Elena’s POV:
I didn’t know how long I had been in the bathroom, pacing back and forth, my mind racing with fury. Every breath I took felt like a thousand volts coursing through , and the only thing I could think about was how much Kane had betrayed my trust. The heat had been bad, yes—god, it had been unbearable, but it had ended after we fucked. That didn’t an he had the right to do this. To go ahead and mark while I was unconscious, asleep, vulnerable... having sex with him didn’t an I also wanted to be marked!
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms, but the sharp pain wasn’t enough to distract from the simring rage building up inside . I didn’t give a damn about mating. I didn’t care if it was a bond, so sort of primal instinct or connection we couldn’t control. What mattered was consent, and Kane had taken that away from .
He had crossed a line.
How could he? I trusted him. I thought he understood —thought he cared. But here I was, trapped in a twisted situation I hadn’t asked for.
I had never agreed to this. I didn’t agree to be his property or for him to stake his claim on like so possession. The anger I felt was white-hot, burning deep into my chest. I was done. I didn’t care what he said, or how he justified it. There was no coming back from this.
I needed to get out. I had to leave.
I quickly wiped the wetness from my face, ignoring the way my heart felt like it was being ripped in two. The scent of him—the warmth of his presence—still lingered in the back of my mind, but I refused to let it control . He had taken enough from . He had taken my choice, my dignity in that mont, and now he was going to feel the weight of that mistake.
I opened the bathroom door with a sharp breath, glaring at the space beyond. Kane’s scent was heavy in the air, and I knew he was sowhere close. It only made angrier. I wasn’t going to let him hold here.
I stord out of the bathroom, no longer caring about the consequences. I needed distance. I needed to be far away from him, from all of this.
I headed toward the door, my heart pounding in my chest. But just as I reached for the handle, I heard his voice behind .
"Elena, wait."
His voice was low, husky with the remnants of whatever we had just shared. But I wasn’t listening to that. I wasn’t listening to anything but the pounding in my head.
"No," I snapped, my voice harsh, raw with the bitterness of betrayal. "You don’t get to tell what to do, Kane. Not anymore."
"Please, just let explain—"
"Explain?" I whirled around to face him, the anger flashing in my eyes. "You don’t get to explain away what you did! You marked while I was asleep, Kane. You took away my choice. How could you do that? After everything we’ve been through, you just—"
I shook my head, feeling the weight of all the emotions crashing into at once. "I trusted you."
His expression faltered for just a mont, guilt flashing across his face, but then it was gone, replaced by sothing harder—sothing I didn’t recognize.
"Elena—"
"No!" I shouted, my voice shaking with fury. "You’ve crossed a line. I’m not your mate unless I choose to be, and you’ve made that decision for . You’ve ruined everything."
I felt my chest tighten as my breath quickened, but I wasn’t backing down. Not this ti.
I turned back to the door, ready to leave, but Kane moved quickly, blocking my way. His presence lood over like a storm, but I wasn’t intimidated anymore.
"Don’t try to stop ," I hissed. "I’m leaving. I’m done with all of this."
"Elena, you’re angry, I get it, but—"
"No, Kane!" I cut him off, my voice trembling with a mix of fear and defiance. "You think you can just take control of everything? Of ? I’m not so object you can claim whenever it suits you. You don’t own , and I will never accept that."
The silence that followed was suffocating. He didn’t speak, didn’t try to touch , and that, in itself, spoke volus. For the first ti since the heat, I saw a flicker of regret in his eyes. But that didn’t make up for what he had done.
"I’m leaving, Kane," I said again, quieter this ti, but still with determination. "And there’s nothing you can say to make stay."
With that, I pushed past him, ignoring the ache in my chest and the tears threatening to fall. I couldn’t let him see my weakness. Not now.
I wasn’t looking back. Not for him, not for anything.
I just needed to get away.
My heart pounded in my chest as I stepped outside the cottage, the air cool and biting against my bare skin. The forest stretched endlessly around , the towering trees casting long, haunting shadows. A deep sense of isolation washed over , and the reality of the situation began to sink in. I didn’t know where I was, how I had ended up here, or how to find my way back. I wasn’t even sure where "back" was anymore.
Kane had promised things would be different. He’d sworn that we could make it work, that he would be patient, that he wouldn’t push into anything. But now, everything was different. He wasn’t the man I had trusted. He was a stranger—an arrogant, entitled stranger who had completely crossed a line. The anger burned within , hot and furious, twisting my insides with the intensity of it. The betrayal stung more than I wanted to admit.
