Chapter 69 When Madness Wears A Smile

FINN

The wind carried the bscent /bof pine as I stood in the second–floor corridor, by a cathedral–style window that stretched from floor to ceiling, bmy /beyes on the slender figure moving swiftly bthrough /bthe garden and slipping passed the outer Academy gales.

Soft rap

of boots echoed behind bme/bb. /bI didn’t turn.

Alpha Hugo’s scent hit me before his voice did–leather, power, and steel.

With a low growl, he tossed something at my feet. A crumpled envelope slid across bthe /bpolished floor and came to a stop by my boot.

The letter.

My letter.

“I am warning you,” his voice was rough, edged in anger, but quieter than I expected. “Don’t you dare threaten me like bthat /bagainb./b”

I didn’t look at him. Just kept my gaze locked on Seth’s silhouette vanishing into bthe /btrees.

“Thank you.” I said softly. “For changing your bmind/bb./b”

“Nothing has changed,” he snarled. “I have only given him a chance to prove his innocence by tomorrow which is impossible. He will meet his fate and everything is fixed. It’s just Seth Darven bthat /bwants to change something that is impossible. He paused, his voice colder now, “And you…”

I felt his eyes on the side of my face.

“You’re not the type to beg or bluff. Let alone threaten me with this letter when you admitted Killing Dante, just to save Seth.” he narrowed his eyes and asked, “Why the hell bare /byou acting this way for that boy?”

Silence fell between usb. /bI didn’t answerb. /b

A cold wind brushed passed me. My eyes dropped to my hands as Seth’s voice, shouting my bname /bwhen my mind was lost- when I was gone.

“Finnb:/bb” /b

It echoed in my mind.

It wasn’t strength

It wasn’t magic.

bIt /bwas bSeth’s /bvoice that had pierced through the madness. But his will. His fury. His belief bin /bme.

That sound it still echoed inside my bbones/b.

My hand rose to my check, I pressed bmy /bpalm there, grounding myself in that impossible warmth.

“I wonder that too,” I linally whispered.

Alpha Hugo stood in silence for a long moment behind me.

Then he left.

My mind went back to Seth’s impossible soft btouch /band the thin melodious voice that slipped from his lips under the pressure and light without him realizing.

I slowly opened my eyes bat /bwhat that evil thing whispered to me. It was too btalkative/b, “How much it spilled out..

SERAPHINA

11:52AM P

Chapter 69 When Madness Wears A Smile

“Time to strip.” he murmured, his voice low and deliberate–each word a deced in silk.

His smile made me breathless, almost more than bhis /bwords did.

Konan.

He bwasn’t /bsupposed to be here.

My thoughts spun, colliding into one another like shards of shattered ss.

+8 Pearls

Alpha Hugo had been clear, bevery /bAlpha bwas /bsent to a different forest. One Alpha per forest. That was the rule. That was the

system.

So how….how was he the only one here?

And then it hit me.

Like a thunderp.

Like a trap snapping bshut/b.

The fog in my bmind /bcleared with terrifying rity.

He had lied.

He’d nned this.

Ronan bhad /btold Alpha Hugo he’d witnessed Dante’s murder.

He had framed me.

Not because he truly believed I was guilty. Not because he bstood /bto gain anything from it.

But because he wanted this.

Me.

Alone

With him

In Thornfall Forest, where no one else would be watching.

A trap dressed as testimony.

My heart thundered violently, an erratic rhythm of rage band /bdisbelief. Heat surged beneath my skin like moltenva, boiling over band /bthreatening to erupt.

“You

Thussed, eyes burning, blood roaring in my ears bas /bI red at bhim/b. “How dare you by /bwith me?

I didn’t care bhow /bI looked–ugly, bfurious/b, wild, Let bhim /bbsee /bit.

bRonan’s /bsmile faded, his expression hardening into something bfar /bcolder.

