CHAPTER FOUR
1107 Words
Dante
I watched her leave.
Shoulders stiff. Chin high. That little flicker in her eyes—the one that used to burn like fire—now dulled to something fragile.
And I caused it.
The door clicked shut behind her, and I finally let myself breathe.
My fated mate.
A human.
And worse—a dormant wolf hunter.
I sank into my chair, fingers raking through my hair, muscles tight with restraint. The atmosphere till smelled like her. My jacket still held the heat of her body. The taste of her lingered on my tongue like a drug I’d sworn to quit after one hit.
But she was more than just a craving.
She was a threat.
And I was already too far gone to let her go.
The moment I saw her that night—shoved against the bar, fear in her eyes—I knew.
My wolf had lunged to the surface so violently I nearly shifted right there.
Mate!
Not a whisper. Not a suggestion. A roar.
Then she fell asleep wrapped in my arms, trusting me in a way that nearly broke me.
That’s when I saw it.
The mark.
A faint rune at the base of her neck—one I’d seen only a few times in my life and never on someone so… innocent. A hunter’s seal. Suppressing her instincts. Keeping her dormant.
That’s why she didn’t know.
That’s why she hadn’t sensed what I was.
And that’s why I couldn’t let her get too close.
Because if she ever woke up… If that side of her activated… We’d be enemies. And I’d be forced to destroy the one thing I was born to protect.
I stared at the empty doorway like I could still see her standing there, lips parted, eyes wide with hope she tried to hide. She wanted more. Connection. Safety. Answers.
And I gave her the lie she needed to hear to stay away from me.
“A fling.” I said it like it was nothing.
But my chest was still bleeding. The door opened again.
Only one man walked into my office without knocking—Talon Creed, my VP. My brother in arms. And the only person who could piss me off without even trying.
He stepped inside, shutting the door with a flick of his boot. “That smell is still thick in here.”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to.
He folded his arms. “So, are we gonna talk about the fact that your fated mate is currently wiping down the bar—and oh yeah, she’s got hunter blood?”
My jaw clenched. “Keep your voice down.”
“There’s no one here but us.”
“That’s not the point.”
Talon pushed off the door and walked toward me, eyes sharp beneath his mess of blond hair. “Dante, this isn’t like before. This isn’t just a messy hookup or some girl who fell into your lap. She’s marked.”
“I know what she is.”
“Do you?”
“She’s dormant.”
Talon let out a harsh breath. “So? Dormant doesn’t mean dead. It means waiting. That mark’s not just for show. If she activates—if someone from their clique gets wind she’s still breathing—”
“—then I’ll protect her,” I snapped.
Talon’s lips curled into a sneer. “From them? You think you’re fast enough to outmatch people who were trained to wipe out our kind since the Dark War? Dante, they don’t sleep. They don’t stop. And they will surely come for her.”
“She doesn’t know who she is,” I said through gritted teeth. “She’s not a threat.”
“Not yet.”
My wolf bristled beneath my skin. My jaw ached from how hard I was holding it together. Talon didn’t understand. He couldn’t. Because it wasn’t his blood screaming every time she was near. It wasn’t his instincts clawing at him to keep her safe at all costs.
“She’s mine.”
The words came out low and primal.
Talon’s expression hardened. “And that’s the problem.”
I stood then, stepping around the desk until I was toe to toe with him. He didn’t flinch, but I saw the flicker in his eyes—the hesitation. The warning.
“You think I don’t know how dangerous this is?” I growled. “You think I haven’t spent every second since I met her figuring out how the hell this could’ve happened? She’s human. She’s my mate. She’s a hunter. She should’ve been my natural enemy. But the bond’s real, Talon. I felt it.”
“So you’re gonna what? Pretend fate got it wrong and ignore everything we’ve learned about them? You’re not thinking straight.”
“I’m thinking clearer than ever.”
“No,” he said, voice low. “You’re thinking with your mate-bond, not your head. And that’s gonna get us all killed.”
The silence cracked between us like thunder.
I turned away, pacing the room, my pulse a storm beneath my skin. “There’s another way.”
“There never is with them,” he said quietly. “Unless you want to end her now—before it’s too late.”
I spun. “Don’t say that.”
“She’s a threat, Dante.”
“She’s still mine!”
He looked at me—really looked at me—and then shook his head. “You’re too close. You always were when it came to love. That’s how they’ll break you.”
“Let them try.”
Talon was quiet for a beat. Then he said, softer this time, “This could be the beginning of your worst nightmare.”
I met his gaze. “Then I’ll survive it.”
He studied me a moment longer, then sighed and turned for the door.
Just before he walked out, he said, “I hope you’re right, brother. I really do. But if she turns—if she remembers—don’t expect me to hesitate.”
And then he was gone.
I stood there long after, the words echoing in the hollow space where my certainty used to be.
My mate was a walking contradiction. The kind of secret that could bring ruin to everything I’d built. And I wasn’t about to let her go.
Even if it meant making enemies of monsters I once hunted in nightmares. Even if it meant becoming a monster myself to keep her alive.
Because love like this wasn’t a choice.
It was a curse.
And I was already bound.
- Writer
