Chapter 6 The Curse of Desire

KAI's POV

I stood in the kitchen long after Aria ran away, my fists clenched at my sides. My body still burned with the need she'd awakened, the hardness in my sweatpants refusing to fade.

This is insane. We're helping our mate seduce another man.

The thought made my wolf snarl with rage. Everything in me screamed to claim her, to mark her as ours and eliminate any threat. But we couldn't. Not when she was just an Omega with no background, no status, no wolf of her own.

She's not worthy of being with us.

That's what I kept telling myself. What we all kept telling ourselves. We should break the bond, reject her, and move on with our lives. It would be painful, but possible.

But the moment I thought about it, my chest tightened with an ache that felt like dying.

"You really scared her."

I spun around to find Reed leaning against the doorframe, watching me with knowing eyes. He must have been there the whole time, hidden in the shadows.

"Don't mess with me right now," I growled, adjusting my sweatpants. "I'm not happy about any of this."

Reed walked closer, his expression serious. "None of us are. But we don't have a choice."

"There's always a choice," I shot back.

He shook his head slowly. "You remember what it was like before her, don't you? The emptiness?"

I did. God, I did. For years, my brothers and I had struggled with something we didn't understand. Women threw themselves at us constantly-beautiful, experienced women who knew exactly what they were doing. But nothing happened. No arousal, no desire, no satisfaction.

We'd tried everything. Different partners, different situations, even visiting specialists who told us it might be psychological. The team doctor had run tests, found nothing wrong physically.

"We haven't been able to get aroused or satisfied by any woman for years," Reed continued quietly. "Remember how frustrating it was? How empty we felt?"

The memories washed over me. Dates that went nowhere. Women in our beds who we couldn't perform with. The humiliation, the confusion, the growing fear that something was fundamentally broken inside us.

"The pack elder told us it could only be broken one way," Reed said. "By mating with our true mate. That she's the only one who can awaken what's dormant in us."

He was right. The moment Aria had arrived, everything had changed. Suddenly, my body responded the way it should. The desire I'd thought was dead roared to life with a vengeance.

"She's the only one who can arouse us now," Reed continued. "And we can't resist when she's around. You felt it tonight, didn't you? How impossible it is to control yourself near her?"

I had. My wolf had nearly taken over completely, demanding I claim what was ours. The feel of her soft body pressed against mine, the sweet scent of her arousal mixing with her fear-it had driven me wild.

"So what do we do?" I asked, hating how helpless I sounded.

Reed's expression hardened. "We endure. We follow the plan. We deceive her into mating with us, let the bond complete itself, and then we can leave her."

"Leave her?" The words tasted bitter.

"Once we're fully mated, the curse will be broken. We'll be able to be with other women again. Normal women. Women who actually fit into our world." Reed's voice was cold, calculated. "We get what we need from her, then we're free."

It made sense logically. Aria was strange, desperate, clearly struggling with her own sexual issues. She'd practically begged Zane Parker to sleep with her in front of the whole school. A girl like that would be easy to manipulate.

"I understand," I said finally. "I just... I couldn't control myself around her tonight."

"None of us can," Reed admitted. "But we have to try. The tutoring sessions will give us access to her, build trust. And she's already drowning in sexual desire. It'll be easy to trick her into thinking she wants us."

Easy to trick her. The words echoed in my mind as I headed back to my room.

Why did that thought make me feel sick?

The next morning, I was up early, desperate to clear my head with a ride before school. I grabbed my helmet and headed for my motorcycle, the cool morning air doing little to calm the turmoil inside me.

Then I saw her.

Aria walked out of the house, and I literally stopped breathing.

Gone were the oversized hoodies and baggy jeans. She wore a short denim skirt that showed off long, toned legs I'd never known existed. Her tight white shirt hugged curves that the loose clothing had completely hidden. And makeup-subtle but effective-highlighted eyes that suddenly seemed huge and lips that looked impossibly soft.

Damn.

My body responded instantly, blood rushing south so fast I felt dizzy. I slapped myself hard across the face, trying to snap out of it.

Get it together. She's doing this for Zane, not you.

The thought made jealousy burn through me like acid. I swung my leg over the bike, ready to leave before I did something stupid.

"Kai, wait!" Her voice stopped me.

I looked back reluctantly. She stood a few feet away, chewing her lower lip nervously. The gesture was innocent but somehow incredibly sexy.

"Do you... do you want to go to school together?" I heard myself ask.

Her expression immediately closed off. "No thanks. I remember what happened last time."

Right. When I'd made her fall on her ass and called her a creep. At the time, it had seemed funny-a way to maintain distance, to keep her from getting too close.

Now it just seemed cruel.

"I promise I won't do that again," I said, surprising myself with how much I meant it.

"Fuck off, Kai." She crossed her arms, and the movement pressed her breasts together in a way that made my mouth go dry. "I'm not falling for your games anymore."

Pride warred with the desperate need to be near her. "Fine. I don't care about you anyway."

I forced a laugh, trying to make it sound casual. "What I did before was pretty funny though. You should've seen your face."

The hurt that flashed in her eyes made my stomach twist, but I revved the engine and took off before I could apologize.

This is what we have to do. Keep her at a distance. Don't let feelings get involved.

School was torture. I couldn't focus on anything except watching for Aria in the hallways. She avoided me completely-turning down different corridors when she saw me coming, sitting on the opposite side of the cafeteria during lunch.

Good. That's what you wanted, right?

But it didn't feel good. It felt wrong, empty, like something essential was missing.

By the end of the day, I was irritable and restless. My wolf paced inside me, agitated by her absence. I headed toward the parking lot, ready to go home and work off this frustration in the gym.

Then I saw them.

Aria stood near the lockers, wrapped in someone's arms. A guy I didn't recognize-tall, athletic, definitely not from our school. He held her close, his hands on her waist, his face buried in her hair.

And she was hugging him back.

Something primal and violent erupted inside me. My vision actually tinged red at the edges as jealousy unlike anything I'd ever experienced ripped through me.

Mine. She's MINE.

My wolf wanted blood. Wanted to tear that guy away from her and show him exactly who Aria belonged to.

But she didn't belong to me. Not really. She was chasing Zane Parker. And apparently, she had other options too.

I stood frozen, watching her smile up at this stranger, watching him tuck her hair behind her ear with a familiarity that suggested this wasn't their first meeting.

Who the hell is he?

My hands clenched into fists as I fought every instinct screaming at me to interfere. This was good, I told myself. If she found someone else, maybe the pull between us would weaken. Maybe we could all move on.

But as I watched him lean down to whisper something in her ear that made her laugh, I knew I was lying to myself.

There was no moving on from Aria. No matter how much I wanted to, no matter how wrong she was for us, no matter how much easier life would be without this bond-

She was ours.

And I was starting to realize that maybe, just maybe, we were hers too.