All Chapters of His Broken Vow: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

This was an unexpected summons.Acting Principal Appleberry called all the students and faculty to gather at the grand hallway for the brief announcement, the tone of which was preceded by the sharp chime that resonated throughout the corridors of Mystic Academy.“Attention! Attention!” the principal called out.Bella had plans to disappear.As she started to head towards the hallway, Eve and Joy grabbed her, one on each arm, to pull her towards the center of the hallway."Oh no, you don't," Eve muttered. "If we're standing through this, so are you."Bella sighed inwardly. Chairs hadn’t even been arranged. This was meant to be quick—but quick gatherings at Mystic Academy were never truly quick.They stood shoulder to shoulder among the crowd, bodies packed close, tension humming through the air.And then Bella felt it.That familiar, dangerous pull.Her gaze strayed unwillingly to the entrance, where Hybrids were standing apart from all others, predators mocking their prey.Dave Stark

Her hands were still clutched around the frame as if it were all that was holding her together. Bella shifted her weight minutely so that one foot was placed on top of the gravel that lay below where she stood by the window frame. The sharp blade of cold air nipped at her flesh.In the courtyard, Dave Stark stood still.Watching.As if they knew not to come near him, the shadows gathered around him. His sleeves were rolled up. His black jacket was open at the throat. As if he were in the middle of a much more nefarious act than sleeping.Calm on the outside but deadly on the inside, his eyes watched her with predatory calm."Bella, be careful," Dave warned. Too softly. "I'll catch you if you jump."Her stomach contracted."And I won't be as gentle when I run," he went on, tilting his head.That was Dave Stark's problem. He even threatened her as if he were making promises.“I’m not running,” Bella lied, gasping forA slow smile curled across his mouth—a dark, knowing smile. “You alrea

Dave Stark had never learned how to beg.He did everything with precision, spoke with command, and carried the weight of a kingdom as though it was bred into his bones. Yet there he stood beneath the towering cypress trees, the night mist curling around his boots, hands loose at his sides as if afraid even the act of breathing loudly would be enough to push Bella away.“I waited for you,” he said softly. “One hundred years of silence. One hundred years of knowing the world was incomplete.”Bella’s breath stuttered.“You are my mate.” His voice dropped, raw and unguarded. “Call it selfish if you want—but I’m not letting you go.”The words hit her chest like a blade.“What about Serena?”She hadn’t planned to say it. It spilled out sharp and sudden, years of fear compressed into one name. Bella lifted her chin, refusing to look away.“You don’t get to keep us both.”Her hands trembled at her sides. She had escaped once—from being Marcus’s hidden shame, from loving a man who married Agn

Though Bella had always known that the city looked different at night, it seemed to her as if the city had changed its spine just for her tonight.Dave Stark turned off the ignition as the black Aquila V12 glided into the private driveway that led to the townhouse. The purr of the engine hummed softly and menacingly. The silence was thick with the feelings of everything that had been experienced and everything that had been left unspoken.He held her for a short while.His arm was immobile about her waist—a presence rather than a restriction. However, Bella's breathing hitched. She felt his warmth seep through her fingers when she pushed her hand against the bottom of his jacket.“I ought to enter,” she muttered, her voice betraying her composure. “Shower. Change into something… decent.”He cocked his head in interest, studying her as one studies a mathematical equation already known to them. “What’s the problem with your clothes?”Bella's mouth opened and then shut. "I'm wearing your

Happiness came loud in Bella’s residence.This, of course, came with the laughter of her mother, the warm hug of Linda’s embrace, and the catch in her voice, which held a hint of a sob held back."We must celebrate!" shouted Linda, pulling Bella into a hug that would have smushed granite. "My daughter, chosen, marked, and protected. Finally, the Moon Goddess favors us!""Right?" Bella laughed breathlessly, hugging her in return. Amanda, in the corner of the room, leaning in the doorway with arms crossed, looked up with a mock scowl.“Let’s just stop acting like we just won the lottery,” Amanda muttered. “Some of us still have homework.”But Bella saw it—the way her sister’s lips twitched, the relief softening her shoulders. The years of watching Bella come home wounded, rejected, and quietly resilient had ended. Whatever else this bond meant, it meant safety. Permanence. Power.Royal blood, tied to their family forever.That night, Dave Stark came after the house fell quiet.He didn’t