Ch.5

Giuliana

Ryan didn’t release me.

His hand remained firm around mine, like he had every intention of keeping it there no matter who stood in front of him. My pulse refused to calm, still racing from the bond snapping into place, from the way every nerve in my body felt like it had been set on fire and then soothed all at once.

Then Logan’s voice cut through the room again.

“Giuliana.”

The way he said my name used to make me straighten without thinking, used to pull obedience out of me before I even had time to question it. Now it just made something ugly twist in my chest.

Ryan’s grip tightened slightly, not enough to hurt, just enough to remind me he was still there.

He didn’t even look at Logan at first. His thumb brushed once against my knuckles, like he was grounding me, before he finally lifted his gaze.

“Logan,” he said, calm but edged with something dangerous, “I believe you didn’t forget where you are.”

The room went still.

Even the whispers died down, like everyone suddenly remembered they were standing in a hall that belonged to a King.

“She’s my mate.”

The words landed heavy, echoing across the marble floors and high ceilings, settling into every corner of the ballroom.

Logan’s expression darkened instantly.

He took a step forward. Then another.

Each one heavier than the last, like he was trying to force the ground itself to bend to him.

“Giuliana,” he ordered, his voice rising, sharper now, “come here. Now.”

For a second, my body reacted before my mind did.

Old habits. Old chains.

But then the memories came flooding in just as fast. The cold looks. The silence. The humiliation. The night he sent me away like I was nothing.

My jaw tightened.

After everything he put me through, he had the nerve to stand here and command me?

The audacity of this man.

I pulled my hand slightly from Ryan’s grip, not to leave him, but to step forward on my own.

Ryan let me. He didn’t stop me, didn’t pull me back, just watched, his presence still right behind me like a wall I could lean on if I needed to.

I faced Logan fully.

“Logan,” I said, my voice steady, stronger than I expected it to be, “the Giuliana you knew died on the borders of your pack.”

A murmur rippled through the room.

I didn’t look away from him.

“Go look for her.”

For a moment, he just stared at me like he hadn’t heard me right.

Then his face twisted, disbelief giving way to anger so quickly it almost made me laugh.

“Have you lost your mind?” he snapped, taking another step closer. “You dare speak to me like that? And you stand there allowing another man to hold you that way in public?”

The irony hit me so hard I couldn’t hold it in.

A laugh slipped out of my throat, and I shook my head.

“You’re being pathetic right now,” I told him, tilting my head slightly as I looked him over. “Stop making a scene.”

His brows pulled together instantly.

The words hit him cold,

Because they were the exact same thing he used to throw at me whenever I showed even the slightest emotion in front of others. The same cold dismissal, the same quiet humiliation.

Now it was his turn.

For a split second, something flickered in his eyes. Recognition. Maybe even anger at hearing his own words turned against him.

“Watch your mouth,” he warned, his voice dropping lower, more dangerous. “You seem to be forgetting who you’re speaking to.”

“No,” I replied, my lips curving slightly, “I remember exactly who I’m speaking to.”

And for the first time, I wasn’t afraid.

His gaze shifted past me then, locking onto Ryan.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop.

“Giuliana,” Logan said again, slower this time, more controlled, like he was forcing himself to rein it in, “do you realize you are my wife?”

There it was.

The pathetic idea of ownership.

Ryan moved then.

I didn’t even realize he had stepped closer until I felt him at my back again, close enough that the heat of his body pressed against mine without actually touching.

“Wife?” Ryan repeated, his tone almost amused, though there was nothing light in his eyes. “You mean the one you discarded at your borders to die?”

Logan’s jaw clenched.

“That is none of your concern,” he shot back. “This is between me and my mate.”

Ryan let out a quiet breath, almost like a laugh, but there was no humor in it.

“Mate?” he echoed, then his hand found mine again, fingers threading through mine this time, firmer, more deliberate. “You should be careful with the words you use.”

The air shifted again.

Everyone could feel it.

“The bond has already been made and yours cruelly severed,” Ryan continued, his voice carrying easily through the silent hall. “And as far as I’m concerned, that overrides whatever claim you think you still have.”

Whispers started blowing out in the room.

Elders exchanged looks, some of them stepping closer, clearly uncomfortable with where this was going.

“That’s not how it works,” one of them muttered under his breath, though loud enough for those nearby to hear.

“It’s never happened before,” another added.

Logan let out a short, humorless laugh.

“You think a bond formed under these circumstances means anything?” he asked, his gaze flicking to me briefly before returning to Ryan. “You think you can just take what belongs to me because of some twisted accident?”

Something in Ryan’s expression hardened.

“It wasn’t an accident,” he said.

The certainty in his voice made my chest tighten.

Logan took another step forward, his patience clearly wearing thin.

“Giuliana,” he said again, this time slower, like he was speaking to a disobedient child, “come here.”

My stomach turned.

The tone. The expectation.

Like nothing had changed.

Like I would still obey.

I didn’t move.

Ryan didn’t either.

The silence stretched, thick and suffocating.

“I’m not repeating myself,” Logan added, his voice dropping lower, more threatening now.

I let out a small breath, steadying myself before speaking.

“I heard you the first time,” I said.

His eyes narrowed.

“Then act like it.”

“No.”

The word came out simple. Calm.

But it hit harder than anything else I had said.

The reaction was immediate.

Shock flashed across his face before anger swallowed it whole.

“You don’t get to refuse me,” he snapped, his control finally cracking.

Ryan’s hand tightened around mine again, he knew exactly how much that moment had cost me.

Logan’s gaze darkened further, something colder settling in now.

“You don’t understand what you’re doing,” he said, his voice quieter but far more dangerous. “You’re standing there, embarrassing yourself, embarrassing me, over a temporary bond that won’t hold.”

I let out a breath through my nose, shaking my head slightly.

“Everything about this is embarrassing for you,” I replied, unable to stop the edge in my voice. “Not me.”

A few people shifted uncomfortably.

Someone coughed.

“You’re coming back with me,” he said, like it was already decided.

My stomach twisted again, but I forced myself to hold his gaze.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

His lips pressed into a thin line.

Ryan stepped slightly in front of me then, not fully blocking me, but enough to make a point.

“You heard her,” he said quietly.

Logan’s attention snapped back to him, irritation flashing clearly now.

“This doesn’t concern you.”

Ryan’s expression didn’t change.

“It concerns me the moment you try to take what’s mine.”

The words hung in the air.

Logan let out a low, disbelieving laugh.

“Yours?” he repeated, like the idea itself offended him. “You think you can just walk in and take my mate and call her yours?”

Ryan’s gaze didn’t waver.

“You lost the right to claim her,” he said, his voice dropping just enough to carry weight without rising, “the moment you broke her.”