Chapter 37
Chapter 37
1 froze.
Max stiffened.
The words cut through the air like a blade and my stomach dropped as I swerved around to see Eva standing in the doorway, her expression unreadable, her arms crossed. She had just walked in–how much had she heard?
My heart pounded violently against my ribs as Max took five full steps back, his jaw clenched so tightly I thought his teeth might crack. His hands raked through his hair, fingers trembling slightly, and for the first time since I had met him, I saw something worse than anger in his eyes.
Betrayal.
“Eva!” I hissed, my voice sharp with accusation.
She met my gaze head–on, unflinching.
“What, Jiselle?” she snapped, “Look, I told you–you’re my best friend, and he’s my brother. It’s been weeks, Jiselle. Months. I told you to give him an option, and you didn’t.” She pointed toward Max, whose face had gone rigid, eyes dark with something unreadable. “And that is exactly why.”
She exhaled, stepping closer, her expression softening just a little.
“Look” she continued, her voice quieter, but no less firm, “I know it’s not my place to meddle in your relationship, but three weeks ago, my brother was gone for three days, and it had something to do with risking his life for you. I’m all down for anything that keeps you alive, but after all that, he at least deserved the truth. He deserved to know exactly what and who he was risking his neck for.”
I swallowed hard, my throat tightening painfully.
I wanted to be mad at her, but I couldn’t.
Because she wasn’t wrong.
Max had been tortured for me. And all that time, he hadn’t even known that I was mated to his worst enemy.
I deserved this.
I deserved the way he looked at me now–like he didn’t know me at all.
And Max finally turned around.
“Your mate.”
His voice was low, deadly quiet. The kind of quiet that came before an explosion.
My breath hitched.
Eva hesitated at the door, glancing back at us with wary eyes.
Max wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were locked on me, and only me. The moment Eva took a step forward, placing herself subtly between us, I realized what she was doing.
She didn’t trust him not to hurt me
“Max” she warned carefully, her posture tense.
“Your mate?” His voice was rougher now, raw and dangerous. “He’s your fucking mate, Jiselle?”
I flinched at the way he said it Like the words tasted like poison in his mouth.
He started moving toward me, five long strides closing the distance in an instant.
Eva stepped fully in front of me now, her back straight, her stance firm. “Max, don’t.”
“Don’t what?” he spat “I would never hurt her.”
YEL the
way his voice shook made me wonder if he even believed that himself
“Move,” he growled.
“Not until I know for sure that you don’t-
“I would rather jump through that damn window
Eva Rent completely still
than la
lay a hand on her, now move. E
Evaline
It wasn’t just the words–it was the way he said therm
them. Like he barely recognized himself.
Like this was the moment something inside him finally cracked.
Chapter 37
Eva turned to me one last time, her eyes scanning my face, searching for any sign that I didn’t want to be left alone with him.
I gave her a small nod, even though my hands were shaking.
She hesitated, her lips pressing together tightly.
11 be right outside,” she promised, her voice soft, but firm. “All you have to do is scream”
Max exhaled sharply, running both hands down his face as Eva finally walked out the door, shutting it softly behind her.
The moment she was gone, the air in the room shifted.
Max turned back to me, and I felt small
I pressed my back against the wall, my pulse thundering in my ears.
“Your. Mate.”
I swallowed, throat tightening. “Max, please
“Your mate. Jiselle.”
The heat rolling off him was stifling.
i
“I tried to tell you,” I said desperately, my voice cracking. “I swear I did. Before things got serious. I tried, Max-”
“But you didn’t.” His voice was cold. Emotionless.
7-
“Your mate“” he snapped, slamming his hand against the wall beside my head.
1 flinched
“It means nothing.”
His hands curled into fists at his sides.
“Don’t lie to me.” His voice was rough, shaking with something I couldn’t name. “Two of my brothers are mated. So are my parents. That type of bond doesn’t just mean nothing.”
Tears burned my eyes.
“I’m sorry” I whispered, voice barely there. “But Max, I chose you.”
He let out a humorless laugh, stepping even closer.
“Yeah? Why?” he whispered and my breath hitched. “Because he didn’t choose you?”
I gasped softly. “Max, don’t-
“it’s the truth though, isn’t it?” His silver eyes flashed dangerously. “I was there that fucked Emari You were pining after him, but he didn’t want you. Did he?”
at day. When you
you were pissed t
that he
I looked down, my vision blurring.
I couldn’t meet his eyes.
Couldn’t face the truth.
