Chapter 28

Chapter 28


The door to the room closed with a soft click. The silence that surrounded them stood in stark contrast to the brutality of the interrogation in the dungeons. Abigaíl slipped off the blood-stained cloak and let it fall carelessly to the floor. Though the blood no longer ran across her skin, the memory still made her shudder.

Her bare footsteps barely echoed over the stone floor. Slowly, she shed the few garments Liana had brought her and walked toward the bathing room. As she pushed the door open, the scent of herbs and essential oils filled her senses. Liana had prepared the tub with hot water, floating flowers, and relaxing essences—as if she’d known her lady would need more than just a bath.

Abigaíl said nothing. She submerged herself up to the shoulders, closing her eyes as the heat began to melt the tension from her muscles. The dried blood from her wounds—now little more than faint scars—peeled away slowly, but it did nothing to wash away what she felt inside: a mix of guilt, fear, and a hint of resignation.

Kilian entered a few minutes later, silent. He undressed without hesitation, as was customary among their kind, and stepped into the large stone tub with her. There was no judgment in his gaze, only attention. He took a clean cloth and began to gently wash his queen’s back. His hands moved with care, but also with deep devotion. He did it not as a servant, but as a companion. As an equal.

The silence between them was comfortable... until Abigaíl spoke.

—I think I owe you an explanation —she said, not looking directly at him.

Kilian paused for a moment, his hands still on her back.

—You don’t have to —he replied gently.

—But I want to —she insisted—. You… from the very first moment, you gave yourself to me. Body and soul. And for the first time, in both of my lives… I feel the need to be completely honest.

Kilian set the cloth aside. His breathing slowed. Luciana turned in the bath, now facing him, completely bare—not just in body, but stripped of all emotional armor. Her eyes were intense, vulnerable… human.

—My real name was Luciana —she said firmly—. And I died at the age of thirty.

Kilian didn’t react right away. He kept his gaze fixed on her, as if trying to determine whether what she was saying could be real.

—I know this may sound insane… but it was even crazier for me to discover I could shift my entire body into a massive alpha she-wolf.

A bitter smile curled her lips.

—In my first life, I was cruel, extremely ruthless… and probably a psychopath. But not because I enjoyed it. It was a survival mechanism. The world I lived in didn’t forgive weakness. If you didn’t strike first, you were crushed.

Kilian frowned, but said nothing. He simply watched her, feeling that each of her words pierced not just his soul, but a past he had never known.

—I grew up believing good and evil were just overrated concepts. That my actions didn’t matter. That at the end of the day, we were all just dust. But when I died… I found out that they did matter.

She ran a hand through her wet hair, the steam dampening her skin.

—The only person I ever trusted… betrayed me. She plotted with my sister—my own blood—to take everything from me. They surrounded me. Stabbed me. Wanted to see me on my knees. But I decided I’d take them with me. All of them. And I did.

Kilian’s eyes widened slightly, but he still remained silent.

—I woke up in a strange place… like a purgatory. There, a god with a terrible sense of humor told me I had to take the place of a weak princess. That my destiny was to change hers. That I had to stop a war. In exchange… I would get another chance. Another life.

She swallowed and looked away.

—When I woke up here, I learned that our engagement was arranged. That it was the only way this girl—this new me—could change her tragic fate. I never thought I’d end up falling in love the way I have. Wanting you the way I do. Or that this bond between us would make me feel so… empty if I wasn’t honest with you.

Kilian finally raised a hand and touched her cheek.

—You’re here. You’re alive. That’s what matters.

—No, Kilian. I don’t want to hide anymore. Today, when I questioned that deserter… when I saw his fear, when I felt his pain under my fingers, that woman I used to be… came back. And for a moment… for one dark second… I enjoyed it.

Her voice broke.

—I felt pleasure hearing him beg, listening to his screams. And that scared me more than any enemy ever could. Because… I don’t want to be that woman again. I don’t want you… to be afraid of me.

Kilian leaned toward her, their foreheads touching.

—I’m not afraid of you, Luciana. I just want you to be okay. I want you to be the woman you choose to be today… not the one you were forced to be yesterday.

—I don’t want any more secrets between us —she whispered—. No more.

—Then there won’t be any —he replied, with a quiet strength that made her shiver—. I’m here. With you. And if you can face that darkness… I can help you carry the light.

Tears spilled from Abigaíl’s eyes before she could stop them. Kilian’s arms wrapped around her, holding her gently. He pulled her to his chest as the water in the tub rippled softly around them.

—Today I thought I’d lost myself —she said between sobs—. I thought that broken version of me would consume me.

—But it didn’t —he whispered in her ear—. You came back. You’re here. With me. And I’m not going to let you lose yourself again.

Abigaíl held on to him tightly, as if she needed his warmth to keep from slipping back into the void. Kilian held her without asking questions, without conditions, with the silent acceptance of someone who loves even the darkest corners of the soul before him.

Minutes later, still wrapped in each other’s arms in the warm water, Abigaíl whispered:

—Thank you for not letting go of me.

Kilian kissed her forehead, with the tenderness of someone who understands that love means holding even what you can’t fully understand.

—Thank you for choosing to be you.