Kayra
Before I could understand what was happening, Arkan grasped the nape of my neck. Though belatedly, I pressed my hands against his chest and tried to push him away, but when he pulled me toward him, every last inch of space between us disappeared.
Then he pressed his lips to mine.
The moment our bodies touched, an overwhelming sensation flooded through me, and my lips parted of their own accord. Seizing the opportunity, Arkan let out a low growl and deepened the kiss.
Soon, the room was filled with his purrs and my involuntary moans.
What am I doing?
If I wanted to escape from this place, I had to keep control of my body. First, I tried to free my hands, trapped between our chests. But my efforts had the opposite effect; Arkan pulled me even more tightly against him.
When our lips finally parted so that we could breathe, I realized that Arkan's eyes were shining more brightly than I had ever seen before. As always, they were breathtakingly beautiful.
Pull yourself together, Kayra!
Taking a deep breath, I shouted with all my strength.
"Kongar!"
Calling out to Kongar right in front of him must have angered Arkan, because he let out a roar and turned his head toward the door. My entire body was trembling, but despite how difficult it had been, I had managed to resist my own desires.
Muffled, indistinct sounds came from outside. Then the door opened and shut so quickly that I barely had time to register it, and in the next instant Kongar stepped between Arkan and me, smiling as he looked at me.
"Did you call for me, Kayra?" he asked, leaning toward me.
Before I could answer, Arkan growled, seized Kongar by the nape of his neck, and hurled him toward the wall.
"Who do you think you are, calling her Kayra?" he roared. His voice sounded less human than animal.
My heart lurched as I waited for Kongar to crash into the wall, but it never happened. He simply touched the wall lightly with one hand, stopped himself, and turned back to me as though nothing had happened. After taking a few steps, he returned to the exact spot where he had been standing before. Without paying any attention to Arkan's body trembling with rage, he spoke calmly.
"What are your orders, Kayra...?"
He had spoken my name this time with a far more deliberate and lingering emphasis, as though he were doing it solely to provoke Arkan even further.
Just as Arkan growled and lunged toward Kongar again, I stepped between them.
"I told him to."
At my words, Arkan froze where he stood and turned his gaze to me.
"Being addressed as 'my master' feels really strange," I said. Lowering my head and staring at my hands, I felt like a child waiting to be scolded.
Why did I care so much about what Arkan thought?
"Kongar," I said, turning to him. "Never leave Arkan and me alone together again."
Arkan shifted restlessly where he stood and took a step toward me.
"That is an order."
The moment the words left my mouth, he stopped in place. The blue light in his eyes flickered as though he were struggling to keep something inside him under control.
"As you command," Kongar replied, a broad and satisfied smile spreading across his lips.
I thought this was the only way I would be able to keep my body under control when I was around Arkan. No matter how hard I tried to resist, I could feel myself growing a little closer to him with every passing moment.
Arkan watched me silently for a while. Then he sat down on the bed and patted the empty space beside him.
"Come here, Kayra."
I knew I should not sit next to him. Yet my body could not resist that calm invitation and carried me toward him. Just as I was about to sit down, Kongar stepped in, settled himself beside Arkan, and guided me to sit next to him instead.
"Move," Arkan said, fixing Kongar with a hard stare.
Kongar turned his back to Arkan and looked at me.
"Shall I get up?" he asked.
I placed my hand over Kongar's. The instant I touched him, that familiar tingling spread through my fingertips again—the same sensation I felt whenever I touched Arkan, though this time it was much weaker.
"No, stay here," I said.
Arkan was about to object, but I gently nudged Kongar aside and turned my attention to him.
"Why did you call me?" I asked, avoiding his eyes.
Damn it. I was too embarrassed to look into his eyes.
This time, Arkan gently pushed Kongar, who was seated between us, aside and turned to me.
"I'm going to explain why there is such a strong attraction between us," he said.
Could he really be feeling the same pull toward me? I had noticed that he was always trying to get closer to me, but until now, I had chalked it up to the possibility that he was simply a bit of a pervert.
"We werewolves have destined mates," he began. "These are the people who were created for one another."
I wished something like that could truly exist. When I was little, I used to dream that one day there would be one person in the world who belonged only to me.
