[CAIUS POV]
Without knocking, I barged into Iris's room. It was tucked far away from the main wing where my office was, but it could be easily found. Instantly, her cloying scent filled my senses, and I grimaced. How could someone smell so awful? She didn't smell that bad when we were younger. Perhaps she just got fouler with age.
That wouldn't surprise me.
My half-sister sat in a pile of clothing, sorting through them with a frown on her face. Just from one glance, I already knew that they weren't hers. After all, there was no way Iris could afford such expensive clothing.
How dare she?
"Have you resorted to stealing now?" I growled, storming into the room. Without a care for the horror and surprise in her eyes, I yanked her to her feet. She cried out in pain, but I paid that no mind. "Who said you could take these clothes?"
"Tell that to Yvette!" she barked back, scowling. She pulled and tugged at my hand, trying to break free. "She chucked her clothes at me. I didn't ask for them!"
The more she struggled against my hold, the more my palms began to burn. Atlas seemed to hum with pleasure at our contact, and my fingers grew slack, distracted by his uncharacteristic behavior.
What was wrong with my wolf?
Iris pulled herself free with one sharp jolt, a look of vehement anger on her face. "Get out of my room!"
I quickly collected myself and held up a shirt, shaking it in front of her face. "And leave you to admire your pile of stolen loot? You're coming with me to the pack house to apologize to Yvette!"
Iris tilted her head sideways and smirked. "So, you don't believe that your beloved fated mate is kind enough to donate her clothes to me? That's not a nice thing to think about your fated mate."
I was so angry at her words, I nearly bit my tongue. She was infuriating me on purpose.
"You must have manipulated her to give you her clothes, purposely dressing in rags all the time," I countered roughly, my eyes inadvertently roving around her body. Her clothes were torn, revealing tantalizing glimpses of skin and seductive peeks at her bra.
Clearly she must have dressed like this on purpose. What a slut. Just like her mother. The very thought made me gnash my teeth furiously.
"No wonder she gave you her clothes. She didn't want you flashing the pack!"
"I didn't ask for her charity," Iris snarled back, "You can return these clothes to her for all I care."
To think she would spit in the face of Yvette's kindness. I growled at her in warning. She needed to know her place; she was growing too bold for my liking. She had always been quiet and meek, and she would never dare talk back to me.
But now she was snapping at me as though we were equals, anger burning clearly through her eyes. Her lips quivered with fury with every word she spat out at me.
'It's not just fury, you dumbass,' Atlas said. 'Can't you see she's in pain?'
I clenched my teeth, ignoring his voice. Iris was a liar. I knew that from a young age.
"And let you walk around in rags, shaming our family?" I laughed mirthlessly, grabbing at her flimsy shirt. "Is that your plan, to seduce pack members and ruin their families, just like how your mother ruined mine? No wonder the Moon Goddess didn't bless you with a wolf or a mate."
Iris flinched, as if she had been struck. "I'm done talking to you. Go back to your precious mate and leave me alone!"
She shoved me with her hands, but I barely moved. Instead, I grabbed her by her wrists. There, I felt something new, yet awfully familiar.
"Let go of me!" She struggled against my grip, twisting and turning in an attempt to worm free. "You're hurting me."
My eyes went to her wrist instinctively. Her skin was already red, filled with odd crescent marks indented into her skin. Even her palm was slightly scuffed. But what caught my attention wasn't any of those.
"Where did you get that?"
My grip loosened for a split second, and Iris took the opportunity to slip her hands free. As she moved, I snatched the hair tie that she had around her wrist.
It was a simple black band, nothing out of the ordinary. It shouldn't have even caught my attention. However, I couldn't help but be reminded of the night before.
***
[IRIS POV]
"Give it back," I slowly said, trying to regulate my breathing.
Between the pain of the fall and Yvette's roughhousing, I wasn't in the mood to entertain Caius. My patience was at an all-time low, and just knowing that my mate was defending another woman while stomping all over my character was causing my chest to ache.
After a bit of hesitation, I added, "Please."
"Where," Caius repeated, taking a step closer towards me, "did you get this?"
He held up the hair tie. With every step he moved towards me, I took another step back, desperate to maintain the distance between us.
"It's just a regular hair tie from the corner store," I replied, trying to keep my expression as even as possible. "If you want, I can tell you which store it is. But I'm down to my last hair tie, so if you could please give it back to me, I would really appreciate it―"
Before I could finish my sentence, Caius suddenly closed the distance between us, yanking me close to his body.
I yelped in surprise, falling into his embrace. His hands naturally found the back of my waist, hugging me flush against him, while my palms were pressed against his chest.
Like this, I could feel his heartbeat thudding under his ribcage. I expected strong, steady beats, but instead, all I felt was his heart rate going into a frenzy. It seemed to mirror mine, and for every second we stood together like that, the faster his heart rate seemed to climb.
I looked up, expecting to see an expression of disgust. However, Caius's face was anything but that.
He looked down at me with his lips slightly parted, his eyes almost dazed. It was as though he was lost deep in his thoughts. When our eyes met, I felt him sharply suck in a breath of air before holding it.
My body stiffened.
Oh no.
We were standing so close together. Could he finally figure out that Yvette wasn't the woman he was with last night? I recalled the way he wore my hair tie as though it were a trophy. Did he finally figure out that it was me?
Honestly, I wasn't even sure if I wanted him to figure it out. Perhaps we would be better like this― half-brother, half-sister, and full enemies. He had hated me from the very start, and just because we were fated mates was unlikely to change that.
I watched as his tongue slowly darted out to wet his dry lips. Slowly, he seemed to be leaning in closer and closer, and my heart skipped a beat. My body was starting to betray me― I could hear my blood roaring in my ears, and my hands were starting to grow clammy with sweat.
Caius closed in, his face resting inches away from mine. I stopped breathing. My body seized up, petrified.
Instinctively, I closed my eyes. I could feel him moving even closer, his lips a hair's breadth away from mine.