Chapter 144 Thoughts Don't Matter
Kira’s POV
A frantic whisper yanked me out of sleep like someone had grabbed my soul and shaken it.
“Come find me… come find me…”
The voice was right in my ear, low, urgent, endless.
I jolted upright, gasping, heart slamming against my ribs. The cabin was dark except for the faint blue glow from the overhead lights. Adrian’s scent still clung to the sheets? smoke, cedar, him, but he wasn’t there.
I pressed my palms to my ears like that would stop the echo.
In the dream he’d been running through fog, tall, shadowed, always just out of reach. No face. Just that whisper. Come find me. Over and over.
I chased him until my lungs burned, until the ground turned to black water and swallowed my ankles, and still he kept running, calling, pulling me deeper.
I’d woken up once, briefly, long enough to feel Adrian’s arms around me, his lips brushing my temple, his voice murmuring “You’re safe.” I’d believed it and drifted back under.
And then the second dream hit.
The man from the forest.
From that night I’d wandered into the dark zone…tall, massive, all hard muscle and golden eyes that glowed like embers.
In the dream we weren’t fighting. We weren’t even talking. We were married. Rings on our fingers, black obsidian and gold. A ceremony under a blood moon. His hand on the small of my back, possessive, steady.
And then we were alone.
His mouth on my throat. Teeth grazing. Hands sliding under silk, rough calluses dragging over my ribs, my hips, lower.
I arched into him…couldn’t help it. His body was a furnace,.broad chest pressing me down, thighs caging mine, every inch of him carved like stone.
He growled my name, low, feral, and I felt it vibrate through my core. His fingers dug into my thighs, spreading me open while his tongue traced slow, deliberate circles until I was shaking, begging without words.
Then he thrust in…deep, relentless…and I cried out, nails raking down his back, legs locked around his waist as he drove harder, faster, claiming every inch like it belonged to him.
It felt good.
Too good.
Strangely warm. Safe…like it was something I should have.
I woke up soaked between my thighs, breath ragged, cheeks burning.
What the actual hell was that?
Wet dream?
I sat up, sheets tangled around my legs, and pressed my forehead to my knees.
My body was still humming, aftershocks of a dream I hadn’t asked for.
Why him? Why now? After everything with Adrian, after the heat, the bites, the way he’d looked at me like I was the only thing keeping him sane…why would my brain conjure up dark zone-king porn?
Maybe it was just…overlap. The symbol burning on my arm that I've been seeing in my dreams, and the fact that he had said it meant I belonged to him. Also, the insane pleasure with Adrian earlier. My mind must have mashed them together into some weird, horny fever dream.
That had to be it. Right?
Someone grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard.
“Princess…get up. You have to come with me. Now.”
Victoria.
I didn't even hear her come in.
Her face was pale, eyes wide, hair messy like she’d been running.
I blinked, disoriented. “Are we…almost there?”
“That’s not what you should be worried about.” She yanked the blanket off me. “The king is about to sleep with that girl I told you about earlier. The one that was carried in.”
My heart squeezed so hard I couldn’t breathe for a second.
The first thought was pure, hot rage.
March down the aisle. Find whatever compartment they were in. Slap him. Slap her. Scream that he was a liar, a cheat, that how dare he touch me, marry me, fuck me senseless…and then run straight into another woman’s arms.
I’d been stupid. So fucking stupid. Thinking he’d changed. Thinking the way he held me meant anything real.
Leah stirred inside me, groggy but sharp. ‘Can you hold on for two seconds before you assume the worst? What if you’re overreacting? What if there’s nothing like that?’
‘Didn’t you just hear what Victoria said?’ I snapped back at her, because I was too pissed to be civil. “Your precious, spotless, noble king wants to sleep with one of his mistresses right after sleeping with me. What does that make me? A concubine? A warm-up act?’
