12: Rage and desire

Rune’s POV

Night after night, I found myself pacing my room, the weight of my own thoughts pressing down on me like a suffocating shroud. Alora, so close yet maddeningly out of reach, haunted my every waking moment.

The knowledge that she was in the dungeon, just beneath my feet, filled me with a twisted mix of rage and longing. I wanted to storm down there, drag her out of that cell, and fuck her into submission until she begged for mercy, until she remembered who she belonged to.

But every time I considered it, another, darker part of me held back.

She needed to be punished. She needed to understand that her actions had consequences. How dare she think she could run away from me? Who gave her the right?

The very thought of her escaping my grasp, even for a moment, was intolerable. It was an affront, a blatant disrespect that I couldn’t ignore.

But the punishment had to come first. I couldn’t let her think she could defy me, leave whenever she pleased, and expect to be welcomed ba