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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Bloodbound To The Alpha Beast: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

48 Kabanata

Chapter 31

VAELHe thought I did not see him.The way he slipped from the hall, his steps quick and careful, as if shadows could hide him from me. Foolish. I let him go, curious where he would run now that the chains no longer marked his skin.Through stone corridors, past guards who bowed instead of blocking his path. They had seen him beside me, walking free. That was enough to keep their silence for now.I followed, slow, silent, watching the rigid line of his back. He carried himself like a prince even in flight, proud spine, proud jaw, though I knew what I had left burning in him.The air changed at the end of the passage. Warmer. Living. He slipped through the archway, and I stepped after him into green.The garden spread out beneath open sky, gold light spilling over leaves and fountains, the scent of soil and bloom cutting through the winter chill. He stopped short.And for a moment, he was still. His face tilted up, caught in that light, lashes shadowing his eyes, lips parted in somethi

Chapter 32

AURELIAN“Must I go?” The words broke from me before I could choke them down, ground out between clenched teeth. “I would rather be chained in your chambers and wait for you to return.”The instant the admission left my mouth, I regretted it. His eyes cut to me, gleaming with cruel amusement, and the look alone made my stomach twist.Vael leaned down, his shadow spilling over me, heavy as his presence always was. “Is that so?” His voice was low and mocking. “You would rather lie bent over my bed, sore and dripping, waiting to be used again?”Heat climbed the back of my neck. I turned my face aside, jaw tight, every nerve in me shrieking not to give him the satisfaction. “You know what I meant.”He chuckled, a sound rasping and dark, the kind that told me he remembered every flinch, every bruise he had carved into me. “I do. And I know why you’d rather remain behind. Your body still aches, doesn’t it?” His hand drifted to my side, grazing my hip as if to remind me what he already owned

Chapter 33

AURELIAN The gates swallowed us at last. Stone walls, banners, the familiar press of shadowed corridors—I should have been relieved. My body ached from the ride, raw in places I did not wish to name, but I was glad to be back behind walls. Glad, though I would never admit it aloud. I had half a mind to crawl to the bed, collapse, and not rise for three days. But when I turned down the passage toward Vael’s chamber, his hand clamped around my wrist. “You reek of horse,” he said, and his mouth curved in that damned way that promised trouble. “We bathe.” “I like the smell of horse,” I muttered, twisting but his grip only tightened. “Do you?” His grin deepened, “Then I shall see how long you like it when I drown you in it.” Before I could tear free, he was already dragging me through the side passage, past the servants who startled at our approach. The great bathing room had been readied—the marble pool brimming with steaming water, candles burning low, towels laid neatly aside. The

Chapter 34

VAELMorning crept slow across the chamber, pale light pooling through the latticework and spilling over the bed where Aurelian slept. The fire had burned low, leaving the air heavy with the scent of smoke and the faint musk of spent desire.He lay tangled in the furs, bare as sin, one arm flung over the sheets, his breath slow and even. The bruises on his hips had darkened overnight; the marks of my mouth still gleamed faintly on his chest. I should have risen long before—the kingdom waits for no man, not even its king—but I did not move.There was something in the stillness that held me. His lashes trembled faintly against his cheek, his lips parted in a quiet sigh. The sight of him stirred my cock but it wasn’t only lust—it stirred the ache that had begun to root in me, slow and deep as frost.I reached out, brushed a stray lock of his now long hair from his brow. He did not wake. A smile rose before I could stop it, small and foolish. I almost laughed at myself. You are losing you

Chapter 35

AURELIANThree days had passed since that night in his chamber—the night Vael made me sit in his lap and read aloud like some favored pet.It should have humiliated me. Gods, it did. Yet when I thought of his eyes fixed on me, the weight of his hand at my waist, the quiet hum he made when my voice caught on a line of poetry… the shame twisted into something else. Something warmer.Every night after, he’d asked for the same. Sometimes he’d listen in silence, sometimes he’d interrupt with some cutting remark that made me glare at him. But he always watched me. As if every word that left my mouth belonged to him.And I—fool that I am—had begun to enjoy it.But tonight, the chambers were empty. The hearth still burned low, his scent still lingered, but the space was hollow without him. I sat by the window until the weight of it pressed too deep into my chest. Then I stood, pulled the cloak on my shoulders, and left.He had twisted his own promise, of course—You asked to be able to move ab

