Chapter 4 Mate bond

Tristan's POV

She stared at me as if she were seeing a ghost claw its way out of the grave. The moment our bodies brushed, she stumbled back, breath catching.

My eyes burned, glowing bright enough to pierce through her fear.

“You…” her voice trembled. “You came here?”

Sweat beaded down her temple, her breath loud and uneven in the silence.

I gripped her upper arms, perhaps too tightly. She shuddered. “Escaping?”

She shot her eyes. She was unaware of the burn of her presence against my body. She was unaware that I'd never felt too weak. She was unaware she had an effect on me.

“Escaping… no… no…”

And there she was, unable to put out words to me.

“Celine.” I called with a soft voice I never believed I had.

I should have called the gammas against her, but I didn't. I shouldn't be this way.

“You tried to escape.” My voice raised, picking up a heavy tone like I'd been transported into a war zone. “You wanted to leave.”

She struggled in my hands, the tears rolling down her cheeks as her body shook. “Please…”

“You dared to leave?” My grip tightened before I realized it. “You really have that kind of courage?”

The anger left me as quickly as it came. My hands fell away.

She stumbled backward, shadows swallowing her steps—then her body hit the floor.

“Celine!” The sound of her name ripped from me as I lunged forward.

And my heart rate raised a little above normal, like I almost lost myself to the curse. It was a different kind of experience, like the stakes of the curse were increasing against me, but in a different direction.

My hand rested on her shoulders. I lost that deep frown I'd put on.

“Tristan.” She whispered with a weak breath, but still laid on the floor.

“Okay?”

I held her up, but she applied no effort in getting on her feet, instead, used all she could for our eyes to lock.

“You’ve seen me somewhere else, haven't you? Have you?” Her palms rested on my chest.

Her chest was almost pressing against me, and I didn't realize we were that close in contact.

The look in her face was replaced, curiosity?

My body seemed to weaken… I knew nothing about her, except that she was human?

“You said I’m your mate…” her palms were still on my chest, tears left her eyes, but I could swear it was no longer because of fear.

I thought so.

“Why?” Her hands walked up to my neck, but with a soft touch that appeared to be like a graze.

“The instinct.” I found myself saying. “I… don't know.”

“You don't know?” Her eyes appeared to search through me, no longer a simple look, but could she see through me?

Did humans have such ability? I doubted.

But her gaze, though weak, was piercing at the same time. It was hard to give an answer under such scrutiny.

Her left hand walked up from my neck to rest on my jaw, and at first, I didn't realize I'd pulled her too close to my body. Only the softness of her boobs told me how soft and fragile she was. That softness pulled my mind off the race of breaking the curse.

“Hmmm…” I inhaled softly.

My hands went around her waist, and I didn't notice I'd gone that far.

“And to think such instinct came at a time I was supposed to be… some sort of sacrifice to end your curse?”

I inhaled so close to her face. “I’ve never understood such instinct.”

Her fingers brushed into my hair, and it seemed she was taking prints of me in her mind.

“My instinct might not be real,” I said. “But why all these?”

“Why do I feel I know you?” She asked instead.

“I don't know… I also feel the same way. Or it can only be because of this bond that has just clicked between us. Yes, that must be the case.”

I decided to be certain of that. Nothing else would make any sense to me except this explanation. But I wasn't even sure if she believed it. It would be normal if she didn't.

We were both newbies in this bond after all.

“The bond gives people that sense of familiarity…”

“Yes… yes…”

At the peak of this moment, faint footsteps drew my attention.

“Tristan!” Zara’s voice sliced through the air like glass.

Celine’s gaze flicked toward the sound. “Who is she?”

My chest tightened. I didn’t want to answer.

“Who is she?” she pressed again.

“Zara,” I finally said. “She’s… my lover.”

Something flickered across Celine’s face—hurt? disbelief? It was gone before I could name it.

The word “lover” suddenly felt heavier than the curse itself.

“I mean was… she was my lover,” I stammered. “But now—you’re my mate.”

Celine stepped back, putting space between us just as Zara entered. “I never agreed to that,” she said quietly, her voice cutting deeper than a shout could.

I couldn’t move. My vision blurred around her shape, as if I were staring through her into something I couldn’t comprehend—her soul, maybe.

Then Zara’s trembling voice sliced through the haze. “Tristan?”

She stood in the doorway, candle trembling in her hand. “Tell me I didn’t hear that right… you couldn’t have said it. Not after everything.” Her gaze darted to Celine, then back to me. “The Scarlet Ascension was supposed to—”

“Stop.” My voice came out rougher than I intended.

She took a step forward, eyes flicking between Celine and me. “The human,” she whispered. “She’s your way out—the full moon, the curse—”

“Zara.” My tone was warning, but she didn’t stop.

She set the candle on the floor, light shaking between us, and reached for my arm. “No… it can’t be true.”

I pushed her hand away, harder than I meant to. She staggered but held her ground, pressing both palms to her chest. “What you said before the elders… did you mean it?”

Her voice cracked. “I thought we still had something. That I was still the one you’d choose.”

Her eyes glistened as she tried to move past me. I caught her arm, maybe too tightly. “You don’t go in there,” I said, my voice low, commanding.

“She’s not one of us.”

Zara fought my grip for a heartbeat before sagging against me, clutching my sleeve like she needed it to breathe. “You didn’t mean what you said,” she whispered.

Her quiet sobs echoed in the hollow silence, sharp and real. I’d known her long enough to tell when pain was genuine—yet all I had to offer was the same truth I’d told Celine. Instinct.

The silence pressed in, broken only by Zara’s muffled sobs—until faint footsteps echoed from the hall.

Candlelight flared. Lila appeared first, frozen at the sight of us.

Then heavier steps followed. Aiden emerged from the opposite corridor, another candle in hand, sweat gleaming on his brow. His face was carved tight, not with rage, but something worse—fear.

“The moon is still full,” Aiden said, stepping closer. “The curse is shifting again.”

“I know,” I muttered.

“Then you know this moment matters. The human’s presence changes everything.” His tone hardened. “Whatever you said before the elders means nothing now.”

My palms went cold. I clenched my fists. “We’ve already moved past it.”

I shook my head, more to myself than to him, and stepped toward Celine. “I told you already!” My voice tore through the room.

Aiden hovered just behind me while Zara and Lila lingered in the doorway.

Celine didn’t move, her gaze locked on mine—blank, unreadable.

“You’ll change,” Aiden snapped. “You’ll turn feral if you keep fighting it.”

Feral. The word used to terrify me. Now it meant nothing, just noise against the pull inside me.

I stepped closer until our feet almost touched. My breath caught. “The necklace…”

Her hand flew to her throat, clutching it. She flinched, eyes darting away.

My pulse thundered. That necklace… Why did it remind me of my parents?

“Tristan.” Aiden’s voice softened into warning. “You need to finish it before it’s too late.”

Celine had retreated to the bed, clutching the necklace like a lifeline, refusing to meet my eyes.

Heat surged through my veins—the curse stirring again.

“You’ll turn feral,” Aiden urged.

I exhaled hard. “Then so be it. For her sake… no.”

His disbelief filled the silence. “You can’t mean that.”

My hands raked through my hair, chest heaving. “I mean every word.”