Chapter 29 – A Sleepless Night
The study door clicked shut behind Ethan with a finality that echoed down the silent corridor.
His feet moved on instinct, but his heart was still back there—still caught in the storm of Adrian's eyes, still rattled by the silver band glinting under the lamplight.
The bond ring.
The words alone carried weight. A bond ring wasn't just jewelry. It was ownership, an Alpha's public declaration to the world that his Omega was no longer free.
His hand brushed against his pocket. He hadn't realized until now that Adrian had slipped the small velvet box into his coat before letting him leave. His stomach tightened. It felt heavy, as though the little square weighed more than iron.
He reached his room, shut the door, and leaned against it.
Silence.
The walls were lined with soft cream paper, the curtains pulled across the tall windows. The faint patter of rain against glass seeped through the quiet. Normally, this room felt like a sanctuary. Tonight, it felt like a cage.
He moved to the bed and sat down, setting the velvet box on the nightstand. It looked harmless, sitting there, like nothing more than a trinket. But Ethan knew better. He could almost feel the Alpha's pheromones still clinging to it, wrapping around him like invisible chains.
His fingers hovered above the lid. He didn't open it. He couldn't.
Adrian's words repeated in his mind.
"Then I'll find another way to keep you."
Ethan's chest squeezed. He buried his face in his hands.
Why did his heart ache like this? Why did Adrian's voice sound less like a threat… and more like a plea?
He shouldn't feel this way. He shouldn't want to understand. Adrian was ruthless, controlling, dangerous. His entire life was already tangled in chains of family, contracts, and expectations—he couldn't afford to step willingly into another.
And yet…
And yet…
His mind betrayed him with memories.
The first time Adrian shielded him from a drunken Alpha at that gala. The way Adrian's voice softened, barely audible, whenever Ethan couldn't sleep. The moments between the storms, when the walls dropped, and Ethan glimpsed the man beneath the Alpha—the man who looked at him as though he were the only star in a cold, endless night.
Ethan sucked in a breath and pushed those thoughts away. He couldn't let himself fall.
He lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. His body was exhausted, but his mind refused to quiet. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Adrian's face—the intensity of his gaze, the desperation in his voice.
Hours passed. The rain slowed, the mansion fell into deeper silence. Midnight came and went, yet Ethan remained awake, shifting restlessly under the sheets.
Finally, with a frustrated sigh, he sat up. His eyes drifted to the nightstand.
The velvet box gleamed faintly under the lamplight. Tempting. Waiting.
Against his better judgment, Ethan reached for it. His fingers brushed the smooth surface, and for a long moment, he simply held it, feeling the weight of Adrian's claim.
Slowly, he opened the lid.
The silver band caught the dim light, its surface smooth and flawless. It wasn't adorned with gems or elaborate carvings. It didn't need to be. Its simplicity was what made it powerful—unmistakable in its purpose.
Ethan lifted it from the box. The metal was cool against his fingertips, yet he swore he felt a faint warmth pulsing beneath the surface, like a heartbeat that wasn't his own.
His chest tightened. Was it possible? Could Adrian's pheromones truly have bound themselves to this ring already?
He turned it in his fingers, watching the light shift across the surface. All it would take was slipping it on. Just one motion, and the entire world would change.
The thought terrified him.
And yet, his hand didn't move to put it back.
Instead, he found himself lifting it toward his hand, inch by inch. His pulse pounded louder with every second.
What am I doing?
The ring hovered above his finger. His lips trembled as he whispered into the empty room, "Would it really be so terrible?"
The silence gave him no answer.
At the last second, he dropped the ring back into the box. The lid snapped shut with a sharp click, echoing through the room.
"No." He shook his head, his breath coming too fast. "I can't. I won't."
Ethan shoved the box back into the nightstand drawer and slammed it shut, as if burying it would silence the thoughts clawing through his mind. He fell back onto the bed, dragging the covers over himself like a shield.
But sleep still didn't come.
Because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't forget the look in Adrian's eyes when he said those words.
"One day you'll understand why I can't let you go."
---
The night stretched endlessly.
When dawn finally crept across the sky, pale light spilling through the curtains, Ethan hadn't slept at all. His body ached, his eyes burned, but his mind remained trapped in the same spiral.
And he knew, deep down, that this was only the beginning.