All Chapters of When Monsters Mate: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Lydia’s POVLeonidas’s pupils dilated, his nostrils flaring just enough to betray how close he was to losing control. But he didn’t lunge. No, he stalked. Like a wolf cornering prey he’d already claimed. The echoes of his shoes coinciding with the beats of my heart. The heavy click of the bathroom door locking behind him made my pulse trip.I stood frozen, one hand gripping the edge of the sink behind me, the other clutching the fabric at my thigh. My heart wasn’t just beating anymore, it was slamming against my ribs like it wanted out.He didn’t speak at first.His gaze dropped to my parted lips, then to the swell of my chest rising too fast beneath the thin silk of my dress. I was flushed, panting, so wet I could feel my thighs stick every time I shifted.And he knew it.He tilted his head. “You disobeyed me,” he said again, quieter this time. Almost amused.“Yes,” I breathed. “I did.”A slow smirk curved his mouth. But it didn’t reach his eyes. His eyes were starving.Without a wor

Lydia’s POVI came out of the healing trance all at once, like a salmon bursting from a stream.I sat up in bed, clammy and breathless and utterly disoriented, and waited for the pain to make itself known. I expected it to follow its usual roads: start from my stomach, irradiate out to my limbs, rake through my nerves like an army of knives. When nothing happened, I looked down at my body in bafflement, wondering where it had gone. But there it was: colder than usual, perhaps; paler, definitely; intact, ultimately.Healed?I pulled back the covers to test that theory. The large white T-shirt I was wearing didn’t belong to me, but the pretty lace underwear was mine-courtesy of Rina. I hadn’t worn it since the ceremony, and I refused to wonder how it ended up on me. Instead, I stood. Even though I was wobblier than a newborn calf, my legs were functional. I pushed through the exhaustion and forced myself to walk.The clock on the wall said one thirty in the morning, and the house was de

Lydia’s POV “Father.”“You look awfully pale.”“I’m naturally pale, Father. Say something else.” I said, resisting the very strong urge to roll my eyes. He had changed since the last time I saw him. His once broad, intimidating frame looked diminished, the muscle worn down as if something had been quietly eating at him. The black hair I remembered had given way almost entirely to white, and the proud, predatory presence that used to fill the room was dimmed, haunted, even. “I heard you were poisoned,” he said at last, his tone as flat as a blade lying on the table.It took everything in me not to scoff at the complete lack of concern in his voice. That was my father for you, he never saw me as a daughter, only as one of his soldiers.“Unluckily for you, I didn’t die. How sad you must have been,” I replied, my tone matching his dryness.His eyes narrowed, darkened. He hated the wings I’d grown. Hated that the girl who once swallowed his cruelty now returned it in full. But pain, w

Lydia’s POVWhen I finally pulled back, I cupped his cheek with one hand, pressing my other palm flat over his heart. “I love you,” I said, my voice trembling but certain. “I know this wasn’t what either of us planned, but I love you, Leonidas. And if being here hurts you this much, I understand if you don’t want to continue with this arrangement. If you want me gone… I’ll go. But you have to know, you carry no guilt for what happened to your family. None. It wasn’t your fault.”He started to speak, but I touched my thumb to his lips, silencing him. “It wasn’t.”Leonidas drew in a deep breath, his eyes burning into mine as he turned his face slightly away from my touch. “I don’t want you to leave. You belong to me now. You are my mate. Do you have any idea what it would do to me if you walked away?”The growl in his voice vibrated through me, and before I could respond, his mouth crashed onto mine in a hungry, desperate kiss.Leonidas was kissing me, ravenously, like he was never goin

Leonidas’s POVThe weeks following Rina’s disappearance and Lydia’s poisoning passed in a haze. Days bled into each other, my focus split between tracking Rina down and uncovering the person who had dared poison my mate. Lydia was only a shadow of herself now, barely eating, barely drinking, rarely stepping outside. Sometimes she asked for me. Other times, she refused to see anyone… including me.I didn’t know how to fix it. Every time we spoke, she asked the same question- how far I’d gotten in finding Rina, whether there was any progress, and each time, I had to tell her no. The disappointment in her eyes, the way tears threatened to spill before she quickly looked away, haunted me. At night, those moments replayed in my mind, staining my sleep with nightmares. She would hug herself, shifting slightly away from me as though distance could shield her from the hurt. It tore through me every time. She didn’t deserve this… neither of them did.Today, however, there was a sliver of hope.