Chapter 36

VAELIt had been a week since the garden— a week since I’d last felt Aurelian tremble against me, his breath catching on my name as though it hurt to speak it.Winter still clung to the mountains, but inside the palace, the air had begun to change. The chill that had lived in the walls for months was softening, carrying the faint scent of warmth and life. Perhaps it was the season turning. Or perhaps it was him.Aurelian had changed.He smiled sometimes—small, unguarded things that slipped through before he could stop them. He didn’t flinch when I touched him anymore. When I made him read aloud in the evenings, his voice no longer held the edge of defiance; it had grown calm, focused, though his mouth often twitched when I interrupted. He’d scowl, mutter under his breath, and yet my laughter always drew the faintest curve from his lips.He would never admit it, but he had grown comfortable in my presence. Too comfortable. Dangerous comfort. Addictive.The court whispered, of course. T

Chapter 37

AURELIANIt had been a week since I last let him touch me.A week since I’d laughed at something he said—Gods, what was it?—something about the way I read aloud too formally. I’d been sitting on his lap then, a book open across my thighs, his chin resting on my shoulder. His breath had warmed my neck as he murmured corrections, his fingers idly tracing the ink stains on my wrists. I remember how still he’d gone when I laughed. Like he was afraid to breathe, afraid it would break whatever fragile peace had bloomed between us.Now, that peace was gone.The silence between us had teeth.Vael still tried—at first. He’d bring me food himself, some fine cut of meat or spiced broth, and sit across from me while I stared past the tray, past him, into nothing. When I didn’t touch it, he’d push the plate closer, his voice quiet and patient.“Eat, Aurelian.”I didn’t answer.The second day, he brought books instead. Old ones, their edges softened by centuries of hands. “You used to read to me,”

Chapter 38

AURELIANHe didn’t move when I spoke.Not when the silence clawed through the room and the fire cracked loud enough to sound like it was mocking me. He stood there — tall, unreadable, the shadow of him thrown against the wall like a specter that couldn’t decide whether to touch or vanish.“Unless you want your guards to see me like this,” I said. My voice sounded steady, but the tremor beneath it felt like glass. “They’d like that, wouldn’t they? Their king’s pet spread out for the night.”Something flickered in his eyes. A brief, ruinous thing. He closed the door, slow and deliberate, his hand clenched tight on the latch as if letting go might undo him entirely. But he did not come closer.I should have covered myself. I didn’t. Let him look. Let him see what his mercy had turned me into. Maybe I wanted him to break, to hurt the way I di— to lose that cold restraint and finally look at me like I could still wound him.So I sat up. Let the sheets fall from my hips. Let the firelight c

Chapter 39

AURELIANThe night was too quiet.The fire had burned down to embers, the air heavy with smoke and warmth. Vael slept behind me, his breath slow and deep against the back of my neck. His arm rested around my waist, heavy as iron and steady as a vow. I could feel the rise and fall of his chest, the solid weight of him pressed against my spine. The scent of him clung to my skin—ash, sweat, and something darker that I could never name.For a long time, I didn’t move. I watched the faint orange light flicker against the ceiling, the glow softening the cruel edges of his chambers. My body ached in places I didn’t want to remember. My chest felt hollow. I told myself it was only exhaustion. But even as I breathed him in, a part of me whispered what I already knew.I have to go.Before dawn. Before he wakes.I turned carefully in his hold. His arm tightened once, as if his body already knew I was leaving. But he did not wake. His face was calm, softened by sleep. For a moment, I hated that p

Chapter 40

VAELThe moment the sword left my hand, the world stopped breathing.Aurelian collapsed.The scream that tore from him wasn’t mortal — it was something else, something that felt like the earth itself had tried to forget. His body arched, limbs twisting as shadows gathered around him, the air trembling with a pulse that made the torches flicker and the marble tremble.Elias’s laughter died in his throat.And then Aurelian’s eyes opened.They were black. Not the absence of light — but a living darkness that moved and breathed, that stared through me and did not see me.I couldn’t feel him.The bond, the faint hum that had always been there, no matter how far he ran — was gone. It was as if someone had torn the sun from the sky and left me blind.“Aurelian,” I breathed. “Look at me.”He did.But whatever looked back wasn’t mine.Aurelian,” I whispered again, though my throat ached around his name..Elias’s hand closed around my arm. “Don’t touch him.”I turned on him, a growl clawing thr

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