All Chapters of When I’m Gone, You Love: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

67 Chapters

Chapter 41- Powers at Play

Beatrice’s PovCedrick crossed the room slowly and stopped in front of me. I had to tilt my head back to look up at him."To think," he said quietly, "that someone so fragile could be related to someone so vile."Before I could respond, his hand was in my hair. He tilted my head back further and kissed me, hard and deliberate, his mouth pressing mine open before I could decide whether to fight it. His other hand found my waist, pulling me up from the carpet and against his chest.I told myself not to respond. My body didn't listen.His lips moved to my jaw, then my neck. His teeth grazed my collarbone, and a sound escaped me that I hated myself for. His hands were everywhere, pulling fabric aside, finding skin, and each touch sent heat through me that had nothing to do with willingness and everything to do with something older and deeper that my wolf recognized even when my mind refused to.I didn't kiss him back. But I stopped fighting. And he took that silence the way he took everyt

Chapter 42- Shame

Beatrice’s PovThe fields were loud that afternoon, but not in the usual way.There was the normal rhythm of labor, the scrape of tools against soil, the low murmur of tired voices, yet something else threaded through it all. It was sharp and restless, like a stone dropped into still water. I felt it before I understood it.When I straightened to stretch my aching back, I noticed Hilda and several other slaves gathered a short distance away. They weren’t working. They were standing close together, heads bent, fingers pointing in my direction. Their eyes flicked toward me and away again, bright with interest.I knew that look.Ever since I had been brought to the castle, Hilda and her little group had made me their favorite topic. Whispering when I passed. Laughing just a bit too loudly. Watching me as if they were waiting for something terrible to happen. They hated me, and I hated them right back, though I had learned not to show it.I turned back to my task and forced myself to focu

Chapter 43- Kings Hall

Beatrice’s PovThe doors opened, and the noise hit me first.Music rolled through the hall in heavy waves, low drums and sharp strings blending with laughter and voices speaking in different accents. The sound wrapped around me, loud and suffocating, making it hard to think clearly. I hesitated at the threshold, my fingers curling into my palms as I took in the scene before me.The hall was vast and dripping with gold, from the gilded columns to the jeweled goblets lining tables that groaned under the weight of food and wine. Floating lights cast everything in a warm glow that made the whole room feel like it had been built to remind you how small you were.Scantily clad slaves moved through the crowd like living ornaments.Some poured wine, others knelt beside kings and nobles, their hands quick and practiced. A few sat on laps, laughing softly, feeding their masters fruit or whispering things meant only for private ears. Their clothing was designed to reveal far more than it conc

Chapter 44- When He Was Wicked

Beatrice’s PovI couldn’t understand why he kissed me the way he did.It wasn’t like before, not like the cold, humiliating kiss he had forced on me in front of the other kings. This kiss was rough and impatient, filled with something sharp and urgent that made my heart race in fear. His mouth crushed against mine, and when his teeth bit down on my lower lip, I gasped despite myself.Pain flared, brief but startling, and I froze.Something was different.My thoughts scattered as he pushed me backward. The edge of the bed hit the backs of my knees, and before I could react, I fell onto the mattress. The sheets were cool beneath my palms as he followed, his weight pressing down just enough to trap me without fully pinning me.My pulse thundered in my ears.He forced my legs apart with his knee, his movements impatient and possessive. His lips returned to mine, then dragged down along my jaw and throat, leaving heat and fear in their wake. His hand slid beneath my shirt, fingers spre

Chapter 45- Escape plan

Beatrice’s PovThe next day dragged on far longer than it should have.I moved across the castle grounds with a tightness in my chest that refused to ease, no matter how many times I told myself to breathe. My hands went through the motions of my assigned tasks automatically, carrying baskets, delivering messages, cleaning tools that barely needed cleaning. My body worked, but my mind was elsewhere, stretched thin and frantic.I couldn’t reach my brother.Every chance I got, I tried to move closer to the holding wing, even if it meant taking a longer route or inventing an errand that didn’t exist. Each time, a guard stopped me before I got anywhere near the corridor that led to the cells.“That area’s restricted,” one of them said flatly, blocking my path with his spear.“I just need a moment,” I replied, forcing calm into my voice. “I have a message.”“From who?”I hesitated for half a second too long.“Move along,” he said, already turning away.I tried again later with a different

