Chapter Seven — The Rule That Breaks You

Elara's POV

The shadow landed behind Ruin without a sound.

For half a second, my mind refused to understand what my eyes were seeing, how death could move so quietly, how danger could slip into a locked room as it belonged there.

Then instinct screamed.

“Ruin!”

He turned just as the intruder lunged.

The room exploded into motion. Ruin slammed into the man mid-strike, driving him hard into the wall. The sound of bone cracking made my stomach twist. A knife clattered to the floor. Ruin didn’t give the man time to recover—his fist came down, brutal and precise.

I backed away, heart hammering, every lesson from the last twenty-four hours screaming at me to survive.

Rule two: don’t wander alone.

Rule four: bleed quietly or scream.

I screamed.

Axel burst through the door, gun raised. Mara followed, eyes sharp, already assessing exits, angles, and blood.

The intruder was young. Barely older than me. Blood streamed from his mouth as Ruin hauled him upright by the collar.

“Who sent you?” Ruin asked, voice low and lethal.

The man laughed. Blood bubbled. “She’ll break your rules for him.”

My blood went cold.

Ruin’s grip tightened. “Say his name.”

The intruder’s gaze slid to me. Pity flashed there—quick and cruel. “Her father won’t survive the night.”

Ruin ended it with a single, efficient movement.

I turned away before the body hit the floor, my stomach heaving.

No one spoke.

The silence after violence was worse than the violence itself.

“Clean it,” Ruin ordered finally.

Axel dragged the body away. Mara lingered, studying me with a look I couldn’t read.

“You all right?” she asked.

I nodded because if I shook my head, I might fall apart.

When we were alone again, Ruin closed the door and leaned against it, eyes never leaving me.

“You shouldn’t have screamed,” he said.

“I know,” I whispered.

He pushed off the door. “But I’m glad you did.”

That surprised me.

“I don’t understand this place,” I admitted. “Every rule feels like a trap.”

“They are,” he said honestly. “That’s how they keep you alive.”

I laughed weakly. “Alive for what?”

Ruin didn’t answer.

Instead, he crossed the room and crouched in front of me, his presence filling the space. His hands hovered near my knees not touching, never touching—like he was holding himself back by sheer will.

“Volkov gave you a choice,” he said. “But it was a lie.”

“I know,” I replied. “There was never a way to save my father.”

“There is,” Ruin said.

My heart leapt painfully. “How?”

“You break the rules,” he said flatly.

Fear and hope tangled in my chest. “Yours?”

“All of them.”

I stared at him. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” he said slowly, “I stop protecting you from this world and let you become part of it.”

The weight of that pressed down on me. “I don’t want to be like them.”

“You won’t be,” he said. “You’ll be worse.”

I swallowed. “Why would you let me do that?”

Ruin’s jaw tightened. “Because Volkov thinks you’re still soft.”

He stood, turning away from me like he couldn’t look any longer. “And because if you leave tonight, he’ll follow.”

My breath caught. “Leave?”

“I’ll make it look like you broke the contract,” he continued. “Like you ran. He’ll take the bait.”

“And you?”

“I’ll track him.”

My hands shook. “You said I wasn’t leaving.”

“I lied,” he said quietly.

Pain flared sharply and unexpectedly. “So the marriage really is just a weapon.”

“Yes,” he said.

“Then why does it feel like you’re tearing something out of yourself?”

Silence.

He didn’t turn around. “Get dressed. Axel will take you.”

My chest burned. “And if I don’t go?”

Ruin faced me then, eyes dark, dangerous, stripped bare. “Then I won’t be able to stop myself from ending this war in blood.”

Something inside me snapped.

I stepped closer. “You’re not sending me away to protect the club. You’re doing it to protect me.”

His voice dropped. “Don’t make this harder.”

I reached for his cut knuckles before I could stop myself. He froze at the contact, breath hitching almost imperceptibly.

“This is the rule you never told me,” I said softly. “The one where you push me away.”

His hand closed around my wrist—not rough, not gentle. Controlled.

“If you stay,” he warned, “you will become collateral.”

“And if I leave,” I whispered, “I become bait.”

“Yes.”

I met his gaze. “Then I choose to stay.”

Something dangerous flared in his eyes.

Before he could answer, Axel knocked once and entered, his expression grim.

“They moved him,” Axel said.

My heart dropped. “My father?”

Axel nodded. “We intercepted chatter. Volkov’s heading north.”

Ruin straightened instantly. “Get the bikes ready.”

Axel hesitated. “There’s something else.”

Ruin’s eyes narrowed. “Say it.”

Axel glanced at me, then back at Ruin. “Volkov isn’t running.”

My stomach twisted. “What do you mean?”

Axel exhaled. “He’s hosting.”

“Hosting what?” I asked.

Axel swallowed. “An engagement party.”

The words rang hollow.

“For who?” I whispered.

Axel met my eyes, his voice grim.

“For you, Elara.”

My breath left me in a rush.

Ruin’s face went deadly still.

Axel finished quietly, “Volkov’s announcing your second marriage—tonight.”

The word marriage echoed in my skull like a gunshot.

“A second…” My voice came out thin. “I’m already married.”

Axel’s jaw tightened. “Not to him.”

Ruin moved then—fast, violent, unstoppable. The desk shattered beneath his fist, wood splintering across the room. The sound ripped through me more sharply than the earlier gunfire.

“He doesn’t get to claim her,” Ruin said, every word edged with murder. “Not in life. Not in death.”

“That’s exactly why he’s doing it,” Mara said from the doorway. I hadn’t heard her approach. “Volkov doesn’t want her body. He wants your reaction.”

I swallowed hard. “What happens if I don’t show?”

Mara’s gaze softened just a fraction. “Then your father dies on a livestream.”

The room shrank.

Ruin turned to me. “You’re not going.”

“I have to,” I said.

“No.”

“He’s forcing me,” I whispered. “Just like you did.”

The words hit harder than I meant them to—but I didn’t take them back.

Ruin flinched. Just once.

“I forced a marriage,” he said hoarsely. “Not a coffin.”

I stepped closer. “Then teach me how to survive this.”

Silence stretched. Heavy. Dangerous.

Ruin dragged a hand down his face, then looked at Axel. “Clear the room.”

Axel hesitated—then obeyed. Mara lingered, eyes searching Ruin’s face.

“You sure?” she asked quietly.

Ruin didn’t look at her. “If we don’t break Volkov tonight, we lose her forever.”

Mara nodded once and left.

The door closed.

Ruin faced me, something dark and resolute settling into his expression. “You’ll go to the party.”

My heart stuttered. “You said...”

“You’ll go,” he repeated, “as my wife.”

I blinked. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“It will,” he said, stepping closer. “Because tonight, we change the rules.”

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small velvet box.

My breath caught as he opened it.

Inside lay a ring—blackened steel wrapped with a single diamond, raw and unpolished.

“I never gave you vows,” Ruin said quietly. “But this...this is a promise.”

I stared at the ring, my pulse roaring.

“What promise?” I whispered.

Ruin slid it onto my finger, his touch burning, and moved through my spine.

“That anyone who tries to take you,” he said, voice lethal, “dies.”

The lights suddenly went out.

And my phone vibrated in my pocket.

One message with one photo: My father on his knees.

And a caption beneath it: Choose which husband watches him die.