Mia’s POV
The moment I closed the door to my room, the tears began to fall. I
didn’t bother wiping them away. I let them stream down my face as I
sank onto the edge of the bed, the weight of everything pressing down on
me. My chest ached, not just from the chaos of the night but from the
emotional toll that seemed never-ending.
Ima, my wolf, growled in the back of my mind. “You should have stopped
them. You could have put them in their place, Mia.”
I shook my head, the thought of fighting them making my stomach
churn. “I can’t, Ima. If they find out what we are-what I am-it’ll only
make things worse. Do you think they’ll treat me any better knowing I’m
stronger than them?”
Her growl softened into a sigh. “You’re underestimating yourself. You’ve
let them hurt you for too long. They don’t deserve your restraint.”
I buried my face in my hands, exhaustion washing over me. “Maybe. But
I don’t want this fight right now. I just want peace, Ima. I want them to
leave me alone.”
Her silence was heavy, but I could feel her frustration simmering. It
mirrored my own in a way, but I wasn’t ready to unleash the power I
knew I had. Not yet.
As the hours passed, I couldn’t shake the whirlwind of emotions swirling
in my chest. Their words, their actions-it all felt like knives cutting into
me. Why couldn’t they just let me go? Why did they insist on keeping me
here when it was clear they didn’t even want me?
I stared at the ceiling, my mind running in circles. Part of me hated them
for everything they’d done. The cruelty, the manipulation, the way they
treated me like I was disposable until they realized they needed me. But
another part of me-a part I hated even more-still felt drawn to them.
The mating bond was cruel. It tied me to them in ways I couldn’t fully
understand, making my heart betray my mind. I didn’t want to feel
anything for them, but I couldn’t stop the flutter in my chest when
Xavier looked at me with something other than anger. Or the way my
breath caught when Rolex’s hand brushed mine, even by accident.
It was maddening, and I wanted it to stop.
“If they’d just reject me,” I whispered to myself, “this would all be
over.”
But they wouldn’t. They refused. Even when I begged them, they clung to
the bond like it was some unbreakable chain, binding me to their world.
“I won’t forgive them,” I muttered, the words a promise to myself. “Not
for what they’ve done. Not for what they’ve put me through.”
I glanced at my phone on the nightstand, my thoughts drifting to
Tristan. I picked it up, my fingers hesitating over his name in my call log.
I hit dial, but the call didn’t connect.
Number unreachable.
My chest tightened, worry blooming like a storm cloud in my mind. Was
he okay? Did the brothers do something to him after I left? The thought
made my stomach twist.
“Why do you care so much about him?” Ima asked, her tone softer now.
I didn’t answer right away. “Because he’s the only one who’s ever
treated me like I mattered.”
I stared out the window, the moon casting a soft glow over the trees. The
quiet of the night did little to calm the storm in my heart. Do I love him?
The question circled endlessly in my mind, refusing to leave me alone.
It didn’t make sense. How could I feel this way about someone who
wasn’t my mate? And yet, the thought of his smile, his touch, even the
way he challenged the brothers for me-it all left me breathless.
“Do I love him?” I whispered to the empty room, my voice trembling.
Ima stirred in the back of my mind, her presence warm and steady. “You
care about him, deeply. Love? That’s for you to decide, Mia.”
I pressed my hands against my chest, trying to ease the tightness there.
“But how can I feel this way? The bond with the brothers-it should
overpower everything else. Shouldn’t it?”
Ima was quiet for a moment, her tone thoughtful when she finally spoke.
“The bond is strong, but it doesn’t define your heart, Mia. That’s yours
to give, mate bond or not.”
Her words settled over me like a revelation, but they didn’t make things
any easier. If I truly loved Tristan, what did that mean for me? For the
bond?
I set the phone down, frustration bubbling up. I couldn’t go out to look
for him-not with the brothers watching my every move. But the
thought of sitting here, doing nothing, made my skin crawl.
Later that afternoon, there was a knock on my door. I didn’t bother
answering, but the scent of food wafting through the crack made my
stomach rumble.
“Mia,” Xavier’s voice came through the door. “We brought you
something to eat.”
I rolled my eyes, the gesture lost on them. “I’m not hungry.”
“You haven’t eaten all day,” Rolex added.
“I’ll eat when I feel like it,” I called back, my tone sharper than I
intended. “Leave me alone.”
There was a pause before I heard the tray being set down outside my
door. I waited until their footsteps faded before opening the door and
sliding the tray back out into the hallway. I didn’t want their pity or their
attempts to “fix” things.
I closed the door again, the walls of my room feeling more and more like
a prison with each passing hour. My thoughts kept circling back to
Tristan. Was he still hurt? Did he think I abandoned him?
“I can’t do this,” I whispered, the words heavy with determination.
I was hell-worried as Tristan’s call was unreachable for last 3 days. I
need to talk to him. Whether he was okay or not?
I will be in guilt if anything happens to him. The only way to know how
he was doing was to go to his place.
While everyone was sleeping, midnight was the perfect time to sneak out
of the house.
When I finally reached the front door, I slipped outside and rushed
toward the street. The cool night air hit my face, but it did little to calm
the storm raging inside me. I flagged down a cab, giving the driver
Tristan’s address before sinking back into the seat.
The ride felt endless, every bump and turn only heightening my nerves.
My thoughts were a chaotic mess, jumping between worry for Tristan
and the weight of my own secrets. Would he even let me in? Or would he
push me away now after he was attacked because of me?
I was giving it second thought to return.
“Just knock on the door,” Ima growled.
“What if he don’t want to meet me? Because of me, he was almost
killed.” I said, with a pang of guilt.