Because the truth was, he wasn’t wrong.
And that realization made my heart break all over again.
“You kissed me that day to get him out of your system, not because you chose me.”
Max’s voice was hollow, stripped of the fire it carried moments ago. He pushed off the wall, walking away from me, rubbing at his forehead like he was trying to keep himself together
The words stung
But that’s where he was wrong
“That’s not true,” I said, my voice steadier this time. “You started tearing away at my walls from the first day you showed up at my room looking for Eva. I didn’t kiss you because I wanted a rebound. I hadn’t been with Nate in any way like that in years”
Max visibly flinched at the admission
I swallowed hard, watching as his fingers curled into fists at his sides
“I kissed you because I wanted you I continued, taking a hesitant step toward him “Because for once, someone actually
His Breath hdched Just slightly
Then, just like that, the walls slammed back into place
“Yet, even now, you want him”
His voice was
low, so deadly quiet, that a chill swept through me.
I opened my mouth to protest, but he didn’t let me
“You don’t realize it he said, his silver eyes flashing. “But training with him, Jiselle, it was never about the training. You craved being near him”
“That’s not true
it doesn’t matter that you didn’t talk” He swerved around, eyes locking onto mine with raw, furious intensity “You don’t have to fucking talk ”
I flinched, and he exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down his face as if physically trying to restrain himself,
“Have you.” He swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Have you even rejected him?”
The question shattered me
Tears stung my eyes as I shook my head:
“Max” M
His nostrils flared, his body going rigid
“Fucking hell
He turned away, pacing the room like a caged animal. His hands raked through his already disheveled hair, his breathing
“You haven’t rejected him he murmured, more to himself than to me. “You haven’t because you still want him”
No?” I burst out, desperate, stepping toward him. “That’s not it
the roared
His voice echoed off the walls, raw and filled with something more than just anger–something that broke him.
I had never seen him like this before. Never seen Max shattered
“Like I said, I have brothers who are mated, Jiselle,” he said through gritted teeth. “Lincoln is mated. He met her last year
when she first came here.”
Want What?
Lincoln?
The cold detached, permanently pissed–off Laker brother had a mate?
“He’s the hardest ass I know, Max continued, eyes burning into mine. “And he doesn’t let people in. He swore up and down that he never wanted a mate. But you know what?”
I knew
I already knew
The didn’t reject her Max hissed. “He lied to himself, lied to her, lied to all of us. But he didn’t reject her because he wanted her. He broke within two weeks.”
swith? Why did I always assume it was a different person each time? Maybe because
Was that the woman he was always wi
that’s the perception I had of him.
I closed my eyes briefly as the words landed
Mar stepped closer.
“So tell me his voice was quieter now, but no less lethal. “Am I just a placeholder for you?” “No, Max. 1-
“A placeholder until Nathaniel pulls his head out of his ass and realizes what he’s really missing?”
I shook my head violently “No, Max, I swear-
“Then why haven’t you rejected hum?”
The words slammed into me like a freight train
I swallowed “1. I don’t know
Mars face twisted
“You do know he
His
trapidly, his breaths coming in sharp, heavy bursts. I watched as his fists curled at
ed at his sides.
Then, suddenly, he deflated.
The anger, the fire, the fury–it all bled out of him bike air from a balloon, leaving only something else behind.
Chapter 37
Something worse
Disappointment.
“You do know, Jiselle,” he whispered, shaking his head.
I felt my heart break.
A lump formed in my throat as I took another shaky step forward, reaching for him, desperate to touch him, desperate to fix
this
But he stepped back.
Out of reach
His silver eyes met mine, and I knew
I knew I had lost him
“I’m not doing this anymore.”
The words came out low, almost too quiet. But they destroyed me.
“Max wait–please” I choked out, stumbling forward.
But he was already storming out the door.
1 rushed after him, my vision blurred with tears, but before I could get far, Eva caught me.
She wrapped her arms around me tightly, holding me still.
“Let him cool off, she whispered, her chin resting against my head. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured. “This isn’t what I wanted”
“I know,” I gasped through my sobs, my hands fisting the front of her shirt as I clung to her. “It’s all my fault. If I had told him earlier, maybe-*
“I know,” she repeated softly, guilt thick in her voice.
And that was the worst part.
Because Eva had been trying to protect us both.
She had warned me. She had given me every opportunity to tell Max the truth,
And now?
Now, by choosing her brother’s best interest, she had hurt me.
By keeping quiet, she had hurt him..
And I?
I had ruined everything
