Isabella Pov.

He cleared his throat and furrowed his brow. I couldn't tell if my demand shocked him or made him angry. After all, I was nothing but a weird hybrid and his servant at that moment. And he was the Alpha of one of the most powerful packs in the region.

Nathan rubbed his chin thoughtfully and stared up at the sky for a long moment. Then he pointed his finger toward the moon, which was hanging like a silver coin above us. "Can you see that? It's a half-moon tonight."

I nodded, not sure where he was going with this.

"I've been living as a half-moon my entire life," he continued, his voice soft but filled with conviction. "To be complete, to be whole, I had to find my other half." He paused, letting his words hang in the air like a promise.

Then slowly, he turned his eyes back to me and cupped my cheeks gently in his large hands. "And you're my other half, Isabella. You're the piece of me that's been missing. I know it in my bones, in my soul."

I was stunned, completely speechless. This was more than I had ever dared to hope for.

Without warning, Nathan suddenly leaned down to my neck. I felt his teeth graze my skin, and then there was a sharp, intense pain that made me scream.

"Ahh! Nathan!" I cried out, gripping his shoulders tightly.

He was marking me! An Alpha's mark was sacred, permanent. It was a declaration of ownership, of love, of eternal bonding.

He pulled his head back and grinned at me, his eyes glowing with satisfaction and love. "Now I've marked you as mine, Isabella. You belong to me, and I belong to you. But—"

My lips started trembling with a mixture of joy and fear. "But what?"

"But I can't claim you publicly as my mate right now," he said, his expression growing serious. "I need more time to figure out what's going on with Lily, with Ethan. There are things happening that I don't understand yet."

For a moment, I felt insulted and tricked. Was this just another way of keeping me as his secret?

But then Nathan's expression changed completely. His eyes grew fierce, determined. "Actually, fuck waiting," he growled. "Fuck being careful and diplomatic."

"What?" I gasped.

"MATE!" he roared, his voice echoing across the lake. "I claim you as my mate, Isabella Rodriguez! Here and now, under the moon goddess's light!"

His declaration was so loud, so powerful, that I was sure everyone in the castle had heard it. And as the words left his mouth, I felt something shift inside me, like a piece of my soul clicking into place.

"Nathan," I whispered, tears streaming down my cheeks. "Do you really mean it?"

"I've never meant anything more in my entire life," he said, pulling me close and kissing me with such passion that I felt like I might melt into the water.

But our moment was interrupted by the sound of rustling in the bushes nearby, like someone was hiding there, watching us.

Nathan immediately went into protective mode, pulling away from me and scanning the shoreline. "Get dressed," he whispered urgently. "Go back to your room now. I'll handle whoever's out there."

"But Nathan—"

"Please, Isabella," he said, his voice filled with worry. "I need to make sure you're safe. And I need to figure out who was spying on us."

"What about Lily? What about your marriage to her?"

Nathan's jaw tightened with determination. "I'll handle Lily. I promise you, Isabella. Things are going to change. But I need you to trust me and give me just a little more time to do this right."

Reluctantly, I nodded and started gathering my clothes from the shore. As I got dressed, I could feel Nathan's eyes on me, protective and loving.

"I'll come to you later," he promised. "We have so much to talk about."

I made my way back to the castle, my heart full of hope and confusion in equal measure. Nathan had marked me, claimed me as his mate. But what did that mean for his marriage to Lily? What did it mean for my position in the pack?

I went back to my room and locked the door behind me, but I didn't cry this time. I just tried to ignore what had happened at the lake, tried to pretend it was all a dream. I didn't want to think about whether Nathan had lied to me just to sleep with me, or whether his feelings were genuine. I couldn't handle analyzing it anymore.

I didn't even take a shower, even though I could still smell the lake water on my skin and feel Nathan's mark throbbing gently on my neck. I was exhausted mentally and physically, and it was time for me to stop overthinking everything and just live day by day.

"One day at a time," I whispered to myself as I collapsed onto my narrow bed. "That's all you can do."

I fell into a deep sleep almost immediately, but it wasn't peaceful. I started having a nightmare where Ethan was touching my body inappropriately, kissing my neck hungrily, forcing himself on me. In the dream, I was helpless, unable to fight back or scream for help.

I squirmed and tried to force myself to wake up, but the dream felt so real, so vivid. I tried to scream but no sound came out of my throat.

That's when I realized with absolute horror that it wasn't a nightmare at all. It was real.

I snapped my eyes open to find Ethan on top of my naked body, his massive frame trapping me underneath him. His hands were roaming over my skin, and his mouth was on my neck where Nathan had marked me.

"What the hell?!" I gasped, completely shocked. I hadn't gone to sleep naked! How was I naked now?

Before I could scream for help, Ethan clamped his hand over my mouth, his fingers digging painfully into my cheeks. "I told you I wanted to fuck you," he said with a sick grin. "And I always get what I want."

But something strange happened in that moment. Instead of feeling fear or helplessness, I felt something else entirely. Something powerful and dangerous was awakening inside me, like a sleeping beast that had finally been provoked enough to wake up.

"You picked the wrong girl," I snarled against his hand.

With strength I didn't know I possessed, I brought my knee up hard into his groin. Ethan howled in pain and loosened his grip just enough for me to bite down hard on his hand, tasting blood.

"You fucking bitch!" he screamed, trying to grab me again.

But I was just getting started. I punched him in the face with all my strength, hearing the satisfying crack of bone as I broke his nose. Blood immediately started gushing down his face.

"How does that feel, you bastard?" I yelled, hitting him again and again.

Ethan was bigger than me, stronger than me under normal circumstances, but something had changed. It was like I had supernatural strength flowing through my veins. I grabbed him by the hair and threw him off me, sending him crashing to the floor.

"What the fuck are you?" Ethan gasped, blood dripping from his mouth and nose.

I stood up, completely naked but feeling more powerful than I ever had in my life. "I'm your worst fucking nightmare," I growled, my voice deeper and more menacing than usual.

I grabbed him by the throat and squeezed, watching his eyes bulge with fear and lack of oxygen. "Look at me," I commanded, my voice filled with authority that surprised even me. "If you ever come near me again, if you ever touch another woman in this castle without permission, I will kill you. Do you understand me?"

Ethan nodded frantically, clawing at my hand around his throat.

"I said, do you understand me?" I repeated, squeezing harder.

"Yes!" he choked out. "Yes, I understand!"

I released him and he collapsed to the floor, gasping and coughing. I quickly put my clothes back on, never taking my eyes off him as he writhed on the ground like the worm he was.

"Get out," I said coldly. "Get out of my room and never come back."

Ethan struggled to his feet, one hand holding his bleeding nose, the other clutching his throat. "This isn't over," he wheezed. "You have no idea who you're messing with."

"Neither do you," I replied with a smile that had no warmth in it whatsoever.