Chapter 27
*15
The world before me isn’t real—and I know that. But it feels real.
A little girl, maybe five or six, giggles as she tuns barefoot through the tall grass, her wild hair bouncing behind her. She’s chasing a small white rabbit, her tiny hands reaching out with determination. The rabbit darts left, then right, and she squeals in delight before–thud–she trips and falls hard on her
knees.
“Ow!” she cries, her small hands scraping the ground as tears fill her wide eyes.
“MI” a boy’s voice calls out. A boy, not much older than her, rushes over, his brows pinched in concern. “Stop crying. I promise I’ll protect you, okay?”
She sniffs and glares at him through her tears. “How are you gonna protect me? You’re just a kid.”
He puffs out his chest like a soldier and says proudly. “Have you forgotten? I’m gonna be a warrior. Your personal bodyguard.”
“You can’t protect me if you can’t even catch a rabbit”
Before he can answer, the same rabbit dashes between his legs, and he yelps, stumbling and falling flat on his face.
The girl bursts out laughing, clutching her belly. “See? You can’t even protect yourself, dummy!”
He groans, rubbing his nose.
“I don’t need protecting anyway,” she says with a grin. “I’ll protect you, too–you big baby.”
The boy starts crying, turning his head away like he doesn’t want her to see him cry. But she just sighs and holds out her hand. “C’mon, stop being a baby. Let’s build a sandcastle.”
Together, they begin shaping a castle from the sand, their small hands forming rooms and walls. The girl hums softly as she works. “One room for me, one for you… and one for my mate.”
They both giggle. It’s innocent. Sweet. Peaceful.
Until–crunch.
A heavy boot slams down, crushing their creation.
The girl gasps and looks up, trying to see who it is–but the man’s face is lost in the sunlight, tall and shrouded in shadow. Her small hands cling to the broken sandcastle.
Then-“M!”
A woman’s panicked voice. Her face is a blur as she rushes in and grabs the little girl’s wrist, yanking her up.
“Go. Run back to the castle. Hide under your bed. Now!”
“But moth-”
“GO! Don’t come out until I come for you.”
The little girl sobs, stumbling back toward a castle in the distance, running barefoot, blood on her knees. She disappears behind a door.
And then everything fades. The light. The sounds. All of it–gone.
I shoot upright, gasping.
My heart’s racing, my chest chest rising and falling too fast. My eyes sting, and when I reach up, my fingers come away wet.
1/3
2120 F1 20 JUN
Chapter 27
was crying
20 J
“Why the hell am I crying…whisper to mysell, swallowing hard.
Sweat clings to my skin, soaking the sheets. I wipe my face and glance around, confused.
Where the hell am I?
67%
This isn’t the bathroom. I was in the bath–1 remember the water, the steam… Jack’s hands around my throat, his lips brushing my ear.
Suddenly, heat floods my body like someone turned the temperature up from the inside. The memories come rushing back–his grip, his mouth, his voice-
“Fuck.”
My hand fees to my mouth. I slap myself. Hard.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
I pull the blanket up, covering my face even though no one’s here. My cheeks are burning.
“What did I do?”
Niet him touch me. Hell, I begged him to.
“Stupid. Stupid, stupid,” I mutter, slapping myself again. “What happened to staying strong, Kali? What the hell is wrong with you?”
Mate bond. That’s what’s wrong.
“Lneed to stay away from him,” I mumble, trying to breathe through the wave of shame.
“Too late for that, love,” my wolf purrs smugly, practically doing a victory lap in my head. “You let him in. Literally.” She sounds far too satisfied, like she’d been reclining with popcorn through the whole thing. “Besides, we needed it. You needed it.”
“Shut up. I needed to lose all self–control?” I snap.
“You needed to feel. And let’s be honest, you liked it.”
I groan, yanking the blanket higher to bury my face.
“Look on the bright side,” she says, far too chipper for my liking. “Clearly, physical contact with Jack is unlocking our memories. That dream? That little girl, M? That was us.”
! frown. “So what? A random dream doesn’t mean anything.”
“It wasn’t random. It was a piece of our past. Don’t you see? When he touches us, something awakens in us. Maybe if we… I don’t know… complete the bond, let him mark us, mate us-”
“Stop,” I cut her off, scowling at the ceiling. I’m not entertaining that sinful idea.
“Oh, don’t act innocent now. You were all over him last night. You enjoyed every damn second. You begged him to touch you–The way you moaned- goddess, even I was embarrassed-”
“Are you sure you didn’t take over?” I hiss, scowling. “Because there’s no way in hell I would have done that in my right mind. You definitely hijacked my body. Possessed me or something.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” she chuckles darkly, “you were very, very aware of every second.”
Before I can snap back, I hear footsteps.
2/3
Chapter 27
Shit. Jack?
The door creaks open. 1 sit up abruptly, clutching the blanket to my chest like it’s some magical shield and can somehow protect my dignity.
“Finally, you’re awake.”
1 peek out from under the covers like a kid caught doing something they shouldn’t.
Jasmine.
She stands in the doorway, arms folded, her expression unreadable. There’s no sign of the trembling girl from earlier–no fear in her eyes, no trace of the bruises on her back. Now, she’s composed, calm, as if she’s tucked all her emotions behind a locked door and swallowed the key.
My heart clenches as the memory hits–how she’d rushed off so suddenly, eyes wide and panicked. Like she had somewhere she had to be.
Someone she had to face.
Someone who made her flinch.
I don’t know why, but a sharp wave of suspicion slithers into my gut. Whoever she went to meet… I have a feeling they’re the one who left those marks
on her.
Before I can chase that thought, Jasmine snaps me out of it.
“You need to go back.”
3/3
AD
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