Chapter 65
Alaric’s POV
@
@
She was gone and I had let her. The thought knowing she would have gone far by now did some uncontrollable things to my chest.
The silence in her chambers felt wrong, too still, too cold. Like she’d never been here at all. But I knew better. I could still smell her something soft, wild, like crushed rose petals and smoke.
Her cloak was missing. Her boots too. The damn mare she insisted hated her was gone.
I stared at the neatly made bed. Tucked, folded, untouched.
The maid had done it.
Because she wasn’t coming back anytime soon.
I clenched my jaw, fingers twitching at my side.
I hadn’t meant to sleep in. I hadn’t meant to miss her leaving. I’d just wanted one moment of quiet, one breath to figure out what the hell I was doing.
She hadn’t even said goodbye. I must have hurt her so much that she didn’t come to check on me.
Why should I even expect anything from her? How as I? Just a broken soul.
D
+15
I turned sharply, pacing the room once before stopping in front of her mirror. My reflection looked exactly how I felt–like I’d made a mistake I couldn’t take back.
The door burst open.
Mira.
She looked livid, hair wild, smoke curling from her fingertips as if the emotions couldn’t be contained inside her body anymore.
“She’s gone?” she snapped.
I didn’t answer.
She stormed into the room like a force of nature. “You let her leave? Alone? With Amira?”
“She wasn’t alone,” I muttered.
She let out a short, cold laugh. “Oh, so that’s your defense? That a few guards and traitor make it all better?”
I turned to her, eyes narrowing. “I didn’t let her leave. It was part of the plan.”
“No, Alanc, Mira snapped, stepping forward until we were toe to toe. “You planned the war. The strategy. The alliances. You didn’t plan this. You pushed her away. You’ve been pushing her since the godsdamned petal.”
I looked away.
Because the wasn’t wrong.
“You didn’t even say goodbye,” she hissed
“I was going to
“Too late the bit out
The door created again.
Knox
Of course
He leaned against the frame, arms crossed. His expression unreadable–like always—but I knew him too well.
1/3
5:06 PM
Chapter 65
He was pissed.
“She looked back,” he said simply.
I blinked.
“What?”
Knox stepped inside, his boots heavy against the stone floor. “When she left. She turned back once. Looked at the ramparts.”
My chest tightened.
“She was looking for you.”
Mira folded her arms, fuming beside him. “But the great beast king couldn’t even be bothered to show up.”
“Enough.”
“No, not enough,” Mira snapped. “Because we’re all going to turn to stone when that last petal falls, and you’re still acting like she’s just another pawn. You aren’t doing anything to make her
growled, low in my throat.
“I sent her with guards. With orders. With strategy.”
“She didn’t need your soldiers, Alaric,” Knox said. “She needed you.”
And there it was.
The truth I didn’t want to say out loud.
I stared at the window, my hand curling into a fist.
Because I’d stood in this same spot last night. Wondering if I should knock. If I should tell her everything–about the petals, the curse, the price of love.
Bu! I hadn’t.
And now she was gone.
Knox’s voice was quieter this time. “Do you still hear her?”
I didn’t answer.
Because yes—I did. Like an echo, faint and unrelenting, her voice haunted me, I could still feel the brush of her hand, the way she looked at me last night, tired, betrayed, but still… hopeful.
It made me sick.
J
Not because i didn’t want her hope.
But because I didn’t deserve it.
I turned sharply and stormed down the corridor, ignoring Knox and Mira’s voices calling after me,
My boots slammed into the stone as I made my way through the twisting halls until I reached the hidden chamber–cold and silent, lit by only a single flickering flame,
The glass case still stood in the center.
And the petal–glowing faintly–sar like a cruel joke within
I hated it
Thated it with every ounce of my being
My hand curled into fists at my sides as I stalked closer.
2/3
5:06 PM
Chapter 65
“You mock me,” I snarled. “Every damn day.”
The petal didn’t respond, of course.
It just glowed.
Mocking me.
Mocking what I’d become.
