Chapter 4 CHAPTER 4

Panic rose in Zack’s chest as the truth hit him all at once.

He had kissed Ariel.

The girl he couldn’t stand. The girl who somehow always showed up when his patience was already worn thin. And it hadn’t been just any kiss. If it had happened on any other day, it would have meant nothing. An accident. An embarrassing moment he could forget by morning. But not on his Eighteenth birthday.

His stomach dropped as the meaning settled in, heavy and cold. This was bad. Really bad. Because for Zack – a werewolf, kissing someone on their eighteenth birthday wasn’t just a mistake. It was a trigger.

It was binding. It meant Ariel had just been bonded to him. They were now mates.

Zack stood in the locker room, barely aware of the noise around him, his teammates still buzzing from the win. He turned slowly to Andrew, searching his face like he might find a way out there.

“It can’t be like that, Right?” Zack said quietly. “It has to be… different. It can’t count if the kiss wasn’t intentional.”

Andrew’s expression tightened. “Zack.”

“It wasn’t romantic,” Zack insisted. “We fell. It was an accident.”

Andrew hesitated, then shook his head. “The bond doesn’t care about intent. It’s the kiss that matters.”

Zack laughed under his breath, sharp and disbelieving. “That’s insane.”

Before Andrew could respond, something strange brushed against Zack’s mind. A voice. Not a sound exactly, but a presence - familiar and irritated.

What a disaster of a day, the voice snapped. First the stupid photo situation, then Megan, and now this. Of course this would happen to me.

Zack’s breath caught.

The locker room blurred as the voice continued, fast and angry, like someone pacing.

I should never have come to school today. I should’ve stayed home. I should’ve skipped everything. The voice continued.

Zack staggered back a step, pressing his hand against the locker.

“What the hell…” he muttered.

Andrew frowned. “What?”

Zack didn’t answer. The voice was still there, moving, rushing, growing more frantic.

“Why won’t this stupid key work? Come on. Just open.”

A rush of understanding slammed into him.

Ariel.

She was outside. Leaving. And he could hear her thoughts. The bond was complete.

Without another word, Zack turned and bolted for the door. He had only one thought in his mind – he needed to make her reject him.

“Zack - where are you going?” Andrew called after him.

“To find her,” Zack shot back, already running.

The night air hit him hard as he burst into the parking lot. He spotted her immediately - Ariel standing by her bike, fumbling with the lock, shoulders tense, movements jerky with panic.

“Carter!” he called.

She stiffened and looked up, eyes widening when she saw him. Her hands shook harder as she tried to unlock the bike.

Not here. Please not here, He could hear her thoughts spilling, sharp and frantic.

Zack jogged over and held up his hands. “Wait. Just - wait.”

She froze, glaring at him. “What do you want now?”

“You have to reject me.”

She blinked. “What?”

“You have to reject me,” he repeated, breathless.

Ariel stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “You didn’t propose to me, Miller. What exactly am I rejecting?”

“It’s not like that,” Zack said, running a hand through his hair. “That kiss - we can’t just ignore it.”

Her laugh was sharp and humorless. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Something happened,” he said urgently. “When we kissed.”

“What happened?” she demanded.

Zack hesitated, lowering his voice. “My kind… when we kiss someone on our eighteenth birthday, it means something. That person becomes… permanent.”

She tilted her head. “Your kind?”

He swallowed. “I’m a werewolf.”

For a second, there was silence.

Then Ariel burst out laughing.

“Oh wow,” she said between laughs. “You really went all in on this prank.”

“This isn’t a joke,” Zack snapped.

“Right,” she said, swinging a leg over her bike. “Because telling me you’re a werewolf is totally normal.”

She pushed off, riding away as her laughter echoed behind her.

Zack stood there, chest tight, listening to her thoughts fade into anger and disbelief.

The moment she got home, Ariel went straight to her room and shut the door behind her. She dropped her bag, pulled out her phone, and dialed.

“Jenna,” she said the second the call connected. “You will not believe what just happened.”

Jenna hummed on the other end. “Spill.”

“Zack tried to prank me,” Ariel said, words tumbling over each other. “And when it backfired on him, he decided to take it even further. He actually told me that the accident - that stupid accident - somehow bonded me to him forever and that I have to reject him.”

There was a pause. “Wait,” Jenna said slowly. “Accident?”

“That’s not even the point,” Ariel snapped. “The point is that he thinks I’m a fool. He actually claimed he’s a werewolf, Jenna. Like I’m some three-year-old who believes in fairy tales and monsters.”

Jenna inhaled quietly. “Okay. Slow down,” she said. “Start from the beginning. What really happened? Why would he tell you that you’re bonded to him? What did you do?”

Ariel dragged a hand down her face. “Fine. There was a kiss.”

Jenna went still.

“He tried to prank me as I was cleaning,” Ariel continued, frustration spilling out again. “We slipped and our lips touched for like half a second in front of everyone. That’s it. And suddenly he’s chasing after me, saying I have to reject him, that it’s because it’s his eighteenth birthday, and that he’s some kind of werewolf.”

She let out a sharp laugh. “Can you believe that? Like I’d ever fall for something that stupid.”

“Zack’s Eighteenth birthday was today?” Jenna pressed. “And you two kissed?”

“Yes,” Ariel said impatiently. “Try to keep up Jenna. The whole thing is ridiculous. Me being bound permanently to him.”

Jenna went quiet on the other end of the line.

“Ariel,” she said after a moment, more carefully now, “are you… okay? Do you feel any different?”

Ariel frowned, stopping her pacing. “Different how?”

“I don’t know,” Jenna said lightly, trying not to push. “Just… anything strange?”

Ariel scoffed. “No. I’m fine.”

Jenna hesitated. “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” Ariel said firmly. “He’s just messing with me, that’s all.”

Another pause followed, heavier this time.

“Okay,” Jenna said quietly.

The conversation drifted after that, going on for hours.

Across town, Zack lay flat on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

He groaned and rolled onto his side, then onto his back again. Sleep refused to come. Ariel’s voice filled his head as clearly as if she were sitting right beside him, every complaint,insult and frustrated curse aimed directly at him.

He squeezed his eyes shut but couldn’t make it stop. He couldn’t tune her out. If this was what being connected to her felt like, he wasn’t sure he could survive it.

By the time the house finally went quiet and Ariel’s voice faded into exhausted silence, Zack had made up his mind.

Tomorrow, no matter what it took, he would make her reject him.