I had thought I understood him, that there was a bond between us that couldn’t be broken, but now, it all felt like lies. His actions had shattered whatever fragile trust I’d had left. I had tried to hold on, tried to convince myself that we could figure it out, but his selfishness had taken over, leaving exposed, vulnerable, and hurt.
"I can’t believe he did that," I muttered under my breath, a bitter laugh escaping my lips as I wiped away the tears I hadn’t realized had fallen.
My mind raced, desperately trying to find so way to piece together what had happened. I had thought I could trust him, that he would respect —respect my boundaries. But instead, he had taken advantage of in my most vulnerable mont, marking as if I were so possession, so object for his own gain. It felt like a violation, not just of my body, but of everything I had hoped our connection would be.
I took a deep breath, my chest tightening with the overwhelming pressure of my emotions. "I can’t stay here. I can’t be around him anymore."
The decision was made. I needed to leave. I needed to find a way out of this nightmare, to get as far away from him as possible.
The forest around was dense, the trees thick and dark, but that only made feel more trapped. There were no signs of civilization, no road, no trail to follow. It was just the endless sea of green, stretching in every direction, suffocating in its isolation.
I tried to steady my breath, pushing past the panic rising within . "Think, Elena. Think."
My mind began to race through the options, and slowly, an idea began to form. I wasn’t helpless. I had been trained, had learned how to survive on my own. I could do this.
I glanced down at the ground, trying to gauge the direction I should take. The moonlight barely pierced the canopy above, but the faint glow of the stars illuminated the path ahead. I started walking, each step feeling heavier than the last. The frustration bubbled up inside , and I couldn’t stop the scowl from spreading across my face. How had things gone so wrong?
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of movent behind . I froze, my muscles tensing, and instinctively, my eyes darted around the darkness.
Was it him? Had he followed ?
A chill ran down my spine, and my pulse quickened. I spun around, heart racing, ready to face whatever was coming.
But there was nothing. The forest remained still, silent, save for the rustling of leaves and the distant call of an owl.
I exhaled slowly, forcing my body to relax. "You’re losing it, Elena. Get it together."
My mind, however, refused to calm. Every noise, every creak of a branch, felt like it was him—Kane—lurking in the shadows, watching, waiting. My anger surged again, and I clenched my fists at my sides, unwilling to let him have the power to control my fear, too.
"I won’t let him do this. I won’t let him break ," I whispered fiercely to myself, my voice low and filled with defiance.
But even as I said the words, a part of doubted. Could I really escape? Could I really break free from this twisted bond he had forced upon ?
And then, just as the weight of uncertainty threatened to drag down, a voice—cold and steady—cut through the stillness of the night.
"You’re not going anywhere."
My breath hitched. It was him. Kane.
I turned sharply, my body tense with anger and fear as he stepped from the shadows, his figure looming in the dim light. His eyes were dark, unreadable, his posture strong, almost predatory.
"Let go, Kane," I snapped, my voice trembling despite the fury in my chest. "I’m done. You’ve crossed the line, and I don’t care what you think you have—what we have—I’m not staying here with you."
His expression didn’t change, but there was a shift in his stance, sothing colder in his gaze.
"You think you can just walk away? You can’t run from this, Elena." His voice was low, controlled, but there was an edge to it, a possessiveness that made my stomach turn.
"I’m not your property," I hissed, stepping back, trying to put so distance between us. "You don’t get to decide what happens to . Not anymore."
Kane’s jaw tightened, and for a mont, I saw the flash of sothing—hurt? Regret?—but it was gone before I could process it. His eyes softened just a fraction, but it was almost worse, that fleeting mont of vulnerability. It made my heart ache in a way I didn’t want it to.
"You don’t understand, Elena," he said, his voice quieter now. "I didn’t mark you because I wanted to control you. I did it because I—"
"Stop!" I interrupted, my voice rising with the frustration I could no longer hold back. "Stop making excuses. You violated , Kane. You took away my choice, my agency, without even thinking about what I wanted. That’s not love. That’s not respect. And you damn well know it."
I could see the conflict flash across his face, but I didn’t care. I was done with the excuses, done with trying to make sense of his actions.
"I can’t be around you anymore," I whispered, more to myself than to him, but the finality of my words hung in the air, heavy and undeniable.
Kane didn’t move. He didn’t even speak.
The silence stretched on between us, thick and suffocating. And for a mont, I almost felt like I could breathe again. I had made my decision.
I turned and walked away, each step taking farther from him, from the life I thought I would have, but now knew I could never return to.
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