Why She Might Love Him Again

Ross barely slept that night. Knox's request kept echoing through her mind: Just one chance.

She had spent two years wishing he would look at her differently. Now that he finally did, she wasn't sure what to do with it.

Standing beside the tall windows of her chamber, Ross watched the first light of morning spread across the kingdom. Once, she had dreamed of waking beside Knox. Once, she had believed being his wife meant she had finally found someone who would protect her heart.nShe had been wrong. But perhaps she had not been wrong about everything. Because before Knox became cruel, there had been another man.

A man she had loved. Ross closed her eyes. She remembered the first time he had defended her. They had been newly married when one of the older nobles made a cruel remark about her lack of a wolf. Knox had turned toward him with such coldness that the entire room had fallen silent. "You will not speak about my wife that way."

Ross had been stunned. That night, Knox had found her standing alone in a corridor. He didn't said anything. He had simply removed his cloak and placed it around her shoulders because she was cold. It had been such a small gesture. But she had treasured it.

There had been other moments. When a horse became frightened during a royal ceremony, Knox had immediately stepped between Ross and the animal. When she fell ill during their first winter together, he had personally sent for the royal physician. Once, when Ross admitted that she was afraid of the dark corridors beneath the palace, Knox had walked through them with her without a single complaint. Those moments had made her believe there was something good beneath his terrifying Alpha exterior. And she had fallen in love with that man.

Then everything changed. Or perhaps the man she loved had simply disappeared beneath the weight of his crown. The insults began. His coldness. The humiliation. The way he looked at her as though she were a burden he had been forced to carry.

Eventually, Ross stopped hoping. She stopped waiting for him to become the man she remembered not until yesterday. Not until she found him sitting beside her bed, holding her hand while she was unconscious. Not until she heard fear in his voice.

The door opened quietly behind her. Ross turned. Knox stood there. He stopped when he saw her awake. Then his expression softened. "How are you feeling?"

"Better."

He nodded. He didn't come closer. That was another change. The old Knox would have entered her room as though everything belonged to him. This Knox waited. "Can I come in?"

Ross almost smiled. "You are the Alpha King."

"I know."

"And this is your palace."

"I know that too."

"Then why did you keep asking?"

His eyes held hers. "Because I have to make you believe you deserve the choice."

His words created a leap in her heart. She looked away. "Come in." Knox stepped inside and closed the door. He stood for several seconds without muttering a word, not until Ross spoke. "I remembered something."

"What?"

"The man you used to be."

His expression changed. "Ross—"

"I remember when you protected me."

He became completely still. "I remember when you noticed when I was cold. When you defended me from the nobles. When you stayed beside me when I was sick." His jaw tightened. "I remember all of it." "And oh… oh how I wish I didn't."

His eyes lowered. "Why?"

"Because those memories make this harder."

Knox looked at her.

Ross swallowed. "I loved you."

The words strike him harder than any weapon could have. "You..."

"I loved you," she repeated. "Before everything became bitter. Before I became someone you couldn't stand looking at."

His breathing changed. "Ross, I—"

"Don't." He immediately fell silent. She took a slow breath. "I'm not telling you this because I have forgiven you."

"I know."

"I'm not telling you because everything is suddenly fine."

"I know."

"And I'm certainly not telling you because I've forgotten what you did."

His eyes filled with regret. "I could never ask you to forget."

Ross looked at him. "I loved you, Knox. Maybe some part of me still does."

For a moment, Knox looked as though the world had stopped turning. There it was.

The truth Ross had been afraid to admit even to herself. There was still something inside her that responded when he looked at her with genuine vulnerability. Something that remembered his hand around hers. Something that remembered the man she had loved.

Knox took one careful step toward her. "Then there is still a chance."

Ross shook her head. "Don't misunderstand me." He stopped. "Love isn't enough." His expression became serious. "Trust matters more."

"I know."

"You destroyed mine."

"I know."

"You can't expect me to wake up one morning and suddenly believe you."

"I don't."

"You can't demand that I forgive you because you're finally sorry."

"I would never."

"And you cannot love me only because I'm your Queen."

His eyes sharpened. "I don't."

"Then prove it."nSilence filled the room. Ross held his gaze. "If you truly want me, prove that you want Ross. Not the Queen. Not the power inside my blood. Not the political advantage of standing beside me."

His voice was quiet. "I want you."

"Then earn my trust."

He nodded slowly. "I will."

"You may fail."

"I may."

"I may never forgive you."

Pain flashed across his face. "I understand."

"And I may decide that loving you again is too dangerous."

His throat moved. "I understand that too."

Ross hadn't expected him to accept it so easily. The old Knox would have commanded. The old Knox would have reminded her that she was his wife but this Knox simply stood there and accepted that she had a choice. For the first time in years, Ross looked at him without fear. Not completely. But enough. "Why?" she whispered.

Knox frowned slightly. "Why what?"

"Why are you willing to do all this?"

He looked at her for a long moment. Then he stepped closer. He didn't touch her. He simply stood close enough for her to see the honesty in his eyes. "Because losing you would hurt more than losing my crown." Ross's heart stumbled. He continued. "I spent two years believing you were weak because you didn't have a wolf." His voice cracked slightly. "I was wrong." He looked down. "And I spent those same two years treating the woman I loved as though she were worthless."

Ross's eyes widened. "The woman you loved?"

His gaze returned to hers. "I never stopped." She didn't know what to say. Knox drew a slow breath. "I simply became too arrogant to recognize what I had." Ross turned away before he could see the emotion gathering in her eyes. But his voice followed her. "Ross." She looked back. "You said love isn't enough." She nodded. Knox's eyes refused to leave hers. "Then I'll spend the rest of my life earning it.”