Isla's POV
"Isla? Is that really you?"
The voice froze me in place. It was familiar... like too familiar.
For a heartbeat, I thought I was hallucinating. My head jerked up, my breath catching as my gaze locked across the glass wall of the ice rink. The roar of the human crowd was deafening, but all I could hear was the thundering of my own heart.
The man on the ice, tall and broad-shouldered, while moving with the grace of a predator even in human skates, had gone still. His teammates flew past him while chasing the puck, but he didn't move. He was staring at me like he'd seen a ghost.
Coby Winters, I remembered him. Once, a boy with laughing eyes who used to sneak me scraps from the pack kitchen when Logan starved me for punishment. The only warrior-in-training who hadn't spat at me when I walked past. He'd left years ago, chasing something beyond the Ivory Moon Pack and I'd thought he'd forgotten me.
But he hadn't; his eyes were icy blue, sharp as blades under the stadium lights and told me he knew exactly who I was.
And then it happened: the spark, the fire and the pull.
My chest ignited, heat racing through me, choking me and binding me. My knees buckled as my wolf, Ava, howled inside me, clawing desperately, not in pain this time but in recognition.
Mate... The word thundered through me, tearing the air from my lungs.
Coby staggered, his hand gripping his stick like it was the only thing keeping him upright. Then his body crumpled, collapsing onto the ice.
Gasps erupted in the crowd. Humans screamed his name, voices sharp with panic and concern. "Coby! Coby, get up!"
I stumbled back from the glass, with my body trembling. I screamed inwardly, "Noooo..." Not again. Not another bond.
Why me? Why always me?
The chaos in the stadium blurred together, with announcers shouting, medics rushing, and teammates circling him. I turned and ran. Out of the arena doors, down the narrow hallway, anywhere that wasn't here. My chest burned with the bond's fire, my wolf clawing at me with every step, but I didn't make it far.
A hand shot out from a side hallway, yanking me into the shadows. I gasped, struggling, until the familiar icy scent wrapped around me. It was sharp mint, cold air and something darker underneath.
It was Coby himself. He shoved me against the locker room wall, his eyes blazing, his chest heaving. Sweat dripped down his temples, his jersey still clinging to him. His hands pinned mine to the wall, rough and trembling.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Isla?" His voice was low, furious and almost desperate.
"I... I didn't know..." My voice cracked, my chest rising and falling too fast. "I was running... I didn't mean..."
"You can't be here." His grip tightened. "Do you have any idea what this means? If they find out... if anyone sees..."
His words cut off, his breath ragged. His eyes blazed with something between fury and fear.
"You're hiding," I whispered, realization striking.
His jaw clenched.
"You're hiding what you are." My voice shook. "You're hiding your wolf from them."
He shoved away from me like my words burned. He turned, slamming his fist into a locker so hard that the metal caved. The sound echoed through the empty room, rattling down my spine.
"Fuck!" he roared.
I flinched, clutching my chest. The bond pulsed harder, burning and pulling me toward him even as he raged.
"You can't be here," he said again, his voice breaking this time. "If the world finds out what I am, what we are, I lose everything. My career, my life and all of it."
Tears blurred my eyes. My voice was raw. "You think I wanted this? You think I asked the Goddess to chain me to every man who will never want me?"
His shoulders stiffened. Slowly, he turned back toward me. His eyes burned, but his hands shook at his sides.
"You don't get it," he said, low and harsh. "You're the only one I can't have."
He stepped closer despite the words, the bond dragging him against his own will. His hand lifted and trembled before his fingers brushed my wrist.
Sparks exploded through me, sharp and electric, making me gasp. My knees went weak, my breath shattering in my chest.
Immediately, his lips parted, his eyes darkened, and his wolf clawed to the surface.
"Bryan," I heard him whisper hoarsely, like he was talking to himself.
The name struck me. His wolf.
And Bryan was howling, loud enough that I felt it echo in my veins.
Mate... Ours. Coby staggered back, his hand flying to his head like he was trying to shove the voice down. "No," he growled. "No, I can't."
He slammed his fist into another locker. The door ripped from its hinges, crashing to the ground with a deafening clang.
I flinched again, tears spilling down my cheeks, not from fear but from the ache tearing me apart.
He was breaking. I was breaking and still, the bond held us both.
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Coby's POV
My hands were shaking and my chest was on fire. "She's ours," Bryan snarled inside me, savage and relentless. "Claim her, mark her and take her now."
"Shut up," I hissed under my breath.
The broken locker door lay twisted at my feet. My knuckles bled from the impact, but I didn't care. All I cared about was the scent still hanging in the air, which was her scent, wildflowers, rain, soft and pure, cutting through the stink of sweat and blood.
I couldn't breathe without it. "You saw her," Bryan growled, softer now, almost pleading. "You felt her. She's the only game that matters."
"She'll ruin me," I snapped. My voice cracked as the words tasted like ash in my mouth. "If anyone finds out, if they know, this career, this life, it's gone and she'll be gone too."
"Then let it burn," Bryan roared.
I slammed both hands against the locker as my forehead pressed into the dented metal. My chest heaved, while my breath was ragged.
"Why now?" I whispered, my voice breaking. "Why her?"
No answer. Only the silence of the empty locker room and the fading echo of her footsteps as she slipped away.
I didn't stop her. I couldn't.
But the bond… The bond was already carved into me, and I knew I'd never be free of her.
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Isla's POV
The roar of the human crowd hit me again as I stumbled back into the hallway. I wiped my tears with the back of my hand. My heart is still on fire, my wolf still howling his name.
Coby Winters. My friend. My mate. My impossible.
I slipped out of the arena into the night, the cold air cutting my lungs. Neon lights flickered, cars honked, and humans laughed and shouted around me, but I didn't hear them.
I only heard the question screaming in my chest. How many more bonds could I survive?
How many times could the goddess tie me to men who would never truly want me?
My knees buckled and I leaned against the cold brick wall of an alley, pressing my palm to my chest as tears streaked my cheeks.
"Why me, Goddess?" I whispered into the night. "Why me?"
The city swallowed my words whole, leaving me small and silent in its shadows.
When four forbidden bonds pull at one fragile Omega, which one will break first, her heart or theirs?