Chapter 5

Emma’s pov.

The word sounded in my head like a curse I couldn’t escape.

“Mate”, No. no. no. no.

I ran out of the building like I was being chased by death itself.

My bare feet barely registered the cold marble floors of silver fang mansion as I pushed through corridors filled with golden chandeliers and judgemental stares. The voices behind me blurred into noise, confused gasps, whispered names,someone calling after me- but I didn’t stop, not until I was outside.

The cold air hit my face like a slap, snapping something fragile inside me, but I still didn’t slow down, I kept running past guards, past gates, past the manicured gardens of a world I didn’t belong to.

My lungs burned all this time, and my heart was worse. Because behind me, inside that mansion, was him.

Hayes.

The stranger from last night.

The man whom I had kissed in drunken desperation, clung to like he was the only thing keeping me alive. The man I had given myself to in a moment I could barely even remember clearly now.

And now…… My stepbrother. My mate.

My world tilted again just by thinking about it. I finally stopped when I reached a quiet stretch near the silver fang forest line. My legs gave out and i collapsed against a tree, gasping for air as everything caught up with me at once.

“No”…….

I whispered to myself. “This can’t be real”. My hands trembled as i pressed them against my chest, trying to calm the violent pounding of my heart.

A mate bond wasn’t supposed to feel like this. Confusion, panic, shame filled my entire soul. It was supposed to feel

right, but nothing about this felt right. Not after what i had just discovered. Not after everything. A branch snapped somewhere behind me. I froze instantly. My body reacted before my mind did— heart racing, senses sharpening in a way I didn’t understand. A strange heat curled low in my stomach, pulling me backwards towards something i didnt want to face.

“Emma”. His voice.

Low. Controlled and dangerous. I turned slowly.

Hayes stood a few feet away, his expression unreadable, his dark hair was slightly disheveled, like he had rushed after me without thinking.

His eyes— those sharp, storm coloured eyes were fixed on me like i was the only thing in the world that mattered. I hated that my body reacted to that look. I hated the warmth spreading through me even when my mind screamed at me to run again.

“Don’t”,

I said immediately, stepping back.

“Don’t come closer”. He stopped, but his jaw tightened. “You ran out”, he said.

“I had to”.

“You didn’t even listen”.

“Listen to what?” My voice cracked. “That I slept with my stepbrother? That I’m apparently bounded to you? That my life just turned into some twisted nightmares i didnt ask for?” His eyes darkened slightly at that.

“You think i asked for this?”

That made me pause. For a second, i saw the frustration in his face. Not arrogance, not cruelty. It was confusion. Something deeper. But i shook it off. “No”, i said bitterly, “but you are handling it a lot better than i am”.

“That’s not true”.

I laughed once, sharp and humorless. Really? Because from where I’m standing you look like you’re about to reject me any second.

There was silence at this moment.

The silence hurt more than I expected. Because it confirmed what I really feared. He didn’t want this either.

The mate bond pulsed again between us— stronger this time, like it was irritated by the distance. My knees nearly buckled

from the sensation, and i hated how my body betrayed me. Hayes noticed.

His gaze flickered downward for a moment, then back to my face. “You feel it too”, he said quietly. I swallowed hard. I don’t want it.”

There was a pause.

Neither of us moved. The forest around us felt too still, like even nature was waiting for his response. Finally, he exhaled slowly. “I didn’t know you were the girl from last night,” he said. “Not until the ceremony.” My chest tightened.

“Would it have mattered?” I asked.

This time, he didn’t answer immediately. There was silence again…..

It said everything. My throat burned.

“I was your stepbrother before I was your mate,” he said softly, “that should have mattered more than anything else” “Then why are you here?”

“Because I can’t ignore the bond.”

My breath caught. “That’s not an answer”, “It’s the only one I have right now.”

We stood there, locked in tension that wasn’t just emotional

anymore. Something between us kept pulling, pushing, tightening like invisible chains. And i hated how my body leaned toward him even when my mind resisted. “You think I’m like my mother”

“I thought a lot of things before last night,” he admitted. That surprised me. I frowned. “And now?”

His gaze held mine. “Now i don’t know what you are.” The honesty in that answer cracked something in my chest. Because I didn’t know what i was anymore either.

A wolfless omega.

A betrayed girlfriend.

A stepdaughter to an alpha family.

And now…. A mate to a man I shouldn’t even look at twice. Finally, I whispered almost to myself. “What do we do now?” Hayes didn’t answer immediately. But when he did, his voice was steady.

“We figure it out”.

I let out a bitter breath. “That’s not a plan.” It all i can give you right now. His uncertainty scared me more than anything else. Because if he didn’t know what to do… neither of us did. And whatever this bond was, it was only going to get stronger.