I reached for it–clawed fingers trembling as they hovered above the case. Just one strike. One blow. And it would be over. The curse. The suffering. The waiting. I would be free from this hell.
But-
My hand stopped.
Because I remembered.
The curse wasn’t just mine to bear.
If the last petal falls, and love does not save him… the curse shall consume not just the beast, but all who dwell within the walls of his kingdom.
Everyone.
Every single soul under my roof would die.
And it would be my fault.
I yanked my hand back and roared. A furious, guttural sound that shook the chamber. I slammed my fist into the wall beside the glass, stone shattering beneath my strength. My body trembled with rage–rage at myself, at the witches, at the gods who allowed this.
At her.
For leaving without letting me fix it.
I should go after her.
No–I would go after her.
I spun around and charged up the steps, past the wide halls, out into the castle courtyard. The guards barely had time to react before I reached the gates, my cloak whipping behind me like a phantom shadow.
The sun wasn’t yet high.
It would be risky,
Dangerous.
I didn’t care.
I growled as my bones shifted, my spine curving violently. My skin tore, fur erupting across my limbs. Pain lanced through my chest and ribs, but I embraced it.
This was who I was
The beast.
I dropped to all fours, the last of the shift ripping through me with a crack of bone and a howl that split the skies.
Then I ran.
Faster than wind. Faster than thought.
The forest blurred past me.
Trees bend out of my path.
3/3
5:06 PM
Chapter 65
And through it all-
I sniffed.
Liana.
Her scent was faint, tangled with horse and dust, but it was there.
My beast growled.
Mine.
She was mine.
And I was going to at least say goodbye.
The wind tore through the forest as I ran, each step sending tremors through the ground. The trees gave way like shadows parting before a storm. Her scent burned through me–rosewood, smoke, and something new. Something different.
Fear.
Not her fear.
Sorneone else’s.
I followed it, muscles tensing as the smell grew stronger, louder, clearer. I didn’t slow. Couldn’t. Wouldn’t.
I crested a hill, paws grinding into the loose rock, breath heaving. And then-
There she was.
Liana.
Her figure was small from this distance, wrapped in her cloak, auburn strands of hair caught in the breeze. Her horse moved beneath her, pacing nervously. She was with Amira and the others–riding along the curved path that would take them straight into rebel territory.
But none of that mattered.
Because she was leaving.
Leaving me.
A sound ripped from my throat–half snarl, half howl. A sound no creature should’ve made. It echoed through the trees, loud and primal, and I saw her head snap up.
She looked right at me.
Our eyes met.
And her own widened
She knew.
Even from a distance–she knew it was me.
I didn’t wait.
With a powerful Taunch, I dove from the hill, the ground cracking behind me as I plummeted down in a blur of dark fur and claws.
Clasps
A scream.
Amira jerked her reina, panicked. One of the guards reached for a blade.
And then-
4/5
5:07 PM ·
Chapter 65
I landed.
Right in front of them.
C
Dust and wind swirled from the force of impact, my claws digging into the dirt.
The horses reared. One bolted. Liana’s mare began to shift restlessly beneath her. But I growled low–once–and she froze.
Good girl.
Amira’s face had gone ghostly pale, her mouth parted in horror.
But I didn’t look at her.
I only saw Liana.
Her mouth trembled. Her hands shook on the reins. She didn’t speak. She didn’t move.
I took a step forward.
Then another.
My beast form towered above them all. Muscles rippling, fur slick with sweat, claws half–sunk into the earth.
Still, she didn’t run.
Didn’t scream.
Her heart was racing–I could hear it—but she didn’t move away.
She trusted me.
And gods, it made my chest ache.
I closed my eyes.
The transformation back tore through me–hot, violent, always too slow. My spine cracked. My arms burned. My lungs twisted. My body shrank, reshaped, tore itself back togeth
er piece by piece.
When I stood again–naked, blood smeared across my mouth and chest she was still there.
Still watching me.
The guards didn’t dare approach.
Neither did Amira.
I breathed hard. My legs shook. My voice was ragged, low.
And I said the only word that mattered.
“Liana”
AD
