Nathan’s POV
The first thing I felt was warmth. Not the suffocating heat of sickness, not the fever that had been draining me for days.
No.
This warmth was different. Comforting. Alive. My eyelids felt heavy, my body still weak, but I could sense something close. Someone.
The familiar scent of honey and wildflowers wrapped around me, pulling me back from the edge. Mia. I forced my eyes open. And there she was.
She sat beside me, her gaze trained on the floor, her hands clenched into fists on her lap. Her jaw was tight, her posture rigid, like she was angry at herself for being here.
My chest felt lighter.
Stronger.
The pain that had been eating away at me was gone.
She did this. She saved me. I should’ve felt grateful. Relieved.
Instead, guilt crawled under my skin. Mia had every reason to let me die.
She should’ve walked away, should’ve watched me suffer the way I had made her suffer.
But she didn’t.
She never did.
A slow exhale left my lips. “You gave me your blood.”
Mia’s shoulders tensed, but she didn’t look at me.
I didn’t need her to say it. I already knew. I smirked, tilting my head toward her. “You saved me, princess.”
She turned toward me then, her eyes flashing.”Don’t call me that.”
I chuckled, but even that felt too easy now. My body wasn’t failing anymore. She fixed me.
But then I saw it-the way her fingers trembled, the way her nails dug into her palm, her lips pressing into a thin line.
She was struggling. Not with me-with herself.
Before I could speak, she inhaled sharply, finally meeting my gaze. “Now that I’ve helped you, I want you to reject me.”
The words hit me harder than they should have.
I went still.
Mia’s face was unreadable, but her eyes burned with something fierce. I let her words settle between us, turning them over in my mind, feeling them sink beneath my skin.
Reject her? After everything? After this?
I leaned forward, bracing my arms against my knees, studying her. “Why?”
Her lips parted slightly, like she hadn’t expected me to ask. Like she thought I’d just do it.
She swallowed, blinking quickly, her hands curling into fists. “Because I don’t want this bond.”
I tilted my head, watching her carefully.”That’s not a reason, Mia.”
Her breath hitched, her face hardening. “It’s the only one that matters.”
I leaned closer, feeling a slow smirk creep onto my lips. “Or is it because you’re afraid?”
Her glare could’ve burned holes through me. “Afraid of what?”
“That if you let yourself forgive us…” My gaze dropped to her lips before flicking back to her eyes. “You won’t be able to hate us anymore.”
Her chest rose sharply, her jaw clenching. She didn’t deny it. I lifted a hand slowly, trailing my fingers lightly over her wrist. She didn’t pull away.
“You saved me,” I murmured, voice low. “You could’ve let me die, but you didn’t.”
Mia sucked in a shaky breath, her pulse betraying her.
I smirked, my thumb brushing against her skin. “If you really wanted me gone, princess, you wouldn’t have stopped me from leaving this world.”
Her eyes flashed, her lips parting in protest. But I didn’t give her the chance. I lifted her hand to my mouth, pressing a slow, deliberate kiss to her knuckles.
Mia’s breath hitched. I felt it. The slight tremble in her fingers. The warmth that lingered between us.
I met her gaze, watching the way her walls threatened to crumble. She wanted to hate me.
She wanted to break this bond. But I wasn’t letting her go that easily.
Mia ripped her hand away from mine like my touch burned her.
Her eyes-wild, guarded-flashed with something raw. Pain. Hatred.
“Don’t do that,” she snapped, her voice sharp, cutting through the space between us like a blade.
I leaned back, watching the way she fisted her hands at her sides, like she needed to physically stop herself from lashing out.
“Mia-”
“No.” Her breath hitched, her entire body trembling. “You don’t get to act like this erases everything. Like one good deed wipes away all the things you did to me.”
I clenched my jaw, guilt twisting like a knife in my chest. She wasn’t wrong. Not even close.
“I still wake up in the middle of the night,” she whispered, voice shaking. “I still hear your voices-mocking me, hurting me. Every time I close my eyes, I see you.”
My stomach sank.
Her breathing was uneven, her fists shaking.
“You think I can just forget?” Her voice cracked. “You think a few apologies and pretty words are enough to undo the nightmares?”
Her words punched the air from my lungs. I tried to speak. Tried to find something-anything-that would fix this, but I had nothing.
Because she was right. I did that to her. We did that to her.
And no matter how badly I wanted to take it back, no matter how much I wanted to hold her, heal her, I couldn’t.
She wasn’t ready. Maybe she never would be. Her breathing shuddered, and she turned on her heel. Stormed out.
Didn’t look back.
The moment the door shut behind her, something inside me broke. I leaned forward, gripping my hair, my chest tight with something I didn’t know how to name.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.
The door creaked open again, and I didn’t have to look up to know who it was.
Xavier, Rolex, and Sean stepped inside, their expressions grim.
“She left,” Rolex murmured. I let out a bitter laugh. “Yeah. No shit.”
Sean exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “She’s still hurting.”
Still hurting. That was putting it lightly.
Xavier sat at the edge of the bed, elbows resting on his knees. “Did you ask her to stay?”
I scoffed, shaking my head. “She wants us to reject her.”
Silence.
The weight of those words sank into all of us.
“She thinks it’s the only way she’ll ever be free,” I muttered, my voice hollow.
Sean exhaled sharply. “Then maybe we should.”
I lifted my head, staring at him.
“Are you serious?” Rolex’s eyes darkened. “Just let her go?”
Sean clenched his jaw. “She’s suffering, Nathan.”Like we didn’t already know that. Like it wasn’t killing me every second.
“She won’t ever forgive us,” I said, the words tasting like acid.
Rolex crossed his arms, his expression dark. “Maybe we don’t deserve her forgiveness.”
That hit harder than I expected. I knew we didn’t deserve it. But hearing it out loud? It was a fucking gut punch.
Xavier leaned forward, his voice calm, careful. “So what do we do?”
I exhaled slowly, my hands clenching into fists. I thought about the way Mia looked at me. The rage, the betrayal, the pain. I thought about the walls she built, the way she still flinched away from us. Then I thought about the bond. The connection that still tied her to us.
She could hate us forever. Could resent us until her last breath. But that wouldn’t change the truth.
She was ours. And we were hers. Even if she never accepted it. Even if she never forgave us.
I looked up at my brothers, meeting each of their gazes.
“No, Fucking, We’re not letting her go.”