Chapter 137: Chapter 137; You are bonded to him
Lucian’s POV
I brought my hand up, my fingers trembling as I slowly caressed the smooth line of her cheek. The warmth of her skin under my palm was the only thing keeping me grounded.
"Alina, I..." My voice broke, thick with the weight suffocating my chest. "I am so sorry. I... I didn’t mean for any of it to happen. I never meant to break your trust. Emily, she..."
"It’s okay, Lucian."
The words were soft, cutting through my frantic stuttering. I froze, staring down at her as hot tears finally welled in my eyes, blurring her beautiful face.
"I know you didn’t do anything," she whispered, her gaze steady and unyielding. "I know you would never break my trust. I know exactly how much you love me, Lucian. You don’t need to be scared."
I stared at her in absolute disbelief, my heart leaping into my throat. The breath hitched in my chest. "You... you forgive me?"
"Yes."
A ragged sob escaped my throat. I lunged forward, wrapping my arms tightly around her waist and burying my face into the crook of her neck. I held onto her like a drowning man clinging to a lifeline, squeezing her against me until there was no space left between us.
"Thank you so much," I choked out, the tears spilling over. "Thank you, Alina. I love you so much. I... I was so fucking terrified that I had lost you."
"You will never lose me," she murmured into my hair, her hands stroking my back in soothing circles. "We are bonded already."
The reminder of the bond sent a surge of pure adrenaline through my veins. I broke the hug just enough to cup her face in both of my hands, capturing her lips in a desperate, bruising kiss. I poured every ounce of my relief, my fear, and my devotion into her mouth.
"Fuck, I love you, Alina," I growled against her lips, kissing her again and again. "I love you so much."
A soft, melodic giggle broke from her chest, the sound warming the cold corners of the bedroom. She pressed her palms against my chest, gently pushing me back. "That’s enough, Lucian."
She looked toward the locked door, her expression turning serious. "You know you shouldn’t be here right now."
"I know," I admitted, my thumb tracing her lower lip. "I know, but I couldn’t rest. I was losing my godforsaken mind because you weren’t responding to any of my texts."
Alina offers a small, wry smile. "Oh. I blocked you."
The rejection, even a temporary one, made my chest ache. "Really?" I asked, my voice dropping into a broken, vulnerable tone.
"Yes," she said, her eyes flashing with a brief remnant of anger. "I was mad. I was furious because you allowed Emily to be on top of you like that."
"We didn’t do anything, Alina, I swear—"
"I know," she interrupted, soothing me before I could spiral into a panic again. "I know you didn’t. But I don’t want Emily to ever feel like she holds that kind of power over you again."
I let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through my hair in frustration. "I really don’t know why the fuck she can’t just leave me alone. What does she want from me?"
Alina looked up at me, a highly amused glint dancing in her eyes as her lips curved. "Lucian, look at yourself. You are incredibly handsome, strong.... Of course she wants you. And the fact that you completely reject her will only make a woman like Emily more restless." She shrugged, her tone light. "But don’t worry. She will give up on that very soon."
My inner wolf pricked his ears up, sensing the underlying shift in her scent. "How?"
"Emily only wants what she can’t have," Alina explained, her voice turning calculating. "When she sees that her so-called husband is slowly slipping away from her, she will suddenly want him back."
The air in my lungs turned to ice. The pieces clicked together in my mind, and my heart completely stopped. I gripped her hands tightly, my knuckles turning white. "Alina... please don’t let it be what I think it is. Are you saying you want to get close to Aiden?"
She didn’t blink. She simply gave a slow, deliberate nod.
"Please don’t do this, Alina," I begged, the raw desperation bleeding back into my voice. My grip on her hands tightened. "I... I will literally die if I have to watch that."
"No, Lucian. You don’t need to get jealous," she said softly, stepping closer to close the distance I had made. "You trust me, right?"
"I do trust you," I said, the words catching in my throat. "I trust you with my life. But... you also still have a bond with Aiden. A bond that should have been shattered the exact moment the two of you got a divorce. But it’s still there, Alina. It never broke. So I... I don’t know. I just..."
Alina reached up, cupping my jaw in her warm palms, forcing me to look directly into her eyes. "I love you, Lucian. And you know that. Just trust me on this, okay?"
I searched the depths of her gaze, looking for any sign of hesitation, but there was none. Slowly, reluctantly, I forced myself to nod.
A bright, beautiful smile broke across her face. She leaned up on her tiptoes, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to my lips. "You need to leave now," she whispered against my mouth. "I don’t want anyone catching you in my room."
Instead of moving away, I wrapped my arms around her one last time, devouring her lips in one final, desperate kiss before pulling myself away. I stepped backward toward the open ledge, threw one last look at her, and jumped out of the window into the dark courtyard below.
The moment my feet hit the dirt grass, the smile completely faded from my face.
A heavy, suffocating weight settled deep into my chest as I melted into the shadows of the estate. The thought of her intentionally drawing closer to Aiden rubbed against my wolf’s instincts like sandpaper. I could only close my eyes, clench my fists, and pray to the Moon Goddess that her heart would stay loyal to me through the storm she was about to unleash.
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