The city hummed around them, its neon lights reflecting in the puddles left behind by the rain. The streets were nearly empty at this hour, silent except for the distant echo of a siren.
Selene walked beside Kieran, every step heavy with the weight of what had just happened.
She should have felt relief.
Damien was dead. The bond was gone.
So why did it feel like something even darker had taken its place?
Kieran had barely let go of her wrist since they left the stronghold. His grip wasn't forceful, but it wasn't gentle either. It was possessive, a silent declaration that she belonged to him now.
A shiver ran down her spine.
"Where are we going?" she asked finally, her voice barely above a whisper.
Kieran didn't answer right away. His eyes were locked ahead, sharp and unreadable.
"Somewhere safe," he finally said.
Safe.
The word felt like a lie.
—
Kieran felt Selene's hesitation in every step she took.
She was waiting for him to loosen his hold.
To tell her she was free.
But she wasn't.
Not from him.
He had spent too many years living in the shadow of what was stolen from him. Too many nights picturing her with him, suffering under Damien's control while Kieran had been powerless to stop it.
But now, nothing stood between them.
No bond. No law. No blood oath.
Just them.
Selene didn't understand it yet, but she would.
Because this time, he wasn't going to walk away.
No matter what it took—
She would be his.
—
Selene's mind raced.
She needed time. Space. A moment to breathe without Kieran's presence overwhelming her senses.
But the way he moved, the way he watched her, made it impossible.
This wasn't the same Kieran she had known before.
The man standing beside her was darker. More intense.
More dangerous.
And the worst part?
A small, traitorous part of her wasn't entirely afraid.
She hated that.
Hated the way her body still responded to him, how even now, after everything, she felt a pull she couldn't explain.
"You don't have to do this," she said suddenly, stopping in the middle of the street.
Kieran turned to face her, his expression unreadable. "Do what?"
"Act like you own me."
His eyes darkened, a flicker of something dangerous passing through them.
"I don't act, Selene," he murmured. "I just take what's mine."
Her breath caught.
She should have run then. Should have turned and left before it was too late.
But she didn't.
Because deep down, she knew the truth.
She had already fallen too far.
And there was no escaping Kieran Draven now.