The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 88

Engagement Bond-2

With every movement.

With every brush of his fingers against her skin.

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Desire stirred again, slow but relentless, spreading warmth through his veins despite the cold shower they had shared only minutes earlier.

His jaw tightened.

And to his immense frustration-

He felt himself growing hard.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath.

But it was impossible to ignore the deeper reason behind his reaction.

His gaze kept drifting.

Again.

And again.

Back to her neck.

To the place where his teeth had pierced her skin.

The mark was already visible.

Not the deep, permanent mating bite.

No.

This was something different.

A temporary bond.

An ancient symbol known among Lycans as an engagement mark.

A test.

A verification.

A way to reveal the truth of a bond without sealing it forever.

If she truly was his mate, the mark would respond.

Their instincts would align.

Their connection would strengthen.

If she was lying…

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<Engagement Bond-2

If this was somehow a trick…

The mark would fade.

Disappear.

And the bond would dissolve as if it had never existed.

It was a reversible step.

Safe.

Controlled.

Logical.

At least in theory.

But Caleb knew the other side of that ancient ritual just as well.

Because if the mark held…

If the bond proved real…

Then the pull between them would become something far more dangerous.

Far more difficult to resist.

The instinct to complete the bond.

To finish the mating.

To claim her fully.

To take her.

The thought alone made his jaw tighten again.

Because that instinct would not be gentle.

It would not be patient.

And it would push him dangerously close to the very edge of his control,

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Darkness slowly loosened its grip on Iva’s mind.

At first there was only heaviness.

A deep, suffocating weight pressing against her head as if someone had filled it with stones. Her body felt strange too-heavy and light at the same time-each

limb slow to respond as sensation gradually returned.

Then came the pulse.

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A deep rhythmic throbbing spread through her body, echoing through her chest, her stomach, her veins… as if something inside her had awakened and was beating in time with her heart.

A faint groan slipped from her lips.

Her neck hurt.

A dull, burning ache spread along the sensitive skin just beneath her ear, pulsing gently with each heartbeat.

“What…?”

Her voice was barely a whisper.

Slowly-very slowly-she forced her eyes open.

The ceiling above her swam into view first, blurred and unfamiliar. Soft light filtered through tall windows somewhere beyond her line of sight, illuminating a room she did not immediately recognize.

Then her memory returned.

Not gently.

Not gradually.

It crashed into her mind like a violent storm.

The restaurant.

The bathroom.

Caleb’s sudden arrival.

The unbearable heat burning through her body.

The desperate ride back to the penthouse.

The freezing shower.

And then-

Her breath caught.

Her eyes snapped forward.

Caleb was standing beside the bed.

Watching her.

The moment their gazes met, the world seemed to hold its breath.

For a second neither of them spoke.

The air between them thickened with something electric, something charged and alive.

And then suddenly-

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<Engagement Bond-2

A sharp, invisible spark shot through her chest.

Iva gasped softly.

Her body jolted as if an unseen current had passed between them.

Her gaze dropped instinctively.

And there it was.

The red thread of life that had once connected their chests was no longer the same.

It was still there.

Still vivid.

Still pulsing softly between them.

But now-

Now it was different.

Golden strands had woven themselves into the red thread, thin shimmering filaments of light spiraling through it like molten sunlight trapped within blood.

Her breath caught in her throat.

“What…?”

The sight filled her with a strange mixture of awe and fear.

The bond had changed.

Strengthened.

Deepened.

Her mind raced backward through the last thing she clearly remembered.

Caleb leaning toward her.

His face close to her neck.

His teeth-

Her hand flew instantly to the sore spot beneath her ear.

Her fingers brushed the sensitive skin there and she felt it immediately.

The mark.

Two small punctures.

Still tender.

Still warm.

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