asking if your ready 37
590 Words
Chapter 37
Penny pov
Queen.
The word didn’t just sit in the air between us…it wrapped around my throat.
Queen of vampires.
I stared at Dean, searching his face to see if he was joking, but there was no teasing in his expression. Only sincerity. Hope. Love.
My heart pounded so loudly I was sure he could hear it.
“I..” I swallowed, my fingers twisting together in my lap. “You’re asking me if I’m ready to be queen?”
He reached for my hands gently, like I was something fragile.
“I’m asking if you’re ready to rule beside me,” he corrected softly. “Not behind me. Not under me. Beside me.”
That did something to me..Con never spoke like that. Con commanded. Con demanded. Con silenced…Dean… offered.
“I don’t want you to feel pressured,” he continued. “My father stepping down has been coming for a long time. But none of it matters if you aren’t happy. If this isn’t what you want.”
Happiness..Was I happy? I thought about the quiet of this house. The fireplace. The scent of him. The way he kissed me like I was cherished instead of possessed. The way he told me the truth even when it hurt…I thought about Con.
The threats. The control. The cage disguised as love.
My jaw tightened.
“I’m not scared of being queen,” I admitted slowly. “I’m scared of him.”
Dean’s eyes darkened instantly.
“He will not touch you,” he said firmly. “Not again. Not in this realm. Not in any realm.”
“You don’t know that,” I whispered. “He got to you once.”
“And I was reckless,” Dean replied. “I left without thinking. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Silence stretched between us, heavy but not uncomfortable.
“If you become king…” I said carefully, “that puts a target on your back.”
“It already is,” he answered without hesitation.
“And if I become queen,” I continued, “that makes me a weapon against you.”
He leaned closer, resting his forehead against mine.
“No,” he murmured. “It makes you my strength.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“I don’t want to be weak,” I confessed. “Not anymore. I don’t want to run from Con. I don’t want to hide in another realm waiting for him to find me.”
“You won’t,” Dean promised.
I took a slow breath.
“Then yes.”
He blinked. “Yes?”
“Yes,” I repeated, my voice steadier now. “I will stand beside you. I will be your queen. But not just your queen, Dean. I want to learn. I want to train. I want to be strong enough that if Con ever steps foot near us again… he regrets it.”
A slow, proud smile spread across his face.
“That’s my mate.”..I squeezed his hands.
“And Dean?”
“Yes, my queen?” he teased softly.
“If your mother keeps nagging about this ceremony…” I smirked faintly, “we might as well give her something worth planning.”
He laughed … a real, deep laugh … before pulling me into his arms and kissing me like he had all the time in the world.
But even as I melted into him…In the back of my mind, I could feel it…Con wasn’t done…And neither was I.
- Writer
