Alle Kapitel von FATED TO A TYRANT: Kapitel 31 – Kapitel 40

WILLA’S POVLewis’ arrival was both a boon and a curse.A boon because it was the slap in the face that I needed to wake up from the spell of Gallahan’s addictive existence, scent, kiss and touch. A curse because Lewis, as much as I loved the man, was an oblivious human fool.“Come on,” I whispered impatiently, pulling him along with me.Unfortunately for me, he was a big man who wouldn’t budge with just a bit of tugging and pulling.“But Willa, there’s a bit of blood on your fingertips!” Lewis took my hand, lifted it close to his face, and inspected my fingers. “Are you hurt?”“No, I am not hurt,” I answered quickly, pulling my hand free from his grip. “But you will be, if you don’t come with me this instant.”Lewis frowned and crossed his arms. “What’s going on with you? I looked for you and our beautiful twins at the feast, but the three of you weren’t there.”I barely suppressed a frustrated groan. I badly wanted to zip Lewis’ mouth shut, because I just knew that he could set off

GALLAHAN’S POVI knew I was dampening the festive mood in the Glass Dome, but I didn’t give a flying fuck.I meandered my way through the mingling and celebrating crowd that huddled into smaller groups of friends, a menacing glower stuck on my face.I easily spotted Zuleika and Maliya, standing at the sideline near a deserted table, like they were a pair of wallflowers. Still, they stood out from the sheer absence of joviality that the others clearly had.“Gallahan, were you able to talk to Willa?” Zuleika asked as soon as I was within hearing range.She handed me a goblet of mead, her eyes looking at me questioningly.“Disaster,” I grumbled before chugging my drink empty.The sweet liquid slid down my throat smoothly as I silently half-wished it was a strong whiskey instead.“Oh… But did you see your children?”“No,” I answered tersely.Maliya sighed, picked up the decanter of the mead and refilled my goblet.“Don’t they have anything stronger than this?” I complained beneath my brea

GALLAHAN’S POV I was getting antsy as the seconds bled into minutes, and minutes blurred into eternity. At least it felt like eternity since the Alfieros left the feast. But none of the celebrating crowd seemed to mind the absence of their Alpha and his family. It was as if only Zuleika, Maliya and I noticed their early exit from the exuberant revelry after the Ascension Rite. “How many minutes has it been again?” I asked, looking around for an Alfiero among the throng of people. Maliya let out a soft groan of annoyance. “It’s only been ten minutes, Gee. Seriously, you’ve asked this question a hundred times since they left.” I tousled my hair with my hands, unable to simply stand still anymore. Just then, a light blue wisp of glittering magic appeared before me. It then took on the form of a cute little hummingbird while retaining its wispy and translucent state. It seemed harmless enough, so I let it perched itself onto my shoulder. Then I cast a glance at Zuleika and Maliya, n

GALLAHAN’S POV The door flung open quite harshly, and the sight that welcomed me was of Willa. Her eyes were slightly wide, as if she couldn’t believe I actually came. They were mildly puffy and pink-rimmed from crying, and a few of her lashes were clumped together from the tears she had shed. Her complexion was ashen, looking like the current situation had completely drained her of her blood. Even her slightly parted lips, the ones that I just kissed earlier tonight, appeared alarmingly pale. Still, she remained unfairly beautiful. And seeing her this wrecked and distraught eviscerated most of my frustration and anger at her. “You came,” she said in a whisper. I gave her a small but polite nod. Then, carefully keeping my voice even and cool, I replied with a simple, “Of course, I did.” And the rest of what I wanted to say remained safely tucked in mind: ‘There is no way I would ever not go to you and our pups. Hellfire could raze the world, and I would still find you on

WILLA’S POVHearing the words straight from Gallahan’s mouth had my heart quickly dropping to my feet. My mouth suddenly tasted like ash, and coherence seemed to have been eviscerated out of my brain, so the best response I was able to stammer out was a mildly panicked, “B-but… But you’ve already agreed to do this.”Gallahan’s eyes were fixed on me, his gaze appearing to be calculating and careful. After a beat of silence, he said, “I did. I’m not too sure you do, though. You look like you would rather drop dead than complete the bond with me.”“That’s not it!” I said too quickly, my voice loud and high-pitched.Gallahan’s brows rose, making him look like he didn’t expect the immediate denial. He crossed his arms across his chest, then casually leaned his back against the closed door.“Miss Alfiero, you couldn’t even meet my eyes for longer than a second. You’re fidgeting as if you want to dislocate your own fingers. You’re not talking in the same way you usually do, and you also loo