Chapter 29 Chapter 29
Chapter 29 Chapter 29
Darkness pressed against the edges of my vision.
The pain, the fear, the overwhelming force of the bond—it all crashed over me in relentless waves until I could no longer tell where one feeling ended and another began.
Then suddenly…
It stopped.
The pressure around me eased.
I staggered backward, my legs giving out beneath me.
A strong arm caught me before I hit the floor.
My breathing came in ragged gasps.
I hated that it was him holding me together.
I hated that my body still recognized him.
I hated that some traitorous part of me felt safer in his arms than anywhere else.
“Let go of me,” I whispered.
Alaric didn’t move.
“Let. Go.”
His jaw tightened.
“No.”
The single word sliced through the silence.
Anger flared inside me.
I shoved against his chest.
To my surprise, he allowed it.
I stumbled away until my back collided with the bookshelf behind me.
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
The room felt suffocating.
The air itself seemed charged with tension.
“You had no right,” I said, my voice shaking.
His dark eyes locked onto mine.
“I had every right.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course you think that.”
“Vanessa—”
“No.”
I cut him off immediately.
“For once, you listen.”
The room fell silent again.
“I am so tired,” I admitted.
My voice cracked.
“I am tired of being treated like a possession.”
Something flickered across his face.
Gone before I could identify it.
Regret?
Guilt?
No.
Men like Alaric Moretti didn’t feel guilt.
“I lost my home.”
My throat tightened.
“I lost my freedom.”
The words poured out before I could stop them.
“My entire life changed because of you.”
His expression hardened.
“Everything I do is to protect you.”
A laugh escaped me.
The sound was hollow.
“Protect me?”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Is that what you call this?”
A dangerous silence followed.
Then he stood.
The movement alone made my pulse spike.
Alaric rounded the desk slowly.
Every instinct screamed at me to run.
But I refused.
I had spent too long being afraid.
“You think I enjoy this?” he asked quietly.
The calmness in his voice was somehow worse than shouting.
“You think I wanted any of this?”
I folded my arms.
“Didn’t you?”
His gaze dropped briefly before returning to mine.
For the first time since I’d met him, he looked tired.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like he was carrying something far heavier than the empire on his shoulders.
“You don’t understand what rejecting a bond like this means.”
His voice was low.
Controlled.
“It could destroy you.”
“Then let it.”
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Something dangerous flashed in his eyes.
Not anger.
Pain.
Raw and unexpected.
The reaction stunned me.
For a moment neither of us moved.
Neither of us spoke.
The distance between us suddenly felt much smaller than it actually was.
“I won’t let that happen.”
His voice was almost a growl.
I swallowed.
“Why?”
The question hung in the air.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Alaric stared at me for what felt like forever.
Then he took another step closer.
“Because despite everything…” he said quietly, “your life matters to me.”
My heart betrayed me.
One painful beat.
Then another.
No.
I refused to believe him.
This was Alaric.
The man who terrified entire cities.
The man whose name alone made grown men tremble.
Yet somehow…
Standing in front of me now…
He looked less like a monster.
And more like a man fighting a battle he didn’t know how to win.
That realization frightened me more than anything.
Because monsters were easy to hate.
Men were not.
And for the first time since entering his study, I wasn’t afraid of what Alaric might do.
I was afraid of what I might start feeling.