"I'm happy for you," I murmured.
At my words, the corners of Kongar's lips curved into a faint smile, while Arkan visibly tensed. Clearing his throat, he continued.
"You are my destined mate," he said, taking my hand.
The moment his fingers touched my skin, my entire body stiffened. My heart began pounding wildly in my chest. I could feel Kongar watching me closely, yet I found it difficult to tear my gaze away from Arkan's eyes.
"How do you know she is your mate?" Kongar asked.
The moment Kongar straightened in his seat, it was as if the spell between us had been broken. I tore my eyes away from Arkan's and slowly withdrew my hand.
Although Arkan was clearly irritated by Kongar's interruption, he answered the question.
"I have known since the day I caught her scent in the forest," he said, drawing in a deep breath as he leaned toward me.
No, no. There was no such thing as destined mates. Those were nothing but fairy tales.
And if things like that were real, then I would definitely be Little Red Riding Hood.
And Arkan would be the Big Bad Wolf.
Kongar mimicked the movement Arkan had made a moment earlier and took a deep breath of the air around me. The gesture drew a threatening growl from Arkan's throat.
Meanwhile, I found myself sniffing at my own clothes.
What did I smell like?
"You smell wonderful," Arkan said, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
The moment he said that, I felt my cheeks grow warm.
"Kayra smells nice."
The moment Kongar said that, Arkan growled again. In an instant, he seized Kongar by the collar and hurled him to the far side of the room.
"She's mine."
Arkan's voice filled the room, and I could feel my patience beginning to wear thin. Couldn't the two of them talk like civilized people for once?
As if he had not just been thrown across the room, Kongar reappeared between us in the very next moment. When Arkan tensed to lunge at him again, I quickly stepped in.
"How can you be so sure that I'm your destined mate?" I asked.
At my question, Arkan smiled faintly. A moment later, however, a deep sadness appeared in his eyes.
"I've been waiting for you for years," he said.
Gently pushing Kongar aside, he lifted his hand to my cheek. The warmth of his fingers spread across my skin as he caressed my face with heartbreaking tenderness.
"I would know you in any form."
For some reason, I believed he was telling the truth. Was that the effect of this destined-mate bond?
As I was still thinking about that, Kongar tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. I turned to look at him. Why had he suddenly started acting like this?
Before Arkan had a chance to attack Kongar again, I asked the question that mattered most to me.
"Why did you bite me?"
I needed to hear the answer.
"It is a mark that shows destined mates have accepted one another," he said.
My hand flew immediately to the crescent-shaped mark on my neck.
"I never accepted anything like that," I said.
"I know," Arkan replied, lowering his head. "I couldn't stop my wolf."
"That is not an excuse!" I shouted, climbing off the bed.
Arkan rose to his feet at once and took a step toward me.
"I'm sorry," he said.
When he reached for my hand, I instinctively stepped back.
"You bit me too," he said, gesturing to the crescent-shaped mark on his neck.
I had done it without knowing what I was doing. Besides, Kongar had openly encouraged me.
"So what? Does that make me the guilty one now?" I asked.
"Of course not," Arkan said.
Was I going to be trapped here forever?
At that thought, a single tear slipped down my cheek. Slowly, I turned my gaze to Kongar.
"Did you betray me?"
Kongar's eyes darkened gradually. He rose from the bed, walked toward me, and stopped directly in front of me.
"I would never betray my master, Kayra," he said in a grave tone. "I am bound to you."
Wonderful. Everyone was bound to me.
"He is bound to me now as well," I said, pointing at Arkan. Then I turned my finger toward Kongar. "And you are bound to me too."
At that moment, the door opened and Soren stepped inside.
"Is something wrong? I heard Kayra shouting," he said, his gaze sweeping across the room.
This time, I pointed at him.
"Are you bound to me too?"
Soren's eyes shifted away from me and moved to Arkan.
"I don't understand what you mean, Kayra—"
He stopped in the middle of the sentence. His gaze had fixed on the mark on Arkan's neck, right where I had bitten him.
The expression on his face changed instantly.
Then he walked toward me and stopped directly in front of me. With the same gesture of respect the other werewolves showed Arkan, he tilted his head to the side and bared his neck.
"The entire pack is bound to our Luna."