Panting, entangled on the forest floor, leaves sticking to our sweat-damp skin, I floated in the afterglow, my heart swelling with delirious happiness. This was us—fated, wild, unbreakable. Even in my inexperience, I'd given myself fully, and he'd taken it with a hunger that matched my own secret longing.
But as breaths slowed, reality crept back, the moon watching silently as we lay there, spent and connected.
I lost my virginity.
When it ended, I slumped against the tree, legs too weak to stand.
Kayden still held me. His breath warmed my neck, hot, steadying. The bond lingered like aftershocks, rippling through my nerves, proving it wasn't a dream.
I lifted my head, trembling. In the moonlight, his face was inches away. Those silver eyes watched me, something new in them.
Tenderness. Real, unguarded.
He raised a hand, thumb brushing my tear-streaked cheek, gentle as handling glass. For a second, I thought I'd found home, that the man I loved actually—
Kayden's move halted like something horrific struck. His hand on my face went rigid.
Then he shoved me away.
Unprepared, I hit the ground. Leaves and dirt smeared my skirt, but I didn't care—I stared, stunned.
Kayden turned his back, shoulders tense, fingers snapping shirt buttons shut. Moonlight outlined his silhouette, suddenly alien, distant, worlds away.
"Kayden?" My voice tiny, disbelieving.
"Leave me be." His voice shook, still husky from lust, raw.
I pushed up on my hands, trying to stand.
"Tonight was a mistake," he said.
"What?"
I must've misheard. Had to.
Kayden faced me. Those eyes, warm moments ago, were now iced over like a frozen lake.
"Forget it." Each word chiseled stone. "Like it never happened."
"But we..." My voice quivered, tears rising. "We're fated mates..."
Fated mate. Goddess's blessing, soul echo, the world's holiest thing.
"Fated mate's just a curse."
Something flashed in his eyes—pain, struggle, stuff I couldn't read. Gone in a blink, leaving frost.
"You—" Words stuck in my throat.
He looked at me like an error. Then he walked off into the woods, no hesitation.
"Kayden!" I wanted to chase, demand answers. Why a curse? Why ditch me? Why— My legs wobbled; I dropped to my knees.
I watched his shadow fade in the moonlight, into oak gloom.
Out of my world.
The next week, I barely survived.
