𝐄𝐙𝐄𝐊𝐈𝐄𝐋 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞'𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

21

The music had barely ended, but I felt the moment slip through my fingers like sand. Akira stepped away as if she had been struck by the sudden realization of what was happening. My connection with her, fragile as it was, seemed to shatter in that instant.

Before I could say anything more, a hand landed on my shoulder, a familiar touch that I barely registered. “I’ve been looking for you, Ezekiel,” the voice purred, dripping with mockery. “I can’t believe you left me behind just to dance with someone else.”

The woman’s voice was unfamiliar, though her tone was insistent and possessive. My focus was still on Akira, whose expression had shifted into something cold, distant—disgusted.

I removed the woman’s arm from my shoulder, my eyes not straying from Akira for even a second. My pulse quickened as the weight of what had just happened sank in. Akira had been on the verge of softening, of letting down her guard, and I had just watched it all unravel because of the inevitable consequences of my own existence.

The curse of my power—the way it twisted everything around me, turning fragile moments into broken promises. The weight of it crushed me, but I couldn't stop. I couldn't take it back.

“Akira—” I began, my voice strained, but she cut me off before I could finish.

Without a word, she turned on her heel and walked away, her heels clicking sharply on the polished floor. I wanted to run after her, to explain, to beg for her to understand—but I couldn’t do it in front of everyone. Not like this.

I ignored the woman who was still calling my name, her voice growing faint as I turned away and pushed through the crowd, my gaze never leaving Akira’s retreating figure. I had no intention of letting her walk out of this room without hearing me out, without understanding.

I found her just outside the grand hall, the cool night air hitting my skin as I stepped onto the balcony. There she was, standing with her back to me, her body stiff, as if bracing herself for something I couldn’t yet see.

“Akira,” I said, my voice low but desperate. “Please, just give me a chance to explain.”

She didn’t move at first, her posture rigid, but I could see the tension in her shoulders, the way she fought to keep herself from breaking. Then, slowly, she turned around, her eyes darker now—guarded, but not entirely unreachable.

“I won’t hear anything from you, Morganthe,” she said, her voice sharp and cutting, each word piercing through the heavy silence between us like a blade. Her eyes—so fierce, so full of anger and betrayal—burned into mine, leaving no room for misunderstanding. “I don’t know who you are, and I don’t want to know more about you. So please, leave me alone.”

The weight of her words hung in the air, suffocating me with their finality. I stood there, momentarily paralyzed, unsure of how to respond to the cold indifference in her voice. My chest tightened, every beat of my heart a painful reminder of how far I had fallen from the connection I once thought we shared.

I took a step closer, desperation driving me forward, my heart pounding in my chest. The distance between us felt insurmountable, yet I couldn’t let her walk away like this—not without at least trying to explain. “Please, Akira, just hear me out,” I said, my voice low, tinged with a vulnerability I rarely allowed anyone to see. “I can't even stop those women from coming to me. You have no idea how many times I’ve tried to push them away, but they just keep coming.”

She didn’t flinch, her eyes narrowing, her lips curling into a sneer. “The hell with that logic?” she snapped, her words biting and harsh. “Spare me the excuses, Morganthe. We are nothing to each other. That one-night thing in Hawaii? It was just sex. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Her words struck like a thunderclap, reverberating through my chest and leaving a sting that I couldn’t escape. Just sex. That’s all it had been to her. The one night I thought had changed everything for me, the night I thought we’d shared something deeper, something meaningful, had meant nothing to her.

The realization hit me like a cold wave, drowning all the words I had prepared. What could I say? How could I make her understand that for me, it had been more than just a fleeting connection, more than a brief moment of desire?

"Akira, you can’t just turn me away," I said, feeling the desperation in my voice. I stepped closer, my eyes pleading with hers. "I need you just as much as you need me. There are things that... that I can’t explain easily right now. But please, give me a chance. Just one chance to make things right. Please, Akira."

She shook her head sharply, her eyes narrowing with a familiar fierceness. "Stop it, Morganthe. Just stop!" Her voice was a low, broken command, laced with anger and something more—a pain she was trying so hard to hide.

“Are you having heartaches? Sleepless nights? Just tell me the truth,” I whispered, hoping to break through the walls she’d built around herself.

Her expression faltered, and for one brief, fleeting moment, I saw it—a hint of vulnerability, the truth in her eyes. But just as quickly, she buried it, her gaze hardening.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied, her voice cold and distant. It was a lie, and we both knew it.

"Please, Akira," I whispered again, feeling helpless, as if every word I spoke pushed her further away.

But before she could respond, two figures approached, interrupting the fragile tension between us.

"Akira? Ezekiel?" Xavier’s voice cut through the night, filled with concern as he looked between us.

Jade stepped forward, worry etched across her face. “Akira-san, are you okay?” She reached for Akira, her gentle touch guiding her away from me, as if sensing the turmoil that had erupted between us.

"What's going on?" Xavier asked in a low voice.

The tension hung thick in the air, pressing down on me as I faced Xavier. I kept my voice low, hoping he’d understand. “She won’t accept my explanation. Man, I’m going out of my mind here. And look at her—she acts like she’s not affected at all.”

Xavier’s brow furrowed, confusion flitting across his face until I saw the realization dawn on him. His eyes darkened as he pieced it together. “When did this happen?” he asked, barely above a whisper.

“Hawaii. A few months back.” I felt the frustration settle in my chest, tightening with every word. “And now, she avoids me. I can’t get close, I can’t even get her to listen.”

Xavier’s gaze was steady, unreadable. “And she’s acting like nothing’s wrong?”

“Exactly,” I said, struggling to keep my voice even. “She refuses to even look my way. You know the pull—the bond that should be there. When we bite our mate, they can’t resist us. It’s…impossible. But she won’t even come near me.” I ran a hand through my hair, the weight of it all crushing down.

Xavier’s expression softened, but there was a hint of a warning in his tone. “Or maybe she has a stronger will than you realize. Or she’s keeping herself away because she feels something off.”

I didn’t need his reminder; I knew what I’d done wrong. “Xavi, you know this is only going to get worse. The pain will grow until she can’t bear it. I can feel it—I can feel her hurting, and I don’t know how to stop it.”

His gaze darkened, and for a second, I thought he might turn away. But he nodded. He understood more than anyone what that bond meant, what it could do. That’s why he had never pushed Jade.

But I had pushed Akira into this mess without warning her, without letting her understand what she was getting into. A reckless, selfish move that now threatened to unravel us both.

“Does she know what you are?” he asked, his voice a quiet tension, a sliver of hope that maybe, somehow, this could still be salvaged.

“No.” The truth of it struck me with a fresh wave of regret, each syllable heavy. “She has no idea.”

Xavier sighed, and I could see the anger he held back. He didn’t need to say anything for me to know he was thinking about Akira, about the chaos I’d pulled her into without her consent. And beneath it all, I could feel the sting of shame, knowing that I had bound her to me without giving her the choice, trapping her in a world she didn’t understand.