Rejected by the Alpha - Hunted by the King

Chapter 16: Ties That Bind

The bond between them was undeniable. Lena hated it—hated the way her body betrayed her, the way Valerian’s presence sent fire through her veins. Every stolen glance, every brush of his fingertips against her skin, chipped away at her resistance. She should have been stronger than this. She had vowed to fight him, to fight this, but with each passing day, the war inside her turned into something she barely recognized.

But there was something else now. Something more dangerous than attraction.

Understanding.

She had seen glimpses of him—of the monster, yes, but also of the man beneath. And it unsettled her. If she understood him, if she saw his world for what it was, how could she continue to fight him the way she had before?

Valerian was cruel, dominant, and unrelenting. But he wasn’t mindless. He wasn’t just the beast that had taken her—there was something calculated about him, something she had failed to see at first. He wasn’t driven purely by desire. He was driven by purpose.

And that was what truly terrified her.

She was beginning to see it—his world, his reasoning, the way he operated. And the more she saw, the more the lines blurred between right and wrong. Was he truly the villain in this story? Or had she been blind to the greater game at play?

That night, as she sat by the grand window of his chambers, the moonlight casting silver shadows over the room, she felt him before he even spoke.

“You’re in my head,” she muttered, refusing to meet his gaze as he lounged lazily beside her. His presence was heavy, filling the room, pressing against her skin like a whisper of something inevitable.

He smirked, and that dark, knowing expression sent a shiver down her spine. “You’re in mine, little one.”

Lena clenched her jaw, her fingers curling around the fabric of her dress. She wanted to argue, to deny it, but the truth sat between them like a living thing, undeniable and unyielding.

And that terrified her more than anything.

She exhaled slowly, pressing her forehead against the cool glass of the window. The forest stretched out before them, dark and endless. It should have felt like a prison. It had, once. But now… now she wasn’t so sure.

“Why?” she whispered, more to herself than to him.

Valerian shifted beside her, his warmth ghosting over her skin. “Why what?”

“Why me?” she turned, finally forcing herself to look at him. “Why did you choose me? Why didn’t you let me go?”

For a moment, he said nothing. Just watched her with those unreadable eyes, the weight of his stare pinning her in place.

And then, finally, he spoke.

“Because you were never meant to belong to him.”

Her breath caught in her throat. The words slammed into her like a force she hadn’t been prepared for.

Valerian leaned forward, his hand reaching out, fingers ghosting along the line of her jaw. It was a touch so gentle it contradicted everything about him—everything about the way he had taken her, claimed her.

“You think I took you for sport? That I only wanted to possess you for the sake of power?” His voice was low, his thumb brushing against her pulse point, feeling the rapid beat beneath her skin. “No, little one. I took you because you were already mine.”

Lena swallowed hard, her heart hammering. “You don’t own me.”

Valerian chuckled, the sound dark and indulgent. “Don’t I?”

She hated the way her body reacted to him, the way her breath hitched as he leaned in closer. The space between them vanished, the heat of him wrapping around her like a second skin. He didn’t need to touch her to control her; his presence alone was enough to unravel everything she thought she knew.

And deep down, a part of her knew—he was right.

She had been his from the moment their paths had crossed. She had just been too blind to see it.

“I hate you,” she whispered, her voice trembling with a conviction she no longer felt.

Valerian smirked, his fingers tilting her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Say it again,” he challenged, his lips mere inches from hers. “Look me in the eye and say it.”

Lena’s breath shuddered out of her lungs. The words sat on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t say them. Not this time.

Valerian’s smirk deepened, and his hand slid lower, tracing the curve of her throat, lingering at the hollow between her collarbones. It was a touch meant to torment, to remind her of the power he had over her.

Silence stretched between them, thick and charged. Her chest rose and fell with uneven breaths, her mind warring with her body. She should push him away. She should fight harder.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she kissed him. Cautiously and gentle.

Because in that moment, the truth finally settled in her bones.

She wanted him.

Not just the bond, not just the pull of fate.

Him.

And that was the most dangerous realization of all.