Chapter 49 NEVER GOING BACK
Chapter 49 NEVER GOING BACK
CHAPTER 49. NEVER GOING BACK
IRIS'S POV
The constriction inside my chest mutates into a crushing, absolute weight. It is a suffocating force that drives me downward, and before I can anchor my sanity, I find my body crouching against the cold earth. I claw at the dark floorboards, my fingertips scratching frantically against the rough cobblestone of the narrow pathway where we are hiding.
Suddenly, a strange, electric energy sizzles directly through the base of my skull, exploding behind my eyelids in a brilliant flash of white static. The pressure expands, and my senses violently heighten, opening up in ways that terrify my subconscious. I can physically feel everything in the perimeter. I can feel the thick, humid drag of the night air; I can track the microscopic particles of dust, insects, and nocturnal bugs shifting through the atmosphere—things entirely invisible to the naked human eye.
The entire universe has turned incredibly, sharply focused. Beside me, Ciara’s frantic, whispering voice sounds like it’s being fed through a massive, overenhanced megaphone blaring directly into my eardrums. She is clutching at my shoulders with a desperate strength, trying to drag my weight backward into the bricks to ensure Kaelen doesn't spot us, but her commands just sound like a watery roar inside a cavern.
My body is shaking, vibrating with a primal adrenaline. My hands tremble against the stone, but my mind is too numb to realize that the violent scraping of my fingertips isn't triggering a single ounce of pain. Instead, the noise hitting the dark corridor is a sharp, metallic sound—the unmistakable screech of hard blades grinding against solid rock.
I look down, my vision tracking the movement through the shadows. A deep, cold frown pinches my forehead. Etched into the heavy cobblestone are long, jagged gouges, clean marks cut deep into the pavement. I lift my hands closer to my face, my pupils dilating as the ambient lantern light catches my fingers.
My fingernails are gone. In their place are long, curved, and dangerous claws, gleaming with an otherworldly sharpness. What the hell is happening to me? What am I turning into?
"Who is there?" Kaelen’s voice cuts through the static again, closer this time. The rich baritone vibrates through the masonry, sending a violent shiver down my spine.
I lift my head, my tensed muscles straining as I peer through the dark curtains of my crimson hair.
"We have to move. Now," Ciara growls, the panic finally breaking through her composure.
Using her supernatural strength, she yanks hard on my shoulder, dragging my weight off the floor. She lifts me up with both of her hands, forcing my trembling limbs to stand straight until I am anchored directly in front of her face. But the exact millisecond her violet eyes lock onto my features, the words die in her throat.
Ciara gasps out loud, a sharp intake of air that rattles her chest. Her fingers instantly release their grip on my jacket, and she takes two massive, frantic steps backward, her boots skidding across the pavement as her jaw drops in pure, unadulterated shock.
I stand there, panting heavily, my lips slightly parted as a thick, icy coldness expands inside my chest. I blink rapidly, trying to clear the spots from my eyes, but the witch just continues to stare at me with a deep, horrified scowl. She looks at me as though I am a creature she has never witnessed before, an abomination she doesn't recognize.
"What... what the hell are you?" she whispers, her voice shaking.
I don't offer an answer, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps. An invisible, magnetic tide pulls at my spine, spinning my torso slowly around to face the clearing.
Kaelen has broken through the perimeter of the shadows. He steps directly into our narrow space, his massive frame completely blocking out the path. He halts ten feet away, his movements fluid and predatory, and a heavy silence descends over the bricks. The gold behind his pupils is ignited, burning with a fierce, luminescent intensity that looks almost like the midday sun.
I brace my body, expecting the fury of an Alpha. I expect him to shout, to demand an explanation for our insubordination, or to bark commands at the captive witch for attempting an extraction. But he doesn't say a single word. His focus, his territorial attention, and the entire weight of his predatory aura are locked exclusively on my form. The brightness behind his eyes intensifies, casting a golden hue across his sharp cheekbones even in the dead of night.
Through the open slit of his lips, I watch his thick, white fangs slowly extend, gleaming under the stars. The joints in his large hands pop, long claws erupting from his fingertips as his wolf responds to the energy vibrating in the air. He takes a heavy, deliberate step closer. Then another.
He stops just inches from my chest, his towering mass obstructs the rest of the world. He looks down into my face, his chest heaving under his shirt. Slowly, hesitatingly, he lifts his massive hand, thrusting his long fingers deep through the waves of my crimson hair, cradling the back of my skull as if he is trying to prove to his beast that I am actually standing in front of him.
