25.One-year contract

Elle

The black folder lay between us.

The old contract had offered one private year, a fortune, and an ending decided before either of us understood the beginning. I had refused because Dominic’s lawyers did not get to decide how much I was permitted to feel.

I opened the new version.

The year remained. So did the secrecy and the money, though the amount had been moved into a trust under my control rather than paid as an allowance. New clauses placed my parents, Franz, and Moonlight under direct royal protection for the full term. No order touching my family could be sealed without Dominic’s signature. No member of his household could overrule me where my safety was concerned. If Rosalie approached me outside an official event, I had the right to summon the king’s guard in my own name.

Rosalie’s name never appeared. It did not need to.

I turned another page. “You gave me authority over Crown guards.”

“A limited authority tied to your protection.”

“Your council will love that.”

“My council is not being invited into my private life.”

The words should have sounded cold. Instead, his hand tightened on the table as if the thought of sharing me with their judgment made him violent.

“You can protect my family without putting me in your bed,” I said.

“I already am. Franz is leaving whether you sign or not.” Dominic held my gaze. “This agreement places you in my household under sealed Crown law. Rosalie can ignore Elle Whitmore. She cannot quietly move against the woman under the king’s protection.”

“Your private woman.”

Something rough entered his scent. “Mine, for one year. Yes.”

The word hit my wolf like a hand around her neck. Heat tightened low in my stomach. Dominic smelled my response, and his fingers closed around the edge of the table.

He wanted me without knowing what to do with the wanting. I understood because I was just as trapped by it.

I read the termination clause. Either of us could end the agreement at any time. The protection over Moonlight would remain for thirty days afterward, long enough for Dad to prepare if Rosalie retaliated. Nothing required me to attend court, appear publicly beside Dominic, or share his bed.

“You changed almost everything I objected to.”

“I listened.”

“That must have hurt.”

His mouth shifted. “More than ordering ministers around. Less than watching you walk out of the hotel.”

The honesty landed beneath my ribs.

I closed the folder. “Why keep the ending?”

Dominic’s expression lost the faint warmth. “Because I have a kingdom, an heir, and a court that has spent years waiting for me to choose a Luna Queen. Because promises from a king become laws even when he makes them in bed. Because I want you badly enough to lie to both of us, and I will not do that.”

It was the answer I had demanded. I hated it for being true.

“I haven’t changed my mind about the ending,” I said. “It will still hurt.”

“I know.”

“And you’re asking anyway.”

Raw need roughened his voice. “I would rather have one honest year with you than pretend distance has made either of us safer. I will not promise a future I do not know how to give. I can promise that no one reaches you or your family without going through me first.”

My wolf shoved against my skin, answering the certainty in his voice. She did not understand contracts or court expectations. She understood the king’s scent, the care in his hands, and the violent relief that had hit her when he answered my call.

I thought of Franz behind silver and Soren smiling because he believed fear would always drive me back to him. One year beside Dominic gave me time to uncover what Soren had done, protection Rosalie could not casually break, and access to a world where both of them had hidden too many secrets.

Those were the sensible reasons.

The dangerous one sat close enough to touch, watching me as if my answer mattered more than the Crown.

“If I sign, you don’t get to hide behind this when you’re angry with me,” I said. “You speak to me. You don’t send James, a lawyer, or a fucking royal decree.”

“Agreed.”

“You don’t make decisions about my body because your wolf is louder than mine.”

Gold edged his eyes. “Agreed.”

“And when this ends, you tell me yourself.”

That one cost him. I watched it move through his face before he forced it back under control.

“I will.”

I picked up the pen.

“One year.”

Dominic’s eyes turned fully gold. “One year.”

I signed.

His hand closed over mine before I could set the pen down. Hunger rose in his scent, but he did not pull me closer. He waited, holding my fingers as though the choice mattered even after the ink dried.

I leaned in first.

The kiss was not careful. Dominic caught the back of my neck and met me hard enough to push the chair across the floor, but when I drew away, he let me. His chest rose beneath his black shirt. Mine did the same.

“That wasn’t in the contract,” I said.

“Nothing I want from you is.”

Dinner had gone cold around us. One of the candles guttered, and my phone began to ring between our plates.

Dad’s name filled the screen.

I nearly knocked the chair over trying to answer. “Dad?”

“He’s out. We have him.”

An engine idled in the background. Mom argued about pain medication, and Franz coughed close to the phone. My knees buckled. Dominic caught me around the waist and lowered me into the chair.

“Let me hear him.”

The phone scraped, then Franz said my name. His voice was wrecked, but he was free.

I pressed my fist against my mouth. “Are you in the car?”

“Yeah. Mom’s threatening the doctor. Dad’s threatening everyone else.”

A laugh broke out of me and collapsed halfway through. Dominic crouched beside me, one hand warm at the back of my neck.

Franz went quiet. “My wolf keeps looking for her.”

Rosalie had put him behind silver, and the bond still pulled at him. I hated her for leaving that inside him.

“Let him look,” I said. “You don’t have to follow. Get home first. We’ll deal with the rest when you’re safe.”

“They can’t put me back?”

“No. The order is dead. Anyone who tries has to get past me, Dad, and the king. They’ll need a death wish.”

Franz laughed, and Mom took the phone. She asked if I was coming. I wanted to climb into their car and keep my hand on my brother all the way home, but they needed to get clear of the capital before Rosalie found another excuse to stop them.

“Go without me. Don’t stop until you’re inside Moonlight’s boundary.”

Dad came onto the line. “You’re still with Dominic?”

“Yes.”

“Is staying your choice?”

Dominic still knelt beside me, his thumb moving over my nape before he seemed to notice it. “It is.”

Dad breathed out. “Then keep your phone on. Call when you’re ready to come home.”

I promised. The call ended with Mom ordering Franz to lie back.

For several seconds I could not move. My brother was on his way home. Soren had failed. Rosalie had failed. The relief left me shaking harder than fear had.

Dominic stayed close, his hand on my neck. I did not want him to take it away.

“I can get you to them before they clear the city,” he said.

“And turn the road home into another royal scene? No.” I wiped my face. “They need one quiet journey.”

“Then I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

I looked at the contract, at the royal signature beneath mine, and then at the man who had freed Franz before the pen touched my hand.

“Take me to the villa.”

His fingers tightened. “Signing that agreement doesn’t mean you owe me tonight.”

“I know.” I caught his shirt and pulled him close enough that our mouths almost touched. “I’m asking to go with you. Don’t make it ugly by pretending you don’t understand.”

Dominic’s wolf flashed through his eyes.

“I understand,” he said.