Library

Home / Werewolf / BOUND TO MY ALPHA ENEMY / Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

Lahat ng Kabanata ng BOUND TO MY ALPHA ENEMY : Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

125 Kabanata

81

Lucian’s POVCade didn’t answer immediately.His silence was louder than any words could have been, and it grated on me like a thorn lodged beneath my skin. He stood there, his jaw tightening ever so slightly, and then like he didn’t know better, his gaze flickered toward Alina.My jaw clenched. That one, brief glance burned hotter than sunlight on bare skin. He had no right. Not to look at her like that. Not to hesitate when I’d ask a simple question.“Cade,” I said, low, steady, each syllable pulled tight like a drawn bowstring.He blinked and finally spoke, voice mild, almost dismissive. “I’m not concerned, Alpha… I’m just saying.”Just saying.The casualness of his tone scraped at me worse than his silence had. I stepped closer, letting my shadow fall across him, meeting his gaze head-on.“Don’t,” I said evenly, voice dipping into that quiet register that warned better than any shout, “speak on behalf of my wife.”Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Alina’s expression twist, the

82

Lucian’s POVAlina’s gaze darted to me the moment the knife glimmered in Kane’s grip. Her brows shot up, lips parting slightly, disbelief flashing across her face like she couldn’t decide if I was cruel, insane, or both.I stared back, expression deliberately unreadable, even though my chest was tight and my jaw ached from grinding my teeth.Then Kane moved, fast, precise, lethal.The blade sliced through the air in a vicious arc, aiming clean for her arm. For a split second, she froze, and my lungs locked, an involuntary panic clawing its way up my throat.But she shifted just in time.Her body twisted smoothly, instincts taking over where her hesitation had failed her. She sidestepped the strike, her bare foot digging into the dirt, and spun into a sharp kick that landed cleanly against Kane’s ribs.The sound echoed, short and sharp.My jaw tightened, but I didn’t move, forcing myself to remain rooted despite the thundering in my chest.She turned her head, her eyes locking onto min

83

Lucian’s POVMy jaw clenched, and I forced my face into a grim mask as I released her. My gaze shifted sharply to Kane, cold and deliberate, as though I hadn’t just moved faster than instinct should’ve allowed. I needed control back, needed the silence in my chest to return. Most importantly, needed to get myself back.“You went soft,” I said flatly, voice slicing through the thick air. “I told you not to be lenient.”Kane blinked, startled, confusion etched deep in his frown. “But, Alpha, I was…”“Enough.” My tone cracked like thunder, shutting him down before he could finish questioning me. I turned, walking away, ignoring Cade’s wide-eyed stare, the one that looked at me like I’d just singlehandedly ended a war.I had almost reached another tree when her voice cut sharply and uninvited through the air.“You’re bleeding.”I stopped, turned halfway, and met her gaze. Her expression was stiff, as though the words had slipped out before she could swallow them.“I know.” My tone was coo

84

Alina’s POVMaybe I was foolish for jumping off.I had thought, naively, stubbornly, that I could control the outcome. That testing him would mean something. That if I pushed him hard enough, if I dangled my life right at the edge of danger, I’d force him to show me that I wasn’t just… replaceable.But the second the icy water swallowed me whole, the truth hit harder than the fall.I wanted to bounce back to the surface, to break free, to gasp, to prove my point, but instead, I was sinking. Fast.Cold needles stabbed into my skin, the weight of the water pulling me down like unseen hands gripping my ankles. My lungs screamed, my arms flailed, and the world around me blurred into chaotic shadows and muted roars. Panic clawed at my chest, wild and consuming, like fire set loose in a locked room.I kicked hard, thrashing upward, but something tugged at my foot, thick, unyielding. My toes scraped against something rough, something like a tangle of vines or debris beneath the surface, wrapp

85

Lucian’s POVThe rhythmic pounding of my feet against the treadmill drowned out the faint hum of the gym’s overhead lights. Each step was heavier than the last, like I was trying to outrun my thoughts, but they clung to me like shadows stitched to my heels. Sweat rolled down my temples in beads, tracing hot paths down my face before dripping onto the dark, rubber surface beneath me.The air in the gym behind the packhouse was humid, thick with heat and salt, as if the walls themselves were suffocating me. My black singlet was plastered to my chest, soaked through, and my shorts clung stubbornly to my thighs, the fabric damp where the sweat pooled. Every muscle in my legs burned with each stride, but I welcomed the ache, it was easier than feeling the gnawing weight sitting in my chest.I had skipped dinner on purpose. The thought of facing Alina across the table, pretending like today hadn’t happened, pretending like I didn’t watch her fall, sink, and nearly not come back, I couldn’t