"Oh my God," Kaelen whispers, his velvet voice dropping to a low, breathless rasp.
My brows furrow, my heart hammer-hooking against my ribs. Why the hell is he looking at me like that? Why is the future leader of the pack looking at a suspected enemy with such staggering, reverent awe?
"You... you're..." He stammers, his jaw locking as he shakes his head slowly, entirely lost for words.
The spell breaks for a fraction of a second as his head snaps to the side, his golden eyes tracking the dark corner where Ciara is standing. It’s as if his subconscious is only just registering her physical presence in the room.
"What exactly is going on here, witch?" Kaelen demands, the low rumble in his chest turning openly threatening.
"Um... nothing," Ciara replies quickly, her usual defensive sarcasm completely failing her. She stammers, her fingers twisting into the fabric of her dark cloak as she takes another step back. "I was... I was just about to guide her down to the sacred circle for the ritual. I was taking her to the Elders. You know how it is."
Kaelen doesn't even bother to acknowledge the lie. He diverts his focus entirely away from her, his head snapping back to lock onto my face. He places both of his warm, broad hands on either side of my cheeks, his thumbs caressing my tensed skin as he gazes down into my soul.
Something is fundamentally, infinitely wrong with my system right now. I don't know what kind of chemical transformation is taking possession of my biology, but looking up into his dark, sculpted face, watching those molten gold eyes burn down into mine, a wild, volcanic hunger erupts at the very pit of my stomach. Every ounce of my human restraint evaporates into the night air. My hands move on pure, primal instinct, sliding slowly up the heavy muscles of his broad chest, tracking the thick contours until my fingers twist into the fabric of his clothing, pulling his massive body so close our hearts beat as one.
I know you want him, a voice whispers.
The sound is a low, seductive hiss echoing directly inside my eardrums, a phantom current I can barely register through the rush of adrenaline. But it comes anyway, slick and unyielding.
You want him, don't you, Iris? Take him. He belongs to your beast. He is yours. He is all yours. Stop fighting the bond. A dangerous scowl pinches my forehead. What the hell? Before the logic can return to my brain, a sudden surge of raw power explodes from my center. I move with an impossible, supernatural speed, swiveling my hips and throwing our combined weight against the masonry. With a heavy thud, I pin his massive frame flat against the stone wall.
To my absolute, staggering surprise, the future Alpha doesn't offer a single ounce of resistance. He doesn't fight back. Kaelen just looks down at me, his golden eyes wide with a profound, breathtaking wonder, staring into my face as if he cannot believe the miracle he is holding in his arms.
"Unbelievable," he whispers against my cheek.
He reaches down, his large, powerful arms wrapping tightly around my waist, lifting my hips and pressing my soft form so close against the hard contours of his body that the air leaves my lungs. He tilts his head, his full lips descending until they lightly, teasingly brush against mine.
The friction is a spark inside a powder keg. I wrap my arms tightly around his neck, digging my new claws into the leather of his jacket, holding his body with every tensed muscle in my entire system. What am I doing? The human part of my brain screams the question, but it’s entirely too late. The civilized thoughts are drowned out by a wild, sovereign current that has completely taken over my senses.
"God, Iris... you have absolutely no idea how many months I’ve been waiting to hold you like this," Kaelen whispers against my mouth, his breath hot and intoxicating.
"Okay... can the both of you seriously not execute this little mating display right here, right now?" Ciara’s sharp voice cuts through the darkness from the edge of the path. She sounds deeply irritated, her footsteps pacing nervously against the stone. "I am still standing right here, you know. And I promise you, the high Council is not going to be pleased when they find you lounging in an alleyway."
But I can barely register the warning. Her voice is nothing more than background noise, a distant vibration that means absolutely nothing to the hunger screaming in my blood.
Something is infinitely, beautifully wrong with my reality. I don't know what kind of creature I am becoming, but I have completely lost the ability to battle the descent. I cannot fight the current anymore. The invisible, golden cord I felt earlier—the pull that had been dragging at my belly across the campus—tightens with the force of an iron shackle, binding our souls together in an absolute, unbreakable loop. The internal ache turns unbearable.
Losing my mind entirely, I grab the dark waves of his hair, twisting my fingers deep into the locks to yank his head down, and press my lips firmly against his. I’ve had enough of the hesitation. I’ve had enough of the fear. I am losing myself in the fire, and I am never going back.