Lahat ng Kabanata ng Forced to Marry the Wicked Werewolf Prince: Kabanata 121 - Kabanata 130

[ELARA]Magnus barges in, cutting through the space with quick strides and startling Edith. “Leave,” he tells Edith, not even sparing her a glance. That single word is enough to tell me that he has come here with boiling blood. I don’t even need to consider the fury in his golden eyes. Edith swallows hard, and scurries off but not before tossing me a fleeting look. There’s prayer in her eyes. She is unaware that nothing can save me from Magnus’ wrath. For a moment, silence lingers—a kind where you can hear the sounds of our hearts racing. Stupidly, I stare at Magnus’ face too long, and my chest tightens with an odd feeling. Something that feels a lot like longing. ‘Tread carefully,’ Lila warns. “So you’ve finally come,” I say, nonchalantly running my fingers through my hair as I turn my back on him and walk to the mirror. “You deceived me into thinking you had no idea where my chamber was.”How much does he know? I wonder as I sit down on the bench, staring at my reflection. He’s

[ELARA]“Magnus,” I call out. He doesn’t stop. Doesn’t turn. Doesn’t even pause. The door slams shut behind him, and something inside me breaks. My knees buckle, and I collapse onto the edge of the bed, fingers twisting into the fabric of my robe like it can change reality. My lungs can’t find air. It’s like they’re stitched shut.‘You’re panicking,’ Lila says. ‘You must breathe.’But I can’t. I can’t.My hands fly to my throat, clawing at the skin like I can scrub the shame away. My nails scrape across Valen’s bite marks, and the moment my fingers graze them, guilt sinks in like a slow-moving poison.What have I done?He wasn’t lying.I saw it in his golden eyes—saw it when the shield fell between us, when truth flooded that brief second of silence. Magnus hadn’t been with anyone. Not in these long, aching months.Not once.But I had believed wrongly.And it led me to—Lila speaks again, ‘It wasn’t just that. You know it wasn’t.’I squeeze my eyes shut, shaking my head, biting down

[ELARA]My fingers tremble slightly, despite how tightly I clasp them together as I make my way down the narrow hallway leading to the solar. Magnus prefers to take his meals there, retreating to its quiet after the clamor of the Small Hall and scheming with the lords. The solar—and the office perched in the highest tower of the Thornhall castle—have always felt like forbidden ground to me. I haven’t dared to linger anywhere close to them. Slowly I understood that it is an unspoken agreement between us that Magnus would prefer to keep me out of his way. And he never made any inclination to make it seem otherwise. I register the surprise on the guard’s face as he hesitates to bow. He has not seen me here before. He parts rather awkwardly, allowing me inside.The solar feels smaller than I expected—the square table is only set for two, leaving no room to keep my distance. Magnus sits in one of the chairs, his back to me, framed by the open window. Sunlight pours in, casting his figure

[ELARA]Two days have passed since I first learnt of the Feeder cells, and I have not been able to take the image out of my mind yet. Those sunken eyes seem to follow me everywhere I go, like their evil gaze has touched me. The Soulkeeper takes over my nights, relentless in its pursuit to torment me until I’m writhing in sweat, suffocating in my sleep, and begging to wake. My only comfort has been the few hours I spend with Magnus. He has kept me glued to his side during meals, talking extensively about everything he’s been up to over the last few months—in pretty much a one-sided conversation. He encourages questions, yet narrows his eyes in disappointment when I cannot connect things at once. I have been cautious when picking my words. I don’t say more than I need to—don’t let myself get carried away… because I’m afraid I might say something that will remind him of what happened. But if those golden eyes of his tell anything, it’s that every time he meets my gaze, he remembers. “

[ELARA]I’m only half-aware as I’m carried through the cold corridors of Thornhall. My head slumps against a warm chest, the faint scent of sweat, metal, and something unmistakably Magnus cutting through the fog in my mind.Embarrassment curls like a snake in my belly. Goddess, did I really retch in front of everyone? Rustyn. Tara. Lord Roger. I want to vanish.I whimper softly, forehead pressing tighter into the fabric stretched over the chest that holds me. I know, then, for sure—because of the firm arms and the purposeful gait—that it’s Magnus. Of course it is. Who else would carry me like this, as if I weigh nothing at all?I don’t deserve it.Still, I burrow closer. Not because I deserve comfort, even though I crave it, but because I desperately want to hide from what Rustyn and Tara must be saying about me now. The broken princess. The unstable consort.“I’m sorry,” I whisper, numb and barely audible. Speaking hurts—my throat still scorched with the vile taste of bile. And then