Chapter 74

Kayla

The air in the testing room was colder than I expected.

Too cold for comfort.

I could feel the chill seeping through my jacket as I sat stiffly in the folding metal chair, watching as two thick curtains were drawn across opposite ends of the room. The heavy fabric swallowed both Nicholas and Noah whole, hiding who was on which side.

All I knew was that there was one on the left, and one on the right.

As the guild attendants prepared the aphrodisiac serum, I swallowed hard and tried to keep my expression neutral. But despite my best efforts, it was impossible to stop my leg from bouncing.

Why did I agree to this?

Every part of it felt wrong, and yet I was still sitting here, letting them do this to me. Letting them stick me with a needle and decide my fate like I was nothing more than a lab rat.

But maybe it would make things easier.

Maybe once this was over, I could stop feeling like I was constantly being ripped apart in two different directions. Maybe I could finally stop wondering what it would feel like if Nicholas kissed me again, if that strange little spark in the pit of my stomach meant something more than I wanted it to. Or maybe I could just fall into Noah’s arms and let the mate bond do the rest.

Maybe it would be simpler.

But somehow, I doubted it. Somehow, I had a feeling that this was nothing but a big mistake and that everything would be ten times more difficult and confusing than it was before.

“Luna Kayla.”

I looked up sharply to see one of the medical attendants approaching with the syringe in hand, the orangish liquid swirling faintly inside the glass barrel. “Are you ready?”

I hesitated.

For just a moment, my eyes flicked to the curtains. I couldn’t see where Nicholas or Noah were positioned, but somehow, I swore I could feel Nicholas’s hateful gaze burning against my skin.

If I turned back now, if I said I didn’t want to go through with it, would he stop me?

Would he even want me to stop?

But if Nicholas had any thoughts on the matter, he didn’t say a word about it. He just stayed behind whichever curtain he was hidden behind, just as silent as Noah. The only sound in the room was the faint rustle of my clothes as I pushed up the sleeve of my jacket.

“Fine.” My voice was quieter than I wanted it to be, but at least it didn’t shake like I expected it to. “Let’s get this over with.”

With a nod, the medical attendant pressed the needle to the inside of my arm, and I barely felt the pinch as the liquid seeped into my veins.

But I could feel its effects almost immediately.

It started off as a calming sort of warmth. A slow, buzzing haze spreading from the base of my neck, crawling down my spine and curling through my stomach like smoke. My breath caught as the edges of the room softened, blurring until the only thing I could focus on was the steady pounding of my own heartbeat.

Everything felt so distant. So… warm. Inviting, even. Like sinking into a bath in which the water was the perfect temperature, making me forget where my skin ended and where the warm water began.

I barely registered the sound of footsteps or the feeling of a hand on my arm as someone helped me out of my chair and led me toward the center of the room. Somewhere through the fog, I heard the shuffle of curtains as the guild attendants prepared the test. A microphone flickered to life, and the sound of Mr. Gray’s voice echoed through the room

“You may now make your choice, Miss Sterling. Go to whichever curtain you feel most drawn to.”

The moment the words echoed through the chamber, I felt it.

A pull.

It was subtle at first, like someone gently tugging at the edges of my consciousness, but it grew stronger with every step I took. I stumbled forward, barely aware of my own movements, driven by something deeper than thought. Deeper than reason.

Without even thinking, without even hesitating, my fingers brushed against the curtain on the right.

It was soft beneath my hand, cool and heavy as I pushed it aside and stepped forward. The fabric tangled around my shoulders, blocking my view, but I didn’t care. I could feel the warmth on the other side—so close, so familiar, it made my chest ache. I didn’t even mean to, but my eyes closed of their own accord and my hands reached out.

And then, suddenly, arms were around me.

Strong, warm arms that pulled me in, crushing me against a solid chest. I gasped, and my lips brushed against his, but I didn’t stop there.

I couldn’t stop.

My hands tangled in his jacket, tugging him closer, feeling the hard muscles beneath the layers of fabric. His mouth was on mine, hot and demanding, and I melted into it like I had been waiting for this moment my entire life.

My heart pounded louder, and for a brief, fleeting moment, I could feel something else.

A voice.

Soft and distant, never heard before and yet so familiar at the same time, curling at the back of my mind like a timbre I’d long forgotten from a lifetime ago.

“Mate…”

I whimpered, pressing closer to him, desperate to chase and hold onto the sensation before it could slip away. The bond was humming to life beneath my skin, crackling like lightning between us. I felt it on my neck, that faint spark of electricity, as if the mate bond itself was trying to bloom to the surface.

I didn’t have a wolf. I never had one. I likely never would have one.

But for the first time in my life, I felt like I did.

And I knew, without a doubt, that whoever was holding me right now was mine.

I didn’t know who it was through my haze, which pair of arms was holding me. All I knew was that these arms were right, that the man holding me was meant to be mine, and I was meant to be his and nothing else mattered.

Somewhere through the fog, a buzzer went off. Someone said something, but I hardly heard it over the mist clouding my mind and the sound of our lips smacking together. We only pulled back for air, nothing at all to do with the buzzer.

And then, when I slowly fluttered my eyelids open, I saw them.

Amber eyes.

Glowing, molten gold, burning down at me with such intensity that I felt my entire body weaken. My breath hitched, and I pulled back just enough to see him clearly, my heart hammering against my ribs.

Nicholas.

It was him. Not Noah. Not my fated mate.

But Nicholas.

The bond was gone now, fading as the haze of the aphrodisiac began to lift. I could still feel his arms around me, still feel the heat radiating from his skin, but the voice in my head—whatever it was—had disappeared like it had never existed.

In fact, I even began to wonder if it had existed or if it was just a figment of my imagination caused by the aphrodisiac.

Regardless, I couldn’t breathe as I looked up at him. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even move.

But then, before I could even think of what to say or do, a furious roar echoed across the room.

My head snapped to the side just in time to see that the other curtain had not only been ripped aside, but torn off of its bar completely.

And Noah was barreling toward Nicholas, his eyes burning red with rage.