Claimed By A Midnight King

Chapter 30

Dominic’s POV

I was standing outside her door again.

I didn’t know how I’d gotten here. Just knew that my feet had carried me through the corridors and my body had placed me in front of her room like it was the only place that made sense anymore.

The evening was fading. Soon the tower would go quiet. Soon the night would settle in and the bond would become even louder because there would be nothing else to distract from it.

Inside her room, I could hear voices .

Mira was there. Good. At least Vivian wasn’t alone.

I pressed my ear against the door before I could stop myself. Before I could remember that listening to her private conversations was exactly the kind of thing a desperate man did.

“The trackers will be back soon,” Mira was saying. “The investigation is almost done. Once they bring back evidence..”

“What if there is no evidence?” Vivian asked. Her voice was hoarse. Exhausted. Like she’d been crying. “What if they don’t find anything? What if I’m innocent and it doesn’t matter because he’s already decided I’m poison”?

My hands clenched into fists.

“He hasn’t decided that,” Mira said firmly.

“No?” Vivian’s laugh was bitter. Broken. “He held my face in his hands. He told me he didn’t care about my father. He told me that loving me was worth burning the world for. And then he disappeared like I’d burned him.”

I felt that in my chest. Felt the exact weight of her words hitting me like a physical blow.

“He’s scared,” Mira said. “That’s all. He’s scared of what he feels and he’s trying to find a way to live with it.”

“But whot if he can’t?” Vivian’s voice cracked. “What if he decides the guilt is too much? What if he finds proof that I’m innocent and it doesn’t matter because he’s already lost the ability to feel anything for me?”

Through the door, I could feel the weight of her pain. It was crushing. Raw. The kind of pain that only came from being loved and then abandoned.

“Vivian..”Mira started.

“I can’t do this,” Vivian said. “I can’t keep hoping. I can’t keep feeling him on the other side of this bond, torn apart, and not be able to help him. I can’t……”

She stopped.

Then, very quietly, she said something that shattered me.

“I think I’m in love with him. And I think he hates me for it.”

The bond exploded.

It was an eruption. A violent, undeniable wave of connection that made my knees weak and my hands shake and every part of my body scream to move.

She loved me.

She loved me anyway. After five days of distance. After I’d made her cry. After I’d told her I needed proof before I could accept what I felt.

She loved me.

Everything inside me went white. Every instinct, every need, every primal part of my wolf screamed at me to go through that door. To hold her. To mark her. To tell her that I didn’t hate her. That I was terrified of her. That there was a difference.

My hand came up to the door handle.

My hand was shaking so badly I could barely grip it.

If I opened that door, I wouldn’t leave again. Not until I’d claimed her. Not until I’d marked her in a way that would announce to the entire mountain that she was mine. Not until everyone understood that she was the Alpha’s mate and they could accept it or challenge me.

And then the investigation would be over. Then the pack would know exactly what I’d been fighting.

Before I could give her what she deserved, a clean truth instead of a complicated one.

I pulled my hand down and forced myself to step back from the door.

Every muscle in my body screamed at me to stop. To turn around. To go inside and damn the consequences.

I forced myself to move

Each one felt like I was leaving pieces of myself behind.

I made it three corridors before Silas found me.

I was gripping the wall, trying to breathe, trying to remember why I’d walked away from her when what I wanted more than anything was to go back.

“Alpha,” Silas said, approaching carefully like I was something wounded and dangerous. “The trackers brought Talia in. She’s drugged but awake. Freya is working on a counter potion to break the memory suppression.”

“How long?” I asked. My voice sounded wrong. Raw.

“Hours,” Silas said. “Maybe through the night.”

Hours.

I couldn’t stay in this tower for hours. Not with Vivian in it. Not with the bond screaming at me like it was. Not with the knowledge that she loved me and I was still choosing to stay away.

“I’m going to the lower levels,” I said. “Tell me when you have answers.”

Silas studied me for a long moment. He didn’t ask what was wrong. Didn’t need to.

“This is the investigation,” he said quietly. “You need to know the truth before you make your decision.”

“I know,” I said.

“Do you?” Silas asked. “Or are you just telling yourself that because the guilt feels safer than admitting you’re already made your choice?”

I didn’t respond. Couldn’t respond. Because he was right, and I hated him for being right.

“She’s suffering,” Silas said. “The bond is too strong to fight. You’re both suffering because you’re trying to hold onto something that’s already gone.”

“When the investigation is done…”I started.

“There is no right time,” Silas interrupted. “There is only the moment you decide to stop punishing yourself for something you can’t control.”

He stepped back.

“The lower levels,” he said. “Tell me when you’re ready to listen to reason.”

I turned and descended the stairs before I could do something I couldn’t take back. Before I could let him convince me to go back to her. Before I could give in to the bond and everything it was demanding.