He was kissing me again.

I didn't even know what hit me.

One second Kai's lips were on mine like I was air and he hadn’t breathed in years, and the next... my stomach clenched and twisted so hard I nearly gagged. Not because the kiss was bad. No, that was the problem. It was too good. Too real. Too... familiar. Like a place I used to live in, a place that should’ve felt like home.

But I wasn’t home. I was in a stranger’s arms. A killer’s arms.

He was a stranger. I felt a knot in my stomach tightening. I was suddenly filled with so much rage that I shivered.

My eyes were still on him, wide and dazed. I stepped back, nearly stumbled. My hand flew to my lips like I could wipe off the memory of it. My heartbeat was loud in my ears.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, but my voice cracked, so it sounded more like a whisper than the angry demand it was meant to be.

Kai's eyebrows knit together. "I thought—I mean, you didn't push me away."

"I should've," I snapped, but my throat felt like it was closing up. I looked away, chest rising and falling fast. "Do you... love me?"

That got him. His head jerked like he didn’t expect that one. His lips parted. "I... I probably will."

Wrong answer.

I laughed. Loud and bitter and ugly. My nails were digging into my palm and I didn’t even care. "So, not now? Not even after everything?"

He looked confused. "Chiara, what are you—"

"Did you ever love me? Back then? Or was it always Bridget?"

He frowned deeper. His hands were twitching, like he didn’t know what to do with them.

"I don't understand what you're talking about, I only dated Bridget because she stole your scent."

"No. Answer me. Did you ever love me enough to believe me? Or was it always easier to believe her lies than my truth?" I know I wasn't being reasonable, he probably didn't know what I was talking about.

Obviously.

He opened his mouth, then shut it.

"Exactly," I muttered.

I could feel my wolf pushing up inside me, clawing at my chest. She was hurt. She ached. All she wanted was to be free of this mess. This tie. This bond.

"It was the bond," I said out loud before I could stop myself. "That's what this is. It's not love. It's the bond trying to trick us."

He looked taken aback.

"You want to break it?" he asked, voice low.

I stared at him. Then nodded. "Yes. I want to reject you."

His whole face changed. That softness he’d been wearing since I got here? Gone. Replaced by something hard, sharp. Something I remembered too well.

Something from the day I died.

"If you reject me, my father will have your head."

There it was. The threat. Not even dressed up pretty.

I smiled, but it felt broken. "So you’re still that guy, huh. The same one who let Bridget destroy everything and called it justice."

"No," he said too fast.

And for a moment I thought he knew just what I was talking about.

"Then reject me," I whispered.

He was quiet. So quiet it felt like the walls held their breath too.

"Do you hate me that much?" he asked.

I looked up. His eyes weren’t hard anymore. They looked... tired. And so blue I hated it.

I swallowed. My lips trembled. I looked down. "Yes."

He stepped forward, lifted my chin with two fingers. My whole body locked up.

"I know you want me," he said, eyes burning. "We’re mates. I feel it."

I opened my mouth to argue but nothing came out.

"Look me in the eyes," he said. "Tell me you don’t want me, and I’ll reject you."

I glared. I wanted to. I wanted to scream it in his face. I wanted to punch him and spit and laugh. But the words...

The door burst open.

"Oh, Alpha Kai! I’m so sorry!" Mom rushed in like a storm. She was panting like she’d run the whole way.

Kai stepped back, his face unreadable.

"We have to go," she said, grabbing my hand. "Preparations for the wedding."

Kai’s mouth curved into something bitter. "There won't be a wedding. Not anytime soon."

He didn’t wait for our reaction. He just looked at me one last time—that gaze slicing into me—and then walked out like none of it mattered.

Mom blinked. "What was that about?"

I shrugged. My chest felt like someone had carved it open with claws.

On the way back, I kept replaying it. Did he say that to spite me? Or... was he protecting me? I hated that I didn’t know. That I couldn’t even trust my own head anymore.

Back home, the drama was still alive and loud.

Bridget was crying in the living room like someone died. Michael had an arm around her. Again. I almost rolled my eyes into the next century.

"I hate her," she cried.

"Gladly switch places," I said flatly, stepping past them.

"Nobody even wants you here!" she screamed after me.

"Perfect," I called back, not bothering to stop. "Door's that way."

I slammed my bedroom door and threw myself on the bed. My face buried in the pillow. My body felt heavy. I wanted to sleep. Or scream. Or break something.

I did none of that. I fell asleep, surprisingly.

Next morning, I dragged myself out of bed and into the kitchen. My hair was a mess, my shirt was backwards, and I didn’t even care.

I just needed coffee or something strong enough to burn my throat.

But the minute I stepped into the dining room, I froze.

"Morning," Kai said, already seated like this was his damn house.

He was sipping tea.

With my stepdad.

I blinked. Once. Twice.

"What... the hell are you doing here?"

He smirked. "Didn’t miss me?"

I turned to Mom who just looked like someone had dumped ice water on her.

"He showed up twenty minutes ago," she whispered. "Said it was urgent."

My eye twitched.

Kai stood up, tea cup still in hand. He walked over to me. I backed up till my back hit the wall.

"We weren’t finished," he said.

My breath hitched.

"I was," I whispered, but I sounded weak.

He smiled like I amused him. Like I always had.

"Too bad, Chiara. I’m just getting started."

And all I could think was... I was so screwed.