The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 100

The Kiss-1

The moment the penthouse door closed behind Caleb in the morning, the silence became unbearable.

Iva remained standing in the middle of the bed for several seconds, staring at the door as if it might suddenly open again.

But it didn’t.

The soft click of the lock still echoed faintly in her mind.

Slowly, the warmth that had filled the apartment during the night seemed to disappear, replaced by something hollow and cold.

A strange ache spread through her chest.

Not physical.

Something deeper.

It felt like someone had taken a piece of her and walked away with it.

She wrapped her arms around herself unconsciously.

“What is happening, Avalon?” she whispered weakly in her mind.

Her wolf answered almost immediately.

“It’s the mate bond.”

Iva frowned faintly, lowering herself slowly onto the couch.

“The mate bond?” she repeated.

“The further away he is… the harder it will feel for us.”

Iva pressed her hand against the center of her chest where the emptiness seemed to grow with every passing minute.

“Physically and emotionally?” she asked quietly.

Avalon’s voice was calm.

“Yes.”

Iva swallowed.

Her mind drifted to memories she had seen growing up.

Her parents.

The way they interacted.

They had always been affectionate in their own quiet way, but nothing like this overwhelming pull she was

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The Kiss 1

feeling now.

“I never saw my parents react like this,” she murmured.

Avalon gave a small amused hum inside her mind.

“That’s because your parents were not fated mates.”

Iva blinked.

“What?”

“They chose each other,” Avalon explained gently. 2Chosen mates. It’s different.”

The realization settled slowly over Iva.

Chosen.

Not destined.

Not bound by something ancient and powerful that twisted emotions and instincts together into something impossible to ignore.

She looked down at her hands.

So this…

This aching emptiness…

It was normal.

For fated mates.

Her chest tightened.

But if that was true…

Why had Caleb looked at her like that this morning?

So distant.

So cold.

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The memory made something painful twist inside her stomach.

She slowly pushed herself up from the couch.

Her body protested immediately.

Every muscle ached.

Her legs felt weak.

Her hips sore.

Her entire body felt like it had gone through a battle.

Claim

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< The Kiss L

A-very… exhausting one.

Her cheeks flushed deeply as flashes from the previous night slipped into her mind.

Caleb’s hands.

His voice.

His intensity.

The way he had looked at her as if she belonged entirely to him.

Her heart began beating faster.

But then-

The memory of his expression that morning replaced those images.

Cold.

Distant.

Controlled.

And the warmth vanished again.

She dragged herself slowly toward the enormous bathroom attached to the master bedroom.

The marble floor felt cool beneath her feet.

The space itself still amazed her.

The bathroom alone was larger than the entire room she had rented at the hostel.

A massive bathtub sat in the center like something from a luxury hotel.

Right now, it looked like salvation.

She turned on the water.

Steam slowly filled the air as the tub began to fill.

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