Bonds

Chapter 121

-Maya’s POV-

Have you ever gotten to that point in your life where it feels like everything you built, everything you held dear, just crumbled around you, leaving nothing but a pile of smoking ruins? I shouldn’t have asked because I know the answer. At some point, everyone has felt that way but I didn’t think it would ever get to this point. Except, that’s exactly where I stood, tears blurring my vision as I stared at the wreckage before me.

Except, it wasn’t just the building or the blood on the concrete. It was… well, everything else. It was everything that had imploded in the aftermath of that stupid, impulsive kiss with Alex. I wouldn’t lie and say I didn’t know why I did it. Natalia had spelled it out for me an hour ago, calling me a selfish bitch after she told me she didn’t ever want to ever see me again.

Nothing, not a single thing, not the rejection, not when my father told me he hated me, had hurt me more than the moment those words left her lips and she turned her back on me. The worst part? I deserved it. Every ounce of her anger, every bit of her hurt, I had earned it all. And it was all because of him.

Here I stood, lost and confused, with no idea where to even begin to pick up the pieces. Maybe, I thought, I should rewind. Go back to that moment before everything spiraled out of control. Go back to the beginning. Right after the kiss.

In that single, stolen moment, all I could think about was how strangely perfect it felt. Our lips were fused, and it was like his whole being was pouring into mine. I never wanted to let go, to disconnect from that feeling. But then, slowly, the reality of the situation started to seep in, and with a jolt, I pushed him away.

We stared at each other, both panting for breath. “Amaya,” he whispered, his voice thick with something I couldn’t decipher. “I–”

But I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to hear whatever excuse or apology he was about to offer. So I did what I do best – I ran. I was a master at running away from my problems, a hypocrite through and through. And that’s exactly what I did. I ran.

That was the beginning of the end.

maybe I wasn’t the horrible person I felt like. But he

landed. Pictures. Pictures of me and Alex, locked in that damning kiss, plastered all over my computer screen. I’d made plenty of mistakes in my life, but as I realized then, pushing whoever was behind the blackmail to the back of my

–

was relentless. They were determined to destroy everything – my marriage, my reputation, my life. I naively thought that was the worst it could get. But oh,

a frenzy. The news broke, splattered across every screen and headline imaginable. It wasn’t about me, thank Goddess but it was way worse. It was a video. A video of a man, a stranger, someone I’d never met and would never get the chance to meet because he was shot dead right after it happened. Shot dead right after he transformed. Transformed. Into a

Natalia’s house when the news broke. She was the only one left who I could turn to. I needed her help, needed a plan to stop this blackmailer before they destroyed my life. But the

entire goddamn world

Humans started hunting us down like monsters in the night, calling us all sorts of names. Riots erupted everywhere. Every unsolved death, every unexplained attack from the past few years, they were all getting pinned on us now. Werewolves were scrambling to

Nobody was safe.

ever, my father actually spoke to me without spitting fire. He even went so far as to assign some wolves from the pack for my protection and let

but it was something I chose to

The worry was eating me alive, making me want to tear my hair out. Alex? Nobody had heard a peep from him until the biggest bomb of all hit the media. It spread like wildfire – faster than

Thorne: The

–

his restaurants, his company headquarters – setting everything on fire, smashing windows, tearing it all

mistake of my entire life. I had to know he was okay.

Chapter 121

the dangers of venturing

my best friend afterall. The next

reacted instinctively, shoving me aside and shifting right there to protect me. A gunshot rang out, sharp