The heavy doors slammed shut, the sound echoing through the silent dining hall like a thunderclap, leaving behind a stillness so thick it felt like I was suffocating. I sat frozen in my chair, my hands clenched tight in my lap, my mind reeling, unable to fully grasp what I had just heard. Mate. Bonded. Married. To Damon. The man who hated me more than anything in the world, the man who had spent every day making my life miserable, the man who had just screamed that he would rather die than belong to me.
Marcus let out a long, heavy sigh, running a hand through his hair, his shoulders slumping as the anger drained out of him, replaced by exhaustion and quiet sadness. He looked at me, his expression softening, filled with regret and sympathy.
“I am so sorry, Elara,” he said gently, his voi
