All Chapters of Bound To My Protector Mate: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

The sanctuary was silent, yet it echoed with Selene’s absence. The walls that once protected us were nothing more than scorched rubble, remnants of her power lingering in the air like a ghost refusing to leave. The faint scent of burnt stone and charred wood clawed at my senses, but it was nothing compared to the emptiness that hollowed out my chest.We stood there for a moment, unable to move, as if we were waiting for her to step out of the ashes, to tell us it was all some cruel illusion. But she didn’t. She wouldn’t.I stumbled forward, my legs unsteady beneath me. The place where Selene had unleashed her final spell still glowed faintly, the magic burning like embers. I knelt there, the heat of it biting against my skin, but I didn’t care.“She’s gone,” I whispered, the words tasting foreign and wrong in my mouth.Rigel loomed behind me, his silence as heavy as the world itself. He didn’t offer comfort, didn’t say a word, because what was there to say? His grief, though masked in

The cathedral was a mausoleum of unease, the air filled with whispers of things unsaid. Sleep had been fleeting, fractured by the endless echo of Selene’s sacrifice and the turmoil left in its wake. Even the faint, golden light of dawn filtering through the broken stained-glass windows brought no comfort.Rigel stood near the altar, his eyes scanning the empty space beyond the cathedral’s doors like a sentinel guarding against an inevitable storm. Adrian had disappeared into the shadows again, restless as ever. I sat alone near the pews, trying to make sense of it all.My mark had been quiet since last night, but it felt like the calm before the storm. I traced the faint glow beneath my shirt absentmindedly, trying to ignore the way Rigel’s sharp gaze flicked toward me every few minutes, as if I might shatter in his absence.The sound came suddenly—a soft, melodic laugh that didn’t belong here.Rigel moved in an instant, his blade drawn and ready before I’d even registered the noise.

The silence in the cathedral was fragile, the kind that seemed to crackle with unspoken words and barely contained emotions. I sat by the dwindling fire, my thoughts tangled in the web Lyra had spun for me. The others were scattered across the space, pretending to rest, but I could feel the tension in the air. None of us were really okay, not after everything we’d lost.Rigel—my protector—was leaning against the far wall, his gaze locked on me. There was something different about the way he looked tonight, like he was battling a storm inside himself.“Daniel,” he said finally, his voice breaking the uneasy quiet.I looked up, startled by the softness in his tone. He rarely spoke like this, and when he did, it usually meant something important.“Come here,” he said, nodding toward the corner where the shadows swallowed most of the light.I hesitated but rose to my feet, walking over to him. He stepped aside, giving me space to sit against the wall. His eyes didn’t leave mine as he crou

The silence after Lyra’s departure was suffocating, heavy with all the things left unsaid. The book she had handed me rested on my lap, its weight feeling like a thousand bricks pressing into my chest. I couldn’t look at Rigel—not yet.“You have something to say?” I finally asked, my voice trembling despite how hard I tried to steady it.Rigel’s eyes, those piercing eyes that once made me feel safe, now only held shadows. “Daniel, don’t do this,” he said, his tone low, almost pleading.“Don’t what, Rigel?” I snapped, my fingers curling tightly around the edge of the book. “Don’t ask why the bond you swore was for my protection benefits you more than me? Don’t ask why you never told me the truth?”His jaw tightened. “It’s not like that—”“Then explain it to me,” I interrupted, my voice rising. “Explain why you’ve been lying to me!”“I never lied,” Rigel said sharply, stepping closer. “I just didn’t think you needed to know everything. The bond… yes, it strengthens me, but that doesn’t

The coldness of the rogue leader’s lair was nothing like I imagined. It wasn’t dark or damp—it was elegant in a way that unsettled me, like a trap laid with silk and gold. Candles flickered along stone walls carved with symbols I couldn’t understand, and the air carried a scent I couldn’t place—sharp, sweet, and wrong all at once.He stood in the center of the room, calm and collected, like he’d been waiting for this moment his whole life. His eyes glinted as I stepped closer, the faint hum of my mark thrumming painfully against my chest.“You’re braver than I gave you credit for,” he said, his voice smooth and deliberate, each word wrapping around me like a vice. “Coming here, alone… That takes a certain kind of desperation.”I didn’t answer right away, forcing myself to hold his gaze. It was harder than I expected. “If you’ve got something to say, just say it.”A smile spread across his face—sharp, calculating. “Straight to the point. I like that.” He motioned toward a chair, but I