Chapter fifteen: Feelings

Valerian Pov:

I stared at my mate as her eyes snapped back to mine, those large blue irises widening in realization. Her lips were still slightly parted, every intake of her was breath shallow. The haze lifted from her eyes like a switch had flipped..

The human man she’d been looking at wisely turned away, pretending he hadn’t been seconds away from walking over.

Good.

"You should eat faster" my voice came out grunt, the words leaving my mouth like venom.

She blinked, then looked down at her half-finished plate, as if she’d only just remembered she was sitting in a cafe.

I wanted nothing more than to take her away from this place and from the eyes that were still lingering on her, take her away before I lost control,

She may have reined in her allure, but I could still smell it.

Waves of it clung to the air, curling around my senses, making my breath stutter with each breath.

It was like I’d been drugged with aphrodite

I remembered the first time I saw her

I was in the forest, tracking the undead near the Lycan border, Ryan reported to me that there was a lycan engaged in a fight with some undead and I sent Rafael to retrieve her but he lost control.

I felt a pull before I saw her, a slight tugh in my chest and then when I saw her through the darkness

....I couldn't breathe

Couldn't think

I didn't know what I was thinking when I attacked Rafael, it'll be far fetched to assume that I was even thinking, I moved without hesitation the moment he moved toward her marking her as his prey

When she collapsed, unconscious, beneath me, and when I held her in my arms

The world fell silent.it was like all the air was sucked dry and I couldn't breath, as my eyes took in the most beautiful creature I've ever laid my eyes on,

My breathing contracted, she was curled in my arms, so small, dirt on her skin, her hair tangled across her face.

But none of it mattered.

she was the most beautiful creature I've ever seen

I gave her my blood to speed up her healing. Her scent was thick, overwhelming. Tempting.

I wanted a taste.

But I marked her instead.

My fangs pierced her neck before I realized what I was doing.

And when the mark began to bloom across her skin, I didn’t stop it. a feeling bloomed deep within me

She was mine.

Mine to claim.

Mine to keep.

Mine.

I stared at her face, entranced, unable to look away. And then it clicked—I’d seen her before, a picture of the Hale family flashed across my mind, a family photo for their business website in the human territory, there was a controversy on who his daughter was as they've never seen her only a picture

Of course.

Of fucking course.

Rival packs. Rival empires. I Wonder what my father would have to say about this

_And then

i remembered how I froze and my body filled with apprehension when she got bitten by the vampire in my place, how I watched life slip from her eyes and pure agony suffocated her, it was a feeling I never want to fill again

I kept the vampire that bit her alive, locked in the dungeon where i would torture him slowly till he begs to be destroyed

__

Her hand trembled slightly as she picked up her fork again, but the hunger that had been all-consuming moments ago was gone.

She pushed her plate away.

I stood. “Let’s go.”

Outside, the air was sharp, cooler than before. She walked beside me in silence.

That scent—hers—still lingered. Sweet and stormy. Like spring rain over fire. And under it, her blood called to mine with maddening persistence.

She slid into the passenger seat without a word. I started the engine.

Halfway back, she finally spoke.

“So... what happened in the cave?” Her voice was soft, but steady.

I didn’t look at her. “You almost died.” I say recoiling from the word

“Yeah. Figured that much.”

Silence stretched. before she talked again

“You bit me.” he voice was laced with accusations

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. “I did.”

She shifted in her seat, pulling her knees up and hugging them. “Did I ask you to do it? to help me”

“Yes.”

Another beat of silence.

“Would you have done it even if I hadn’t?”

Yes.

I didn’t answer. I didn’t have to, the truth hung in the air I would definitely, without her asking.

Her eyes moved to the window, but I knew she was still thinking—processing. I let her. I wasn’t interested in easing her confusion. She needed to feel it. To live in acceptance of what we now shared.

“You’re angry,” she said quietly

Smart girl.

“Yes.”

A pause. Then: “At me?”

I glanced at her. “You nearly died because you couldn’t follow simple instructions.”

Her scowl was immediate. “I wasn’t trying to be reckless.”

“And yet, you were.” My voice sharpened. “jumping in front of a vampire and getting injected with venom, a deadly poison to your kind wasn't trying to be reckless ”

“I didn’t think—”

“No, you didn’t.”

Her jaw clenched, shoulders stiffening. “Her jaw clenched. Shoulders stiffened. “You’re the one who mated me, bounding me to you.”

“Not me. you'll have to bring that up with your goddess” and she sent a glare my way

I exhaled slowly, forcing my hands to relax. “Next time, think. Because I won’t save you again.”

A lie.

Because there wouldn’t be a next time.

And if there was—I’d save her again. Every damn time, without thinking twice

Her breath hitched. But she didn’t argue.

We pulled up to the safe house hidden among the trees.

She stepped out without a word, disappearing inside before I even shut off the engine.

I let her go.

She needed space.

Because if I followed her now—I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off her.

Yes, I was angry.

At her recklessness.

At her disregard for her own life.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

she had looked at another man and releasing her allure

Fuck it.

Maybe I should go after her and ensure she comprehends that there's no backing out of this

That I belong to her-