“That’s what I basked /bmyself bcountless /bbtimes/b,” he said, his voice low and lethal. “How I let you y with me. Again and again. And still let byou /bgo.

His words were calm, but the darkness in his tone was suffocating

My fists clenched. “What the hell bare /byou talking about?!”

He didn’t inch He didn’t patise

“I let you break your promise I let you lie” His voice dropped further, velvetced with steel, 1 let you escape. I let you betray me

+8 Pearls

b11 /bb53 /bAM

Chapter 69 When Madness Wears A Smile

He stepped closer

His gaze blocked /bonto mine, and for one horrifying moment, I saw it all.

The memories. The btruth /bbehind his usations. The moments I bhad /bwalked away. The promises I’d left behind.

The fury I felt a heartbeat ago copsed into a tidal wave of bshame /band confusion.

“And thenb,/b” he murmured, dragging his gaze down my body. “I remembered why I let you do it.”

He paused. His stare scorched me with its intensity.

“I wanted to strip you.”

I froze, paralyzed by the heat in his gaze, by the authority in his stance.

His words weren

t just a threat.

They were a promise.

“Now strip, Seraphina,” he said again, voice like dark silk. “Or I’ll do it for you.”

My limbs went cold. The air shifted, heavy with his dominant aurab, /band I instinctively took a step back.

“Crazy,” I muttered under my breath, willing myself to stand my ground. “You’ve gone insane.”

I met his eyes, unflinching. “There is no way I’m ying this sick game of yours. bI’m /bleaving.”

I turned sharply, heart hammering in my chest as I marched away.

Every instinct screamed at me to run, to get out before it was toote.

But after barely ten steps, I collided with something.

Hardb. /b

Unseen.

Unmovable.

I staggered bback/bb, /bbpanic /bbrising /bin my throat.

“bWhat/b… bwhat /bis this?” I gasped, reaching out in confusion. My hands met nothing but bresistance/bb, /ban invisible wall.

I bcould /bsee the trees, the bpath /bI bhad /btaken to get here, the familiar forest behind me… but I couldn’t move forward.

“Let me go!” I shouted, mming my bhands /bagainst the unseen barrier. “Let me OUT!”

“You can’t,” came his voice–low, bnear/b, and far too bcalm/b.

I bfroze /bas warmth pressed bagainst /bmy back, a solid bchest /bbcaging /bme between the binvisible /bbwall /bband /bhis body.

“Once you enter the trial. you can’t leave until it ends,” he whispered beside bmy /bbcar/b.

His breath grazed my bskin/bb. /b

“What?” I bchoked/b, horror and disbelief twisting through bmy /bveins. “You’re lying. Tin trapped here with you?”

He pressed closer, his body bfiting /bagainst bmine /bblike /ba vice

And then he said it–bas lips brushing my ear, huis tune dark band /bbpossessive /b

“And bthis /bbtrial /bwon’t end until I say su, Seraphi

My blungs /brefused to bwork/bb. /bMy heart stuttered

11:51AM P bP /b

Chapter 69 When Madness Wears A Smile

Worse, I could feel him–his body against mine.

His arousal.

The hard pressure of it against my ass

bMy /binstincts took over.

With every ounce of strength I had, I shoved him back.

He bstumbled/b. Just a step, but it was enough.

1 spun around to run, but before I could beven /btake another step, his hand caught the back of my shirt.

His strength met my momentum like flint meeting steel.

RIP.

The buttons of my shirt flew off, scattering to the ground like fallen teethb. /b

I gasped band /bspun around, but he balready /bbhad /ba fistful of fabric.

His grip tightened and the remaining buttons popped off, tearing away bwhat /blittle barrier remained.

Ronan’s eyes changed and moved.

+8 Pearls

He bstood /bmotionless, gaze locked on me–on my chest, wrapped tightly with the band of cloth I used to hide the truth.

His throat moved in a bslow /bswallow.

“Beautiful,” he whispered, voice reverentb, /balmost broken.

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