The Reckoning

chapter 10

The Reckoning

She couldn't understand him. The boy she had once known as arrogant and insufferable now seemed like a stranger. His behavior had crossed a line, and there was no ignoring it anymore. The smirk on his face as he stood there, watching her walk toward him, only fueled the storm of emotions inside her.

She had tried to avoid confronting him, hoping that things would cool down, but that smirk—that arrogance—kept gnawing at her. Her blood boiled as she remembered how he'd deliberately provoked her, knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to turn away. But this wasn't about Chris anymore. It wasn't about some petty fight or Liam's usual antics. It was about what he was trying to force upon her.

She couldn't let it go. She wouldn't.

As Maya approached the clearing where Liam was waiting, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. She didn't even bother to hide the fury in her gaze. She needed answers—and she needed them now.

Liam, as always, stood with a casual arrogance, leaning lazily against a tree. His eyes flickered to her, and that damn smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. It was as if he had been waiting for her, anticipating her arrival.

"You," Maya spat, her voice low but sharp. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Liam didn't move, his stance unyielding, the smirk never leaving his face. "Thinking?" he repeated, his voice dripping with amusement. "I was thinking it's about time you realized that you can't keep running, Maya."

The words hit her like a slap to the face, and she took a step forward, her anger flaring. "I'm not running from anything. I'm trying to understand why you're doing this—why you think humiliating someone like Chris will somehow make me see the truth. What truth, Liam?"

Liam finally straightened, pushing himself off the tree and closing the distance between them. The smirk faded slightly, replaced by something more intense—something darker. His eyes bore into hers with an unsettling determination.

"You think I did that to punish Chris? No," he said, his voice low and firm. "I did it to force you to face the truth. To face me." His tone dropped further, a growl hiding behind each word. "You can't keep pretending that nothing is happening between us. You know it, and I know it. You can deny it all you want, but I'm not going anywhere. I'm not giving up on this, Maya. Not until you see what's right in front of you."

Maya's heart skipped a beat. The words, coming from him, hit her harder than she ever expected. She felt a pang in her chest—a bitter, sharp feeling that made her throat close up. She opened her mouth to argue, to push him away, but his words had already settled into her mind, coiling tightly around her thoughts.

"Don't do this, Liam," she whispered, more to herself than to him. "This isn't the way to get me to accept it."

Liam took another step forward, his presence closing in on her like a storm cloud. "And how do you think you'll get out of it, Maya? You think you can keep running? You think this is just going to go away if you ignore it?" His voice was harsh, almost desperate now, as if he was trying to make her understand. "I love you. I've always loved you. And I won't let you walk away from this. Not again."

Maya froze, her blood running cold at the words. Her mind spun in a hundred directions, each one contradicting the other. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. Her mind screamed for her to reject him, to push him away, but her body felt as if it were frozen in place, unable to move.

Liam's gaze softened for a moment, but only briefly. "This is just the beginning, Maya," he said, his voice low, almost a whisper. "You think rejecting me will make this go away? You think I'll just forget about you? No. You can keep running, but eventually, you'll have to face what's real."

A chill ran down Maya's spine as the gravity of his words sank in. He wasn't playing around anymore. He wasn't the arrogant, teasing boy she had known all these years. Something inside of him had snapped, and she couldn't ignore the deep, dangerous intensity in his eyes.

For the first time, Maya felt fear—real fear—of what Liam might do if she continued to resist. This wasn't just about rejecting the mate bond anymore. This was about something deeper, something far more dangerous than she had ever imagined.

Before she could speak, Liam took a step back, the hard edge of his anger giving way to something darker, more calculating.

"Think about it, Maya," he said, his voice low, almost a whisper. "I won't stop. And one day, you'll realize that I was right."

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Maya standing there, trembling with a mix of anger, fear, and confusion. She had never seen him like this before. The Liam she had known—the one who had teased her and pushed her buttons—was gone. In his place was someone much more dangerous, someone who would stop at nothing to make her acknowledge what she had been trying so hard to avoid.

As Maya watched him disappear into the distance, her heart pounded in her chest, and for the first time, she wondered if she had made a mistake. Maybe there was no escaping this after all.

Maybe the storm had already begun.

Liam's words echoed in her mind—a warning, a promise, a threat. "This is just the beginning, Maya." And with those words, Maya was left standing alone, questioning everything she thought she knew about the bond between them—and what Liam would do n

ext to make her face it.