22

22
NADINE'S pov

The taste of him lingered on my lips long after the kiss ended. Even after the noble was dragged from the hall, even after the council scattered like frightened birds, I stood there trembling. I wanted to scrub my mouth raw, to erase the heat he’d branded onto me in front of them all. But beneath the shame and fury, there was something worse, something I couldn’t fight.

The bond.

It sang in my veins all night, restless, relentless.

\---

By morning, I sat in Luna’s chambers staring at my reflection, eyes hollow, lips chapped from biting them through the night. My chest ached, not from grief this time but from the war I waged inside myself.

Why had I kissed him back? Even if just for a moment. Why had my wolf clawed so desperately to answer him?

I pressed my fingers to my temples, whispering to the empty room. “You are not his. You will never be his.”

But my wolf only growled low, amused at the lie.

I shoved away from the mirror. The day blurred, servants coming in and out, eyes full of judgment as they placed my breakfast before me, though I barely touched it. Whispers lingered in the hallways: The king kissed her… Did you see the way he looked at her? Each murmur sank like stones in my stomach.

By the time the sun sank and shadows stretched long across the walls, I was raw and restless.

That was when I felt it.

His presence.

Madden entered the chambers without knocking, as though the room was only an extension of his will. He stood in the doorway, tall and unmovable, golden eyes fixed on me. I froze where I sat, heart thundering against my ribs.

“Still pretending, little wolf?” His voice was quiet, dangerous.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, too quickly.

He stepped closer. Each pace was deliberate, predatory. His coat brushed against his legs, the dark fabric making him look even more inhuman. By the time he stopped in front of me, my breath was uneven.

“You can lie to yourself,” he said, leaning down so his face was a breath from mine. “But you can’t lie to the bond. It burns, doesn’t it?”

I turned my head away, staring at the floor. “It burns like a chain. That’s all.”

His fingers caught my chin, forcing me to look at him. His grip wasn’t cruel, but it was unyielding. “Chains don’t make your pulse race like that. Chains don’t make you tremble.”

“I tremble because you terrify me,” I snapped, though my voice broke halfway.

His eyes darkened, the corner of his mouth curving in something between a smirk and a snarl. He released me suddenly, the absence of his touch leaving my skin colder than I wanted to admit.

“You can deny me all you want, Nadine,” he said, straightening, his voice now low and dangerous. “But you’ll never deny what you are. What we are.”

“I am not yours,” I spat, rising to my feet. My nails dug crescents into my palms. “I never was.”

The silence between us was unbearable. His jaw clenched, his gaze burning with a fury that looked close to breaking. For a moment I thought he’d snap, grab me, force me, crush my protest beneath his dominance.

But instead, he laughed. Quiet, sharp, bitter.

“Not mine?” He moved toward the door, pausing only long enough to look back at me over his shoulder. “You’ll say otherwise soon enough. Your body remembers me, even if your mind doesn’t.”

And then he was gone.

The door slammed shut, leaving me trembling in the empty chambers.

I staggered back to the bed, my legs weak beneath me. I curled into myself, pressing my forehead to my knees, willing the tears not to fall. My skin still burned where his hand had touched me, my chest still heaved with the echo of his nearness.

Hate. Rage. Grief. Desire. They all tangled inside me, choking me like a snare.

I whispered to myself, to my wolf, to the silence that answered me:

“You will not win, Madden. You will not.”

But even as I spoke, the bond pulsed, deep and unyielding.

And I knew, he had already begun to unravel me.

The air between us snapped like a live wire as his lips pressed against mine again. It wasn’t gentle, nothing about Madden ever was, it was fierce, claiming, burning through every fragile wall I had built around myself. My hands should have shoved him away, but instead, they curled against his chest, clinging to the heat that bled from him into me. His mouth moved against mine like he had waited centuries for it, like denial and fury had only sharpened the hunger.

“Madden, ” I tried to whisper his name, tried to breathe, but he swallowed the sound. His body pressed mine back against the cold stone wall of his chambers, and my pulse thundered so loudly I thought the whole palace could hear it.

The bond surged. My wolf howled inside me, clawing at the surface, begging, no, demanding, I give in. His hand slid to my waist, pulling me tight against him, the heat of his body drowning me in forbidden need. I hated myself for the shiver that tore through me.

“Stop fighting me, Nadine,” he growled against my lips, his voice raw, almost broken. “You feel it. You want this as much as I do.”

“I don’t, ” My protest cracked. Even I could hear the lie in it.

His hand tangled in my hair, tilting my face up, forcing me to look into those storm-dark eyes. His pupils were blown wide, his breathing ragged. “Then why are you trembling like this?” he demanded, his words a cruel, intimate whisper.

Because of you. Because of me. Because the bond is ripping me apart.

But I couldn’t say it. Couldn’t give him that power.

He kissed me again, rougher, deeper, his tongue sliding past my lips, his body grinding into mine until my knees nearly buckled. For a dizzy, dangerous moment, I wanted nothing more than to let him devour me whole, to forget the betrayal and the lies, to surrender to the fire only he could ignite.

His hand brushed the hem of my dress, fingers teasing up my thigh, and that was when terror struck through the haze of desire.

No. No, I couldn’t let this happen. If I gave in, if I let him take me, there would be no going back.

With a desperate surge of strength, I tore myself from his hold, gasping for air as though I had been drowning. Madden’s eyes followed me, blazing, his chest heaving, his jaw clenched so hard I thought it might shatter.

I stumbled backward, shaking, before spinning on my heel and fleeing. My bare feet slapped against the cold stone floors as I ran through the corridors, ignoring the startled looks of servants and guards. I didn’t care. I just needed to escape.

The night air hit me like a slap when I burst into the palace gardens. Cool, fragrant, laced with roses and damp earth. I pressed a hand to my lips, still swollen from his kiss, my chest rising and falling as though I had sprinted for miles.

And even out here, with the stars above and the wind in my hair, I could still feel him. His taste. His scent. His claim.

My wolf whimpered inside me.

I hated him.

I wanted him.

And I had no idea which would destroy me first.