As Evander rode into the citadel everyone eyes were at them , the maids and the guards at the pack gossiped.
"Does she know what's she's getting herself into?, a girl in her twenties asked whispering to an elderly woman beside her.
"Heard she was sold, poor thing doesn't know what's she's up to" the woman whispered lowly trying to hide her face from the alpha gaze.
Ember shivers from their words , she had expected worst but she was confused; Evander actions and what the people were saying wasn't adding up and this made her skin crawl , however Evander grip was tight that she couldn't a inch of her body ,it felt like he was trying to live in her skin.
Few minutes later
EMBER POV
He didn't take me to a dungeon. He took me to a room that smelled of cedar, old paper, and a loneliness so deep it felt woven into the stone walls.
Evander set me down on the edge of a massive, fur-covered bed. The moment his hands left my waist, a cold shiver raced down my spine. It wasn't just the air; it was the link. I could feel his sudden emptiness—like his skin missed mine, like he was losing a limb.
He stepped back, his chest heaving under his armor. He looked at me, and for a second, the "Shadow King" was gone. He just looked like a man who had been drowning for a very long time.
"There is water in the basin," he said, his voice rough. He wouldn't look me in the eye. "And clean clothes in the wardrobe. My mother's… they haven't been touched in years."
He turned to leave, but he stumbled. His hand caught the edge of a heavy oak table, knuckles whitening as he fought to stay upright.
I should have stayed on the bed. I should have let him suffer. He was the man who had bought me. He was the monster. But the pain coming through the link was a physical pressure in my skull—a jagged, weeping agony that begged for relief.
I stood up, my legs trembling, and walked toward him.
"Stop," I whispered.
I reached out and placed my hand over his on the table.
The contact was electric. The gold light of the Mark on my forehead flared, casting a warm glow over the dark room. I felt his pain rush into me—the bitterness of his brothers' words, the coldness of his father's ghost, the crushing weight of being a King no one wanted to see live.
Evander gasped, his head dropping. He didn't pull away. Instead, he turned his hand over and laced his fingers through mine. His palm was hot, calloused, and shaking.
"Why are you doing this?" he choked. "I took you from your home. I put you in a cage."
"My home was a cage," I said, my voice steady for the first time. "And your family… they're just like mine. They look at you and see a mistake."
I stepped closer, feeling the heat radiate off his body. I reached up with my free hand, hesitating before touching the side of his face. His skin was rough, stubbled, but as my fingers brushed his temple, the black veins beneath his skin began to fade.
He leaned into my touch, a low, broken sound escaping his throat. It wasn't a growl this time. It was a sigh.
He opened his eyes—they were silver again, clear and piercing. He looked at me as if I was the first beautiful thing he'd seen in a lifetime of shadows.
"Ember," he whispered.
He didn't move fast. He moved like he was afraid I'd vanish if he breathed too hard. He reached out and tucked a loose, muddy strand of hair behind my ear, his touch surprisingly gentle.
"I've spent my whole life being a weapon for people who hated me," he said, voice low, almost a confession. "I thought I was going to die in the dark, screaming. But then I found you."
He leaned down, his forehead resting against mine. We stood in the silence, two broken things clinging to each other in a house full of ghosts. For a heartbeat, the "Shadow King" and the "Bastard" didn't exist. There was only the warmth of his breath and the way my heart beat in time with his.
"Don't hate me," he whispered against my skin. "Please. I don't need another enemy. I already have too many in my own blood."
I looked up into his silver eyes, and for the first time, I didn't want to run.
I wanted to see what happened if I stayed.