86

Lucian's POV The gym felt like a forge tonight; the machines hissed and the lights buzzed, and my breath came out in hot, staccato chords. I moved from one equipment to the next, heavier work each time, as if piling weight onto my chest would flatten the ache I could not name. The treadmill had been a drum; now it was the rower, the sled, the heavy ropes I slammed until my arms trembled and my hands were raw. Each motion was precise, surgical, controlled in motion, the only antidote I had for the memory of her falling and not being the one to pull her out.I pushed until my muscles sang. The gym smelled of iron and old leather; sweat coated my skin and my shirt clung like a second, unwilling skin. Every rep became an argument with myself; each lift a refusal to stay still and wrestle with the thought that Cade had been the one to dive when I had hesitated. The idea scraped raw inside me like gravel.Then my forearm spasmed. A tight, sudden knot pain I had been ignoring; the handkerc

87

Lucian's POV I turned away, toward the bathroom, needing the hollow of tiles and the sharpness of water to focus my thoughts. The room spun faintly on the weight of my uncertainty. I rubbed my forehead and closed my eyes for a second; fatigue and adrenaline warred in the edges of my vision. The wound throbbed like a second heartbeat; the handkerchief had darkened to a ring of crimson I could not scrub away.Sabrina called from the doorway as she left; the sound of her footsteps retreated like a tide. “Hurry, Lucian. Don’t let it get worse.”I closed the bathroom door behind me and leaned my forehead against the cool wood. The world blurred, lines smearing like wet ink. I tried to steady my breath. Cade’s voice echoed in the hollow I’d been attempting to drown out; she’ll understand if you explain. The line might as well have been a razor.My vision fractured; the edges went gray. I took one step to the vanity and the bathroom tilted. The tiles beneath my boots seemed to rise and drop

88

Cade's POV I stood by the bed long enough to memorize the way the lamplight threw Lucian’s face into relief, the planes of his cheekbones like carved obsidian, the slow rise and fall of a chest that had no business heaving with so much something he refused to name. He lay half-turned away, bandage at his forearm dark with fresh blood, a frown sketching new lines into an already severe face. Sabrina hovered, eyes on me; the brief exchange between us was all in a tilt of her chin, and that small, urgent look spoke. She left without a word after that, leaving the room to the two of us the way a tide leaves shells stranded, everything exposed and raw.Lucian’s gaze snagged my movement like a hook; he said nothing when I closed the door behind me. He never liked to be watched while vulnerable, and yet vulnerabilities were the only places where he let anything not-perfect leak through.“Go on,” he rasped finally; it had the clipped edge of someone daring me to pry.I crossed to the bed an

89

Cade's POV I could feel my pulse in my ears, loud as a drum. “Lucian,” I said, and my voice tried to be the tether; reason had to be the first responder. “She saved you once. She bled for you. You can’t make that into a tool without telling her. You can’t make her a sacrifice on your altar.”He laughed then, half humorless. “You’re sanctimonious tonight, Cade. This is not a sacrifice. This is a necessary step. There are probabilities. If we…if she helps bring Clara back, she’ll have saved me more than once. People do things they would not do otherwise.”“You’re rationalizing,” I said bluntly. “You’re rationalizing the weaponization of someone else’s life because you’re scared. That’s not a calculation. It’s cowardice dressed as strategy.”His face flickered with something unreadable; I couldn’t tell whether it was hurt or anger. “You don’t understand,” he said low. “You were never the one who watched her in a glass box for a year. You don’t know what it costs a man to hold a hollow p

90

Lydia’s POV The crown arrived on a silver tray like a small, secret moon; when the servant set it down, the room felt suddenly consecrated. Light caught the gold filigree and scattered across the satin of my gowns, turning each shimmer into a promise. My breath hitched, this was the part I had rehearsed in the mirror a dozen times and yet nothing had prepared my chest for the honest, ridiculous thrill of it.“Don’t touch,” I warned Lou with a grin as she reached, already trembling with the giddy reverence of a child offered candy. Her eyes were the exact shade of mischief and devotion I’d taught her to keep. “It’s not a toy.”She dropped back as if stung; a practiced bow tipped her chin. “Forgive me, my lady. Hail you, Luna Lydia.” Her voice danced, half teasing, half worshipful.I laughed and lifted the crown, letting its weight settle like a benediction. The first time the circlet met my hair, the room tilted, just a fraction, and for a second I felt exactly like the heroine in the

PREV

...

...

NEXT

I-scan ang code para mabasa sa App

DMCA.com Protection Status