All Chapters of Ruin Me, Alpha: Breaking The Enemy's Daughter: Chapter 71 - Chapter 79

LeahI made it halfway back to Ares's chambers before I stopped.My hand was on the door handle. The crooked braid still hung over my shoulder. The pouch sat heavy in my pocket.And I couldn't make myself go in.What if Father's right?The thought had been circling my mind since I left the dungeons, growing louder with each step. What if Ares was using me? What if the tenderness this morning had been calculated? What if everythingthe braiding, the breakfast, the storieshad been designed to make me compliant?Through the door, I felt him. The bond hummed with his presence, warm and steady. Content.He was waiting for me.I touched the pouch in my pocket. The plant. Insurance, Father had called it. Protection.Just a little, I thought. Just enough to shield my thoughts while I figure this out.My hands shook as I opened the pouch, pinched a few leaves. They were bitter on my tongue, making me gag.But within moments, the bond... dimmed.Not gone. Not severed. But muted, like a candle be

The trees opened up onto the most beautiful lake I'd ever seen.The water was crystal clear, reflecting the sky like a mirror. Mountains rose in the distance, snow-capped and majestic. Wildflowers carpeted the shore in explosions of purple, yellow, and white.And on the eastern shore, nestled among the trees, sat a small cabin."What is this place?" I breathed.Ares dismounted, moving to help me down. His hands lingered on my waist a moment longer than necessary."My family's summer home," he said quietly. "We'd come here every year when I was a boy. My father taught me to fish in that lake. My brother and I would race to that big oak tree." He pointed to an ancient tree on the far shore. "My mother and sister would pick flowers and weave them into crowns."His voice was soft. Reverent. Like speaking a prayer."No one knows about this place," he continued. "After they were gone, I never told anyone. Not the council. Not my men. Not even Luciana."I looked at him sharply. "Not your wif

The blanket slipped from my shoulders and pooled at my feet like liquid moonlight.Ares stood frozen, water still clinging to the dark strands of his hair, each droplet catching the firelight and throwing tiny prisms across the sharp planes of his face. His chest rose and fell in uneven breaths, the sculpted ridges of muscle glistening faintly where lake water traced paths down to the waistband of his soaked jeans. A single bead clung to the hollow of his throat, trembling with every heartbeat before it finally broke free and slid beneath the collar of his discarded shirt.I stepped forward, bare feet sinking into the thick fur rug, the chill of the lake still clinging to my skin like a second pulse. The air between us thickened, heavy with woodsmoke and the clean, mineral scent of the water we’d left behind.His voice came low, almost reverent. “Leah.”I pressed two fingers to his lipssoft, swollen from earlier kissesand felt the warmth of his exhale. “No words yet. Just this.”A slo

Ares built up the fire again while I watched from the bed, in furs.When he finally joined me, sliding under the covers, there was something different in his eyes. Something intense and almost desperate."Leah," he said, my name a prayer and a plea."Yes?""I need you to know something." His hand came up to cup my face. "Tomorrow, we go back. Back to the complications and the conflicts and all of it. But tonight" His thumb traced my lower lip. "Tonight, I want to memorize you. Every sound, every touch, every moment. So that no matter what happens, I'll always have this."The words were so raw, so honest, they made my chest ache."Then memorize me," I whispered. "And let me memorize you too."He kissed me then, slow and deep and full of things we couldn't say out loud.I love you. I'm terrified. I don't want to lose this. I don't want to lose you.All of it poured through the bond, through his touch, through the way he held me like I was both precious and fragile.When he finally moved

Ares built up the fire again while I watched from the bed, in furs. When he finally joined me, sliding under the covers, there was something different in his eyes. Something intense and almost desperate. "Leah," he said, my name a prayer and a plea. "Yes?" "I need you to know something." His hand came up to cup my face. "Tomorrow, we go back. Back to the complications and the conflicts and all of it. But tonight" His thumb traced my lower lip. "Tonight, I want to memorize you. Every sound, every touch, every moment. So that no matter what happens, I'll always have this." The words were so raw, so honest, they made my chest ache. "Then memorize me," I whispered. "And let me memorize you too." He kissed me then, slow and deep and full of things we couldn't say out loud. I love you. I'm terrified. I don't want to lose this. I don't want to lose you. All of it poured through the bond, through his touch, through the way he held me like I was both precious and fragile. When he fin