Except this isn’t a fairy tale.
The beast stays a beast. And I’ve long since buried the girl who waited for a prince.
Chapter Nine
Isabella POV
I hadn’t realized how much seeing Dimitri again would affect me…and my wolf. I was restless now, torn between instinct and resentment. Between the primal urge to run to him and the human instinct to run far, far away.
The dress suddenly felt like I was wrapped in five layers of clothing. My pulse hammered violently against my ribs. I was certain everyone around me could hear it. And damn it, I felt sweat beading on my forehead. The last thing I needed was to ruin my perfect makeup.
I walked further away from him, even though I could feel his gaze burning into my skin. I stopped at the makeshift bar at the center of the hall, needing something—anything—to ground me. To give me a moment to collect myself before I fell apart in front of hundreds of people.
I stood with my back to the crowd, gripping the edge of the bar counter, focusing on calming my racing heart.
But, even now, I could still feel him. Apparently, he’d shut down whoever interrupted us earlier, and his attention was back on me.
I felt Dimitri’s gaze burn into my bare back. The intensity of itmade my skin prickle with awareness, made my traitorous body respond in ways it absolutely should not.
And the crazy thing? Some part of me—some broken, stupid part of me—liked it. I welcomed it. My wolf practically preened under his attention. I hated that I still felt this way. Hated that my body remembered him, wanted him, despite everything he’d done. I needed my wolf and me to start seeing him as what he was: my stepbrother, the one Uncle Asher had asked to protect me, not the man my body remembered. Any other thought would be unnatural. Taboo. Dangerous. But my subconscious pricked at me. I’d already broken that moral boundary once. I even had a child for him. A little late for self-restraint now, wasn’t it?
The bartender appeared, snapping me out of my thoughts. “What can I get you, ma’am?”
“Whiskey. Neat.” I needed something strong.
As he prepared my order, I tried to make sense of what I was feeling. The Mate bond was severed. Dimitri had made sure of that when he rejected me publicly, tore it apart with his own words. It should be gone, nothing left but scar tissue.
So why did being near him feel like touching a live wire?
Five minutes later, I felt him beside me. My entire body locked up.
“We need to talk, Isabella.”
I turned to find him standing beside me, close enough that I could see the gold flecks in his eyes.
“We should go somewhere private,” Dimitri said quietly. “To talk.”
I didn’t know what pissed me off more—the fact that he thought I’d ever want to speak to him again, or the way he said it, like it was a given. Like I would simply follow him. Like I was still his little, vulnerable sister who still needed his care and attention.
“I have nothing to say to you.” I picked up my whiskey and turned to leave.
But he didn’t let me. Dimitri’s hand shot out, catching my wrist. Not hard enough to hurt, but firm enough to keep me in place.
My entire body ignited. The contact sent electricity racing up my skin, setting every nerve in my body alight. Heatpooled low in my stomach. My wolf whimpered, pressing against my control, urging me to lean into his touch.
I jerked my arm away, as though his touch burned. But it was too late. My body was practically humming with unwanted awareness. And I think Dimitri noticed it. Fuck. Me.
“Dimitri, darling.” A saccharine voice cut through the moment, and I blinked rapidly, trying to gather myself and my thoughts.
I followed the sound of the voice to see Selene emerge from the crowd.
Dimitri didn’t even bother turning to see who it was.
She glided toward us in a silver gown, her blonde hair perfectly styled in an updo, her smile as malicious as ever. She appeared unbothered by the sight of Dimitri and me together—but the fury that burned in her blue eyes told me she was just as insecure as she’d been five years ago, even though she tried to hide it behind a mask.
When she reached us, she slipped her arm through Dimitri’s possessively, pressing against his side.
“There you are,” she purred. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”