Chapter 68 Unrequited Devotion
[Lysander]
Her smile turned sharp. "So you should think carefully about where your loyalties lie, Commander. About who can actually help your future."
"Everyone knows this marriage is political," she hissed, all pretense of sweetness gone. "She's using you for convenience. You're wasting yourself on someone who—"
"Security!" I raised my voice, cutting her off.
Two security personnel appeared in the doorway within seconds. "Problem, sir?"
"Yes." I kept my eyes locked on Selene. "Miss Blackwood entered my wife's hospital room without permission, refused to leave when asked, and made unwanted physical advances. Add her to the restricted list for this floor. No access to this room or my wife's care."
Selene's face flushed with rage and humiliation. "I was only trying to help—to check on Mrs. Crowley—"
"You came here with other intentions," I said flatly. "And we both know it. Leave. Now."
The security guards moved forward, each taking position beside her.
"You'll regret this," Selene said, her voice shaking—with anger, not hurt. "When you realize what you're throwing away—"
"Escort her out," I told security. "And make sure she doesn't return."
They moved efficiently, guiding her toward the door. But as they reached it, Selene threw one last look over her shoulder—not at me, but at Nyx's unconscious form.
The hatred in that glance was unmistakable. Pure, cold malice.
Then she was gone, the door closing behind them with a soft click.
I stood there for a long moment, heart pounding with anger and something else—unease. That final look. The calculation. The malice directed at Nyx.
She's dangerous, Wex growled. To our mate.
I know, I responded grimly.
I pushed the thoughts away, but they clung like thorns. What Nyx and I had... it was everything I'd dreamed of for years. And nothing at all.
She still doesn't see us, Wex murmured, pain threading through his voice. Not the way we've always seen her.
Thirteen years. I'd watched her from afar for thirteen years—from that first day when she was six and I was twelve, a nobody trainee with calloused hands and impossible dreams. I'd watched her grow into the silver-haired prodigy who could take down instructors twice her size. I'd carried her image with me through three brutal years on the border, through the night my parents died, through every battle where I fought to prove myself worthy of even standing in her presence.
And now? Now I had her in my bed. I had her trust, her body, the soft sighs she made in the darkness when I held her. I had everything I'd ever fantasized about during those lonely nights on patrol.
Except her heart. Except her choice.
She'd never promised me anything. Every touch between us was born of duty, not desire. She came to me because Alpha Karl had commanded it, because political necessity demanded it. Not because she wanted me. Not because she'd spent years aching for me the way I'd ached for her.
The unfairness of it twisted in my chest—not resentment, never that. But the brutal knowledge that I'd finally gotten close enough to touch her, only to realize she was still as far away as when I'd watched her from across the training yard all those years ago.
Patient, Wex said, but even he sounded uncertain. We can wait. We've already waited this long.
Could I, though? Could I spend years as the husband she never chose, the man she turned to out of obligation rather than love?
But what choice did I have? Walking away meant losing even this—the privilege of her presence, the warmth of her scent, the rare moments when she leaned into my touch and let herself relax. Leaving meant going back to watching her from a distance, aching for something I could never have.
At least now I could hold her. Touch her. Pretend, for a few stolen hours each night, that she was truly mine.
And I hated Selene Blackwood for planting the seed of doubt that made me question whether even that would be enough. Whether there would ever come a day when Nyx looked at me and chose me—not because Alpha Karl commanded it, not because I was convenient, but because somewhere in that guarded heart, she'd learned to want me the way I'd wanted her since I was twenty-one years old.
Until then, I would take what she gave. Her presence. Her trust. The privilege of standing beside her, even if I never stood in her heart.
Because being near her, even like this—even knowing she might never love me—was still better than a lifetime of watching from afar.
I pushed away from the doorframe and headed back inside...
I moved back to Nyx's side, taking her hand carefully. The monitors showed she was still stable, still healing, completely unaware of what had just happened.
Should I tell her? When she woke up, should I mention Selene's visit? The inappropriate advances, the thinly veiled threats?
She should know, Wex said immediately. She has a right to know someone threatened her.
But I looked at her pale face, the exhaustion still evident even in sleep. She'd nearly died today saving her sister. Used every ounce of strength she had. Nearly got buried in a second avalanche.
She didn't need more drama. More stress. More reasons to worry about political complications and territorial alliances.
No. This was my problem to handle. Selene had come after me, not Nyx. And I could deal with it—quietly, efficiently, without adding to Nyx's burdens.
She had enough to carry. Eclipse, her family's schemes, proving herself to a pack that had dismissed her for years. She didn't need to waste energy on a spoiled Alpha's sister with delusions.
I'd handle it. Protect her from this particular mess.