AlinaI woke up with a pounding headache that felt like someone was trying to split my skull in half. The throbbing wasn’t sharp—it was a deep, relentless pressure, like the heartbeat of some creature lodged in my brain. My eyes refused to focus, blinking uselessly against the pale morning light streaming in from the window. Every muscle in my body felt heavy, as if someone had draped wet blankets over me in my sleep.It was the same sensation I’d been having too often lately—like I was sinking into something cold and deep, unable to break the surface. Sometimes, it even felt like I was drowning in my own body.I couldn’t keep brushing it off.Pushing myself upright took more effort than it should have. I pressed my palms hard against my temples, trying to rub the ache away. “What is wrong with me?” I muttered, my voice hoarse.No one answered, of course. Damian wasn’t here—if he were, he’d already be hovering, insisting on dragging me to the healer himself. And I couldn’t let that ha
DamianI sat up in bed, barely able to believe what Alina had just said to me. My jaw clenched.“I don’t like the way you speak sometimes,” I muttered, my voice low but sharp. “I’m not complaining about the way the whole thing played out. But why should my mate have to leave—when she has me?”Her eyes, tired and red, flicked away from mine. She looked defeated, like she’d been carrying the weight of a thousand thoughts all night.“Because me being here… makes it harder for you to fight the way you need to,” she whispered. “Damian, don’t you see? If I stay by your side, he wins. He’ll use me against you. He’ll twist everything I do and say. I’m a distraction. I’m—”“No,” I snapped, cutting her off. “No, you’re not. Don’t say that.”She sighed heavily and shook her head. “You don’t get it. That’s the problem. This isn’t about me not loving you or not wanting to be here. It’s about strategy. If I stay, I weaken you. That’s the last thing I want. I won’t be the reason Darius gets another
DamianI wrapped my arm around Alina as we made our way back to our room. The guards obeyed my command without hesitation, even as my father shouted after us in protest.“Bind him again,” I’d said coldly, not even looking back. “And double the guards on his cell.”I knew what I was doing. And I didn’t need my father’s blessing to do it.Alina didn’t say much until we stepped into our chamber. Her fingers trembled slightly when she untied the veil from her hair. She looked... flustered. I could still feel her body vibrating from the confrontation earlier.I walked toward her, reaching out, but she stepped back a little and whispered, “I... I can’t. Not right now. My mind’s all over the place.”I halted instantly.“Alina,” I said softly, brushing my hand against her cheek, “that’s okay. I didn’t come to take anything. I just want to hold you. That’s all.”She blinked, and then nodded slowly, letting me take her hand and lead her to the bed.I lay back first, then pulled her into my ches
DamianI frowned the moment I saw him.My father stood by the door like he had every damn right to be there—as if he hadn’t chosen to walk away from all of this, from me. My jaw tensed, and I barely kept the growl out of my voice.“I didn’t ask you to come here,” I snapped, arms crossed tightly against my chest.He didn’t flinch. Of course not. Alpha Magnus Stone never flinched. Instead, he stepped into the room like he still ruled it. Like the power in his blood still made him untouchable.Behind me, Darius rose to his feet with a smug smile that made my fingers itch. He was enjoying this. Bastard.My father looked at him with a calm expression, then turned back to me. “You’re Alpha now. I know that,” he said. “But I came here because I’ve been… thinking. Realizing a few things.”I scoffed, laughing bitterly. “Realizing? Now? After everything? After you let him”—I jerked my head toward Darius—“manipulate, destroy, and twist everything that ever mattered? You don’t get to waltz in and
DamianFor the first time in my life, I felt something that I never thought I’d associate with Darius.Pity.Not anger. Not hatred. Not even resentment.Just… pity.Because as I stood across from him, watching him strapped to the reinforced chair with iron cuffs biting into his wrists, I saw more than a brother-turned-enemy. I saw a man who had spiraled so far out of control that he had built an entire identity out of trying to ruin me.And it wasn’t working.And it was killing him.His eyes were bloodshot, unblinking. His jaw was clenched so tight I could hear the strain in his teeth. He looked like a man who hadn’t slept in days—maybe weeks.I didn’t say anything at first. Just… watched.He noticed.“What the hell is that look?” he snapped, voice low but venomous. “Don’t you dare look at me like that, Damian.”My jaw ticked.“Like what?” I asked.“Like you feel sorry for me.” He practically spit the word. “You don’t get to feel sorry for me.”I folded my arms. “Then what do I get to
Alina’s POVThere was a flicker of something in Damian’s eyes—something raw and painful—that made my heart clench the moment we turned back to the altar. I knew him too well. I could read every nuance, every twitch in his jaw, every shift in his gaze. He was angry. Not just at Darius. Not just at the elders.At the world.At the fact that no matter how hard we tried, peace never came easy for us.I squeezed his hand tighter as we stood at the front again, the silence from the crowd pressing down on my chest like a stone. Their stares pierced into my skin like daggers, filled with whispers and judgment, and I hated that I was thinking about them.But I was.I always did.And I hated that more than anything.Still, even as I clung to Damian’s hand, even as he stood tall and defiant like he always did, my thoughts spiraled.They said he was breaking tradition.I’d heard the words. Cold and final. A breach of sacred rites.And the elders—those rigid, wrinkled judges of our lives—they hadn