Chapter 46- Runaway

Beatrice’s PovEverything had been timed down to the minute.I stood near the shelves in the records room, pretending to reorganize scrolls while my mind counted the seconds in the background. My heart beat steadily, not fast, not slow, the way it always did when I was on the edge of something dangerous. I had learned that panic wasted time, and time was the only thing I could not afford to lose today.By four o’clock, the guard rotation would begin.I knew the pattern by heart. Two guards would leave their posts near the service corridor to eat, and their replacements would arrive late, as they always did. That delay created a window. Five minutes, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. Five minutes where no one paid close attention to the back pantry doors that led into the East wing.That was all I needed.Once I opened those doors with the key I had altered, I would slip into the East wing and follow the servants’ passageways I had memorized over the past week. From the

Chapter 47- Faces Consequences

Beatrice’s PovI woke to the smell of antiseptic and crushed herbs.For a moment, I didn’t understand where I was. The ceiling above me was too white, too clean, etched with faint runes meant to stabilize magic and ward against infection. My body felt heavy, like it had been pressed flat and then slowly stitched back together. My throat was dry, and there was a dull ache spreading through my veins, deep and cold.Hospital.The realization settled in slowly, followed by a sharp spike of panic.I tried to sit up, but a hand pressed gently against my shoulder.“Easy,” a familiar voice said. “Don’t do that yet.”I turned my head and saw Judy standing beside the bed. Her usually lively face looked pale and strained, dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn’t slept. She held a bowl of water and a cloth, her fingers tight around the rim.“What… happened?” I asked hoarsely.Her lips pressed together before she answered. “You collapsed at the main gate. The guards found you and brought you h

Chapter 48- A King’s Despair

Beatrice’s PovThe days that followed blurred together in a quiet, colorless haze.I spent most of my time in the hospital wing, lying beneath white sheets that smelled faintly of herbs and boiled water. The healer came and went, checking my pulse, murmuring about recovery and strength, but her words slid past me without meaning. My body was healing, she said. My wolf would recover fully with time.None of that mattered.My father was dead. My brother was still imprisoned. The weight of those truths pressed down on my chest until even breathing felt like effort. I stared at the ceiling for hours, tracing the faint cracks in the stone, wondering how everything had gone so wrong so quickly.Food arrived regularly, placed neatly on the small table beside my bed. I barely touched it.Judy noticed immediately.“You can’t keep doing this,” she said one morning, standing with her hands on her hips as she surveyed the untouched tray. “You’ll waste away if you don’t eat.”“I’m not hungry,” I r

Chapter 49- Didn’t Expect to See You Here

Beatrice’s PovCedrick's hand rested at my lower back, firm and steady, as if letting go wasn't something he was willing to consider. The room was quiet except for the rustle of fabric and the distant crackle of a fire I hadn't noticed before."I will never love you," I said.The words came out before I'd planned them, steady and unpolished and true. I lifted my chin and held his gaze. "You can own my body if that's what you think you've bought. But my heart is mine. It will always be mine."Something moved across his face. Quick, dark, gone before I could name it.He kissed me.Not gentle. Not asking. His mouth pressed mine open and his hand tightened at the back of my neck, and the kiss felt less like desire and more like an argument he intended to win. I gasped against him, my hands flat against his chest, not pushing but not giving either."No one escapes me," he said against my mouth. "Not you."I wanted to throw something sharp back at him. Instead, my breath caught and my thoug

Chapter 50- You’re Bold

Beatrice’s PovCedrick did not raise his voice when he ordered me to fetch his arrows, which somehow made the command worse.“Bring them,” he said, standing near the archery line with his bow already strung. His posture was relaxed, almost casual, as if this were nothing more than an ordinary afternoon instruction.I hesitated for half a breath before moving. The quiver lay a few steps behind him, neatly arranged on a wooden stand. I bent to pick it up, feeling the familiar prickle of resentment crawl up my spine as I straightened and carried it over.He took the arrows without a word and nocked one smoothly. The bow curved as he pulled back, muscles in his arm tightening in controlled precision. The arrow flew cleanly, striking the center of the target with a solid thud.Again.And again.Each shot was perfect, as if the distance, the wind, and the world itself bent to his will. I stood there holding the quiver, watching despite myself.When he finished his round, I reached out. “The

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