Chapter 8

He stepped back slowly, the weight of his presence lingering like a low hum in the stone. His heavy breaths were steady but distant, as if tethered to a storm no one else could see. His eyes locked onto hers for a heartbeat—restrained, torn, raw with a desire he refused to release.

The cloak around his broad shoulders billowed like smoke curling upward as he turned, casting long shadows against the cold walls. Then he left her standing alone, the silence settling over the room like a shroud.

Her chest tightened with a mix of abandonment and something far more dangerous—relief.

She stood slowly, wrapping her arms around herself, skin prickling with the sudden absence of his heat. The void he left felt cavernous, echoing with every pulse of the sigil burning beneath her skin.

The silence swallowed her.

Minutes passed. Then hours. She didn’t move. Not at first.

Time stretched, warped by the heat in her blood and the ache beneath her skin. She tried to think, tried to breathe, but the brand pulsed through her like a second heartbeat—watching, waiting, wanting.

She returned to his lair in silence.

No one came to guide her. The path uncoiled beneath her feet like the mountain itself had memorized her steps. The doors opened for her. The air welcomed her. As if the entire realm agreed—she belonged to him now.

Inside, the space was exactly as he left it. The scent of him still lingered—ash, spice, heat. The furs held the shape of her body like memory.

She curled onto them slowly, not out of surrender, but because standing became too hard.

Time passed in fragments. A hundred breaths. A thousand heartbeats. Her fingers drifted again to the sigil beneath her robe, feeling it pulse—not with pain, but with pressure. Like it knew she was waiting. Like it was too.

She didn’t sleep. Only smoldered.

Memories of his touch, the weight of his gaze, clawed at her mind even as the cold pressed in.

She wanted to call after him. To beg him to stay. But the words caught in her throat, swallowed by the fear of what his return would mean.

Slowly, she sank further into the bed, fingers brushing the raised mark on her chest. It hummed gently, an insistent reminder of his claim. She closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing. The sigil wasn’t just a brand; it was alive, a thread tying her irrevocably to him.

She shivered, goosebumps rising as if responding to some unseen call. Every part of her felt too sensitive, too aware. She understood now what he meant when he spoke of rut—an inevitable, primal force drawing them together like a tide that couldn’t be fought.

It was coming. Soon.

Her thoughts swirled chaotically, caught between fear and an inexplicable curiosity. She knew she should be repulsed—outraged at the indignity forced upon her—yet a treacherous heat bloomed deep in her belly, ignited by his proximity, by the echo of his deep, possessive voice.

You're mine, he had said, and every syllable still resonated within her bones.

She exhaled shakily and stood, pacing restlessly.

Her gaze caught her reflection in the polished obsidian wall. The woman staring back seemed both familiar and utterly foreign—marked, claimed, poised on the edge of something irreversible.

Determined, she squared her shoulders.

If escape was impossible, she would not cower. She would meet whatever came next with strength and defiance—even if her body betrayed her.

By the time a knock echoed at the door, she didn’t know whether she was relieved or terrified to hear it.

The chamber doors groaned open slowly, revealing a servant's bowed head. “The Warlord summons you,” he murmured.

Her pulse spiked, but she lifted her chin, steeling herself. “Lead the way,” she said, voice steady despite the wildfire burning beneath her skin.

As she followed the servant through winding corridors, torchlight flickering against polished obsidian, dread mingled with anticipation inside her. Each step seemed heavier than the last, yet her resolve never faltered.

She would face him—face this—on her own terms, no matter how her body trembled.

The war hall was massive, imposing, filled with echoes of whispered strategies and brutal decisions etched into its very stones. He stood by an immense obsidian map, fingers tracing the carved lines thoughtfully. He didn’t look up immediately, but she felt the weight of his gaze the moment she crossed the threshold.

“You came,” he said quietly, voice rough with barely controlled power.

“I had little choice,” she replied evenly, standing tall despite the heat rising within her.

His gaze finally lifted, molten eyes pinning her where she stood. “You always have a choice, little flame. But some choices carry consequences.”

She swallowed hard, the air thickening between them. “I'm not afraid.”

He moved slowly toward her, each step deliberate, predatory. “You should be.”

“I won't run,” she said, her voice steady even as her pulse quickened.

His gaze softened, fractionally. A flicker of something more human amidst the primal hunger. “Then you accept what comes next.”

“I accept nothing,” she breathed, eyes locked defiantly onto his. “But I will not yield without a fight.”

A dangerous smile curled his lips, eyes glowing brighter. “Good. I prefer it that way.”

He stepped closer, stopping mere inches from her. The heat radiating from him seared her skin, her pulse quickening under the pressure of his gaze.

