Scorching Bonds

Chapter 1

It was the end of the world

The door in front of me was the only thing standing in the way of me and my ultimate destruction. So much had happened to recently to bring me to this point, but I wasn't ready. The tie around my neck might as well have been a noose waiting for the steps below my feet to dip and drop me into hell.

A voice inside my head told me that I was over-exaggerating, but I'd like to believe that it was only saying that to ease the pain and discomfort. My mind began to swim in the stream of memories that led up to this moment.

I had spent the last six months in an intoxicating fire of passion and forbidden romance with my mate. I felt stronger than I ever have in my life, and I know it was because of him.

A smile crossed my lips when I couldn't help but think about him. The way we'd lie in bed at night. He'd come over almost every night after we became a real thing. I even made up a stupid rule that he couldn't wear his clothes on my bed. I lied saying, "it's how we do things in my world." a lie that would have been obvious even if he couldn't read my mind. Yet he pretended to believe me anyway.

Ever since I met him at the start of the school year last winter, I'd started changing faster than I could realize. I was raised to be independent and wise, but he made my head spin circles around him. When things got more serious between us, my body changed physically as well. There was this heat burning inside me every time we touched, like a furnace that I couldn't put out. I thought it was just stupid teenage hormones going berserk, but I know better at this point.

He made me hot, and I know it was the same for him too. No one else could help cool me off and ease that fire inside but him. So, whenever we were alone, we were nearly inseparable. That's probably why he didn't argue when I made wearing clothes seem like a taboo.

His hands weren't very soft and showed off his inexperience, but they were also careful and curious. They would roll over my body when I rested against him and his fingers would play across my skin. His every touch was like stoking the flames. Making me hotter and more aggressive till I caved in and submitted to the fire. We were usually quiet from the start, but the sounds he'd make. Oh god, the freaking sounds he'd make when things got more intense.

I could hear that voice in my head again, telling me to cool down before I sweat through my green shirt. It was his favorite color and he bought it for me as a high school graduation present. I didn't even know people got presents for graduation, so it caught me off guard.

Up until that moment, I hadn't even considered celebrating things like holidays, birthdays, or special events together, but it made me realize that he was. Our relationship had stayed relatively private for months and I never considered that a problem. I was happy knowing that he wanted me as much as I wanted him. Life isn't that simple, however, and he made me promise that we'd settle things by the end of the summer.

I agreed even though it makes my stomach tense and my nerves frantic. His parents are terrifying and I already know that one of them doesn't like me. The few times that I saw his dad...well, I can only describe that look as hostile. His mother would probably skin me alive if she knew how I'd spent my summer with him.

Footsteps drew closer on the other side of the door and my ears perked up instantly. This was it. The end of all the freedom and privacy that I'd known in life.

On the other side of that door was death and despair. It was cruel and unforgiving judgment for all of my sins. The gods already know that everything about me is sin.

When the door opened, it would mean an end to sneaking through the streets at night and walking through the woods. It would put a stop to my midnight invasions of his privacy. There was still a war going on that had been fought in both the shadows and the light of media. Shapeshifters all around the world were looking at Viridian as a place of leadership and hope for a better future. My relationship was a big deal in so many ways, but it was still so new.

"My heart is going to burst before this stupid door even opens..." I grumbled to myself.

The creatures on the other side of the door came close enough for me to hear their voices. "Thanks for letting me invite someone to dinner. I know you've been asking to meet the person I've been spending so much time with. So, I figured now would be as good a time as any." That was him. The stupid dark-haired guy that flipped my life upside down and set my world on fire. Officially 18 today. I wanted to call him an idiot for waiting until the last moment to let his parents know I was coming.

The door swung open and I saw Jake and his parents behind him. His father's expression was impossible to read, but his mother's emotion was easy. Complete and utter surprise froze her features with her jaw dropped slightly. I was definitely not what she was expecting.

"Mom, father, this is Hunter Sin. My..." there was an awkward second where I could see the tension rise into the air between the doorway. That word was still taboo around people. "M-my..."

Oh gods, don't say it. Please just say 'friend' or 'guy' or even 'Wolfe'. I pleaded through eye contact. He blinked twice and took a deep breath.

"This is my boyfriend, Hunter."

His mother's eyes somehow flew open twice as wide and her jaw looked like it would fall off of her face.

Just like that, my world as I knew it came to an end.

Hey, we're back in motion!