Chapter 69

Chapter 69 - A Love Etched in Skin

I watched her sleep in my arms, her tear-stained face finally peaceful after hours of heartbreak. The red mark of her palm still tingled on my cheek, but I couldn't find it in me to be angry. Not with her. Never with her.

When Seraphina had slapped me, rage had surged through my veins—a familiar, scorching heat that typically ended with destruction. But then I saw her collapse, those gut-wrenching sobs tearing from her throat, and something in me stilled. The beast retreated. All that mattered was holding her, comforting her, keeping her safe.

That's what Seraphina did to me. She calmed the monster that had lived inside me since childhood. She was the only one who could.

I'd sat there for hours, her slight weight against my chest, her breath warming my skin. I memorized every detail—the way her eyelashes fluttered in sleep, how her fingers curled around the fabric of my shirt, the small sounds she made while dreaming.

Mine. Forever mine.