Chapter 23: Ruined

Bella felt him everywhere.

His weight.

His heat.

His dominance pressing down on her like a storm she had no hope of escaping.

She was trapped beneath him, pinned, breathless, her pulse racing as the mate bond tightened like a noose around her soul.

Dante's breathing was ragged, his fingers digging into her skin, his teeth lingering over the mark he had burned into her flesh.

"You wanted to test me, Bella?" His voice was low, rough, dripping with dark amusement.

"You wanted to push me?"

Bella's chest rose and fell rapidly, her golden-brown eyes burning with defiance even as her body trembled beneath him.

"You think you can break me, Dante?" she taunted, her lips curving into a smirk.

Dante let out a dark, rumbling chuckle, his grip tightening around her wrists, keeping them locked above her head.

"No, little wolf."

His blue eyes flashed with raw, brutal certainty.

"I know I can."

Then—

He moved.

A sharp, punishing bite against her throat.

A low, satisfied growl as Bella's breath hitched, her body betraying her.

Dante felt it.

The way she arched into him, the way her scent spiked, the way the mate bond was already winning, already dragging her deeper into the fire.

And fuck, he loved it.

"Still think you're in control, Bella?" he murmured against her skin, his voice full of dark amusement.

Bella let out a sharp breath, fighting against the heat building inside her.

She refused to give in.

Refused to let him win.

Even as her body shook, even as the bond clawed at her, demanding surrender.

"Fuck you, Dante," she whispered, her voice raw, shaking, but still full of fire.

Dante let out a deep, satisfied growl.

"Oh, sweetheart."

His lips brushed against her ear, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin of her throat.

"You already have."

And then—

Bella's world shattered.

Completely.

Irrevocably.

There was no coming back from this.

No undoing the bond that had wrapped around them both, dragging them under, drowning them in something too deep to fight.

Bella had fought him.

But Dante Rodrigo had won.

Because now?

She was his.

And there was nothing she could do about it.