work that way—it doesn't break, it doesn't share, it doesn't let go."
He shook his head violently, voice tumbling out in a snarl that almost broke. "Now it's done. It's ruined. And I'm still fucking feeling it, every goddamn moment."
His voice dropped lower, gravelly with despair he couldn't swallow.
"I avoided this my whole life. Never wanted a bond. Never wanted to be that tied to anyone. But you... gods, you pulled at me so hard I couldn't fucking ignore it. Even when I tried. Even when I told myself I'd wait, told myself I'd be patient. And now I can't turn it off. I can't stop. And I fucking hate that I don't want to."
His voice faltered for a second, eyes burning as he dragged in a breath.
"I told myself I wouldn't do this. That I'd never let anyone in like that. I've seen what it does. How it ruins people. Makes them weak. Makes them need."
He shook his head, voice cracking. "I didn't want that. I didn't want you to be that for me. But you were. You are."
He looked away, jaw tight, breath shuddering. "And I fucking hate it because I can't even pretend it's not true anymore."
Jaquelyn blinked at him, eyes wet and confused, then slowly stepped forward. Her hand lifted, trembling a little, before she brushed his cheek with the lightest touch. The bond flared between them at the contact—hot, immediate, undeniable.
He held completely still, breath ragged, the urge to lean into her touch battling the fury coiled tight in his chest. The bond between them roared like fire in his blood, hot and demanding, promising connection even as he tried to snarl it away.
His fingers twitched like they might rise to cover her hand but stayed at his sides. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had touched him like this without expectation or threat. Even as he burned, he felt something like relief crack his ribs open.
He sucked in a breath, feeling it thrum in his bones, the mate bond still there for them even though he could feel her uncertainty like a wall. She wasn't sure what he meant, not really. She just knew he was hurting. Her fingers stayed on his face, gentle, her voice soft and rough with leftover tears.
She didn't know. She really didn't. And that hurt in a new way, softer and sharper all at once.
"Evren... I really don't know what you're talking about."
And he believed her.
He swallowed hard, blinking as something shifted in his chest.
The bond between them pulsed again, but this time it felt different—less like a chain, more like an open door he hadn't seen. He realized with a sick twist of clarity that her sleeping with Ezekial hadn't killed it. It hadn't stopped this thing from forming between them. As much as he would like to wish that it had.
The mate bond was still there for him. It was his. And it was real, even if she'd never chosen it, even if she didn't even know it existed. He felt the heat drain out of him, leaving only confusion and something that hurt like hope.
He let out a long, ragged exhale he didn't even realize he was holding. "The mating bond." He whispered
His heart pounded so loud he was sure she could hear it. The bond between them pulsed, electric, begging him to close the space even more. He felt the beast in him pacing, clawing, wanting to claim her, to soothe her, to make her see. He hated it and needed it in the same breath.
His fingers twitched, curling into fists at his sides, knuckles whitening as he fought the urge to grab her, to pull her closer, to bury his face in her hair and just breathe her in.
He didn't know if he wanted to snarl at her or bury himself in her arms. He felt stripped bare, too seen, too vulnerable.
In that moment he realized how badly he wanted her to understand him—not the anger or the jealousy but the ache he couldn't smother. The bond's hum softened to something that felt like pleading, pulling at the spaces between them. Evren closed his eyes against the sting, throat working as he swallowed back everything he couldn't say.
Coren cleared his throat somewhere to the side, voice low but cutting through the silence. "So... for those of us who don't know." His words were dry, skeptical, but not mocking—more like he genuinely wanted an explanation for the raw, confusing spectacle they'd all just witnessed.
"What's a mating bond?"