“You fight well,” he murmured, voice dropping lower. “But soon enough, you’ll understand there’s no victory in fighting your own nature.”

She lifted her chin higher, heart pounding against her ribs. “My nature is my own. Not yours to command.”

His fingers ghosted along her jawline, a feather-light touch that sent fire trailing down her spine. “Then prove it,” he challenged softly, stepping back just enough to let her breathe. “Prove to yourself that this bond doesn’t control you. Until then, know this—I am always one breath away from taking what belongs to me.”

A sudden noise echoed from beyond the hall—sharp, metallic, disruptive. His attention snapped toward it briefly, his body tensing.

She used the moment to breathe deeply, gathering her scattered strength.

His gaze returned to hers, and for a fleeting second, she saw behind his carefully constructed mask—a glimpse of vulnerability, of the struggle he faced.

“You think it’s easy for me,” he murmured, voice rough with frustration and longing. “You believe I relish this? Every instinct in me screams to claim you, yet here I stand, giving you space. Because that, too, is part of my nature.”

Her heart thudded painfully in her chest, his confession unsettling her more than any threat could. Anger flared hot and quick, mingling with confusion.

“You speak as if this were kindness,” she retorted, fists clenched at her sides. “You bind me with your magic, brand me like cattle, and then offer me scraps of freedom as if it's generosity.”

His jaw tightened, eyes flickering dangerously, but he made no move toward her.

“I have given you far more than scraps. If I wanted mere possession, you would already be mine entirely. Yet here you are, still fighting. Still defiant. Ask yourself—could a true captor allow such defiance?”

Her throat tightened, words caught behind a wall of conflicted emotion. The defiance he spoke of felt weak against the relentless pull of the bond, the constant whisper of something deeper, something ancient threading them together.

“Go now,” he finally instructed, voice low, eyes burning with restrained intensity. “Prepare yourself. The next time we meet, there will be no interruptions.”

She hesitated—torn between wanting to argue and the desperate need to reclaim some shred of autonomy before their next inevitable clash. Her legs refused to move at first. The war hall loomed around her like a second prison—one of smoke and flame and the promise of something she couldn’t control.

He watched her hesitation like a predator scenting weakness.

“If you don’t walk away now,” he said, voice low and ragged, “I will not stop myself. I’ll take you here—against the wall, in front of the flames—and there will be no mercy in it.”

She stiffened.

His eyes burned with molten threat, no longer teasing but trembling on the edge of violence and hunger. “The bond wants you. I want you. And if you linger... I will stop pretending I can wait.”

Her breath faltered. Her skin flushed hot. Her limbs locked in place. But still—she didn’t move. Not yet.

The heat of his words, of his promise, licked up her spine like flame. Her body swayed with the weight of desire and dread, caught in a breathless pause.

He took one step closer. Just one. “You think I’m bluffing?”

She met his gaze, heart thundering in her chest. There was no pretense left in him. No softness. Only want—raw, ancient, and dangerous.

Her lips parted, a word forming—maybe a curse, maybe a cry—but she couldn’t speak it. The air between them was too thick, the bond too loud.

“This is your last breath of freedom,” he said, voice almost reverent. “Take it. Then leave. Or stay, and surrender.”

She shook. Every instinct screamed to run—but her legs still wouldn't move. It wasn’t fear holding her there. It was need. A need she didn’t want to name.

Finally, with a broken inhale, she forced her feet to shift.

Behind her, a sound—low and guttural—rose in his throat. Not a word. A warning. A growl so deep it vibrated through the floor.

“You think the bond is cruel?” he said, voice a razor over heat. “You haven’t seen what I become when I stop resisting it. When I stop resisting you.”

She froze mid-step, her breath catching painfully. The heat behind her swelled like a living force, pressing against her back, wrapping around her like invisible chains.

“If you stay,” he said, barely more than a growl, “I won’t stop. I won’t be gentle. I’ll break whatever resistance you think you have left.”

Her chest heaved, panic rising with a breathless, aching heat that had nothing to do with fear—and everything to do with desire.

He was no longer offering her a choice. He was warning her of the storm she would unleash if she lingered.

And for one dangerous second, she wanted to.

She imagined it—his body, the heat, the way her name might sound on his lips as he took her—and hated herself for how badly she ached for it. Her thighs clenched without permission, her breath stuttered in her throat.

Was that the bond? Or was it her?

Would she still be herself when it was over—or would she belong to the bond, to him, in ways she could never take back?

Each step away felt like both victory and retreat, her racing heart echoing loudly in her ears, drowning out everything else.