Cut from Chapter 8 - Too Dark
Why it was deleted: This scene made Rian too unsympathetic. His breakdown was too violent and scared readers in early beta reads. It was replaced with a more controlled version showing vulnerability without aggression.
Rian's POV
Luca tried to escape again. Third time this week.
I find him at the border, collapsed from bond pain.
And something in me snaps.
"WHY?!" I roar, grabbing him roughly. "Why do you keep doing this?!"
"Let go—"
"ANSWER ME!" I shake him. "Why do you keep trying to leave when you KNOW it hurts you?!"
"Because I'd rather die than stay with you!"
The words break something in me. I throw him down—not hard enough to really hurt, but forcefully.
"You'd rather DIE?" I'm shaking with rage and pain. "You'd rather SUFFER than be with me?"
"Yes!" He's crying now. "You took everything from me! My choice, my freedom, my LIFE! So yes, I'd rather die!"
I shift partially—claws extending, eyes amber, wolf surfacing.
"Then maybe I should MAKE you stay! Chain you up! Remove any possibility of escape!" I'm not thinking. Just hurting. "Would that be easier? No choice at all? Just complete captivity?"
Terror fills his eyes. "Rian—"
"That's what you think I am anyway, right? A MONSTER? So maybe I should ACT like one!"
I grab chains from the storage room. Actually start advancing on him with them.
Luca scrambles backward, terrified. "Please don't—"
Damon bursts in. "RIAN, STOP!"
He tackles me. We crash into the wall.
"What are you DOING?" Damon snarls. "You're terrifying him!"
I look at Luca—pressed against the wall, shaking, eyes full of absolute terror.
And I realize what I almost did.
"Oh god," I breathe. "Luca, I—"
But he's already gone. Fled to his room. I hear the lock click.
"You almost lost him completely," Damon says quietly. "You almost became the monster he thinks you are."
He's right. I came so close.
I collapse, head in my hands. "What's wrong with me?"
"You're desperate. Hurt. Acting out." Damon sits beside me. "But Rian—you can't force love. You can't terrorize him into staying. That's not love. That's abuse."
"I know." I'm crying now. "I know. But I don't know how to fix this. How to make him see—"
"You start by apologizing. Really apologizing. And never, EVER threatening him again."
He's right. I know he's right.
But the damage is done. Luca saw the monster. And I don't know if he'll ever unsee it.
[This scene was cut and replaced with Rian breaking down alone, showing vulnerability without aggression toward Luca. The chains were removed entirely as they crossed into territory that made the romance irredeemable for readers.]