Leah groaned…long, exhausted. ‘Chill. We literally just got married hours ago. There’s no way—’
“Exactly!” I cut her off. “We just got married. Why is he running into another woman’s bed?”
‘He’s not running into anyone’s bed,’ she growled. ‘Listen to Victoria. Actually listen to everything she's saying before you conclude, dummy!’
Victoria was already pulling me toward the door by then. “Why are you not saying anything? We have to save him.”
“Save him?” I laughed…bitter, ugly. “From what? Can’t he get his dick to work on his own? Does he need me to lubricate it?”
Victoria looked at me like I had gone crazy, then groaned like I’d punched her. “You have it all wrong, princess. He’s in that situation because of you.”
My stomach dropped.
“Wait…what?”
She cleared her throat, dragging me down the narrow aisle while the plane hummed around us. “James mindlinked me to bring you or the king might be forced to do something he will regret,” she began.
“The girl,” she said in continuation. “the one they carried in…she’s not just some prisoner. There’s something ancient inside her. Something that’s been dormant. To wake it up…to fix whatever's going on with the king, he has two choices. One drop of your blood on her tongue. Or…he gives her one night. With him. Fully. No holding back.”
I stopped walking. Victoria almost yanked my arm out of the socket pulling me forward again.
“Just a drop of blood?” I whispered. “Over sex?”
Leah perked up. ‘See? You were wrong about him. He’s trying to protect you. He’s our mate. Our only ally. He’s a good person.’
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered to her. “Still doesn’t make him good. Who agrees to sleep with another woman the same day he marries you?”
Leah stuttered…just for a second…then sighed. ‘I know. Sometimes he acts like he’s cradling his brain in those big hands instead of using the one in his skull. But he means well. Can’t you see he doesn’t even want to spare a drop of your blood? He’d rather hurt himself than risk hurting you.’
We reached the rearmost compartment. Victoria slid the reinforced door open without knocking and we stepped in.
Adrian stood there…shirt half-buttoned, sleeves rolled, hair wrecked like he’d been dragging his hands through it.
His eyes snapped to me the moment we entered and they were raw…filled with guilt.
Are they done with it already?
My heart sank so fast it hurt.
I didn’t think.
I lunged.
Fists first.
“You bastard!” I screamed, slamming into his chest, pounding on him with everything I had. “How could you? After everything…after you married me, after you fucked me like I was yours…you were going to climb into bed with her? Right now? While I was sleeping ten feet away?”
He caught my wrists…gentle, but firm…holding me against him so I couldn’t hit anymore.
“Princess…listen—”
“No!” Tears burned hot down my cheeks. “Don’t. Don’t you dare explain. I’m done believing you.”
His face crumpled…actual pain flashing in those golden eyes.
“I wasn’t going to,” he said, voice breaking. “I swear. I was trying to find another way. Any other way.”
I stopped struggling. Just stared up at him, chest heaving.
“Then why are you buttoning your shirt like you’re getting ready to do it? Or fixing yourself after doing it?”
He exhaled…shaky. “Because I thought…maybe if I could stomach it…maybe it would save you faster.”
I laughed…hollow, broken. “Save me,” I echoed. “By fucking someone else. On the day I legally became your wife?”
He closed his eyes like the words physically hurt.
“I’d burn the world before I let anyone else touch me,” he said quietly. “But if it meant keeping you alive…keeping you whole…”
He opened his eyes again and they were wet.
“I’d do it,” he finished. “I’d hate every second. I’d hate myself forever. But I’d do it.”
Silence.
Heavy. Suffocating.
James cleared his throat behind us. “He hasn’t done anything yet, princess. That’s why I had Victoria bring you here. To stop him from doing something he can’t take back.”
I looked from James to Adrian.
He still held my wrists…gentle now, thumbs stroking the inside like he was afraid I’d disappear if he let go.
I didn’t pull away.
But I didn’t forgive him either.
Not yet.
Because even if he hadn’t gone through with it…
He’d considered it.
And that hurt worse than anything else.