Loving Me Will Kill Him

Chapter 4: Run

Branches clawed at Selene's arms as she fled into the forest.

She welcomed the sting.

Pain was familiar.

Pain made sense.

The moonlight slipped through the towering pines in broken ribbons, chasing her across the uneven ground.

She didn't know where she was running.

Only what she was running from.

The silver thread.

Lucian.

Hope.

Hope was the cruelest of them all.

It made people believe tomorrow could be different.

Selene had stopped believing that years ago.

Her foot caught on a tree root.

She hit the ground hard.

The crushed leaves beneath her scattered into the night.

For a long moment, she stayed there.

Her hands dug into the damp earth.

Her shoulders trembled.

"I stayed away..."

The words came out as a whisper.

"I stayed away from everyone."

The tears finally fell.

"I did everything they asked."

She laughed through her sobs, the sound hollow and broken.

"I never reached for anyone."

"I never let anyone get close."

"I even prayed for the Moon Goddess to forget I existed."

Her voice cracked.

"So why him?"

The forest offered no answer.

Only silence.

A twig snapped behind her.

Selene stiffened.

She didn't turn.

"You shouldn't have followed me."

"I know."

Lucian's voice was calm.

"But I did."

She closed her eyes.

"Please leave."

"No."

"I'll kill you."

"I don't believe that."

"You will."

She rose slowly and faced him.

Moonlight spilled across his face, turning his silver eyes almost luminous.

He remained several paces away.

Far enough that she wouldn't feel cornered.

Close enough that she wouldn't feel abandoned.

"You felt it," she said quietly.

"The pain."

A flicker crossed his expression.

"So you noticed."

"How could I not?"

"It passed."

"It started."

Her breathing quickened.

"This is how it begins."

Lucian studied her.

There wasn't a trace of triumph in her eyes.

No satisfaction.

Only fear.

Not fear for herself.

For him.

He had seen warriors hide wounds with less determination than this woman hid heartbreak.

"You've spent years believing you're poison."

She gave a small nod.

"I've spent years watching people disappear."

"They died because they loved you?"

"They died after loving me."

There was a difference.

One she had never dared examine.

Lucian noticed.

"So no one actually knows."

Selene looked at him in confusion.

"What?"

"No one knows whether love killed them..."

He took a slow step forward.

"...or whether frightened people simply decided it did."

The words struck something deep inside her.

She had never questioned it.

Not once.

Because questioning the curse meant risking someone else's life.

And she couldn't bear that.

"You don't understand."

"Then help me understand."

She looked away.

"I don't want to."

"Why?"

"Because if I tell you everything..."

Her voice broke.

"...you'll stay."

For the first time, Lucian smiled.

It wasn't charming.

It wasn't playful.

It was quiet.

Almost sad.

"I was already planning to."

Selene stared at him.

Every person she had ever cared about had eventually stepped back.

Some slowly.

Some immediately.

No one had ever chosen to stay.

She didn't know what to do with someone who refused to leave.

Without thinking, she took a step toward him.

Only one.

Then she froze.

The space between them had never been smaller.

The silver thread shimmered softly.

Lucian looked at the distance separating them.

One more step.

That was all.

Selene noticed it too.

Panic surged through her.

"No."

She stumbled backward.

"Don't come any closer."

"I wasn't."

"You were thinking about it."

His silence was answer enough.

A bitter smile touched her lips.

"See?"

"It doesn't matter what you believe."

"The bond is already pulling you toward me."

Lucian lowered his eyes to the glowing thread.

He couldn't deny it.

He felt it.

Not as a command.

As a pull.

Gentle.

Patient.

Impossible to ignore.

Then...

A sharp pain pierced his chest.

It lasted less than a heartbeat.

Gone before he could react.

He hid it well.

Too well.

Except Selene had been watching him.

The color drained from her face.

Terror replaced every other emotion.

"It's happening."

Lucian opened his mouth to reassure her.

Before he could speak...

The silver thread flared brilliantly.

A gust of icy wind swept through the trees.

High above them, the moon vanished behind black clouds.

Then, from somewhere deep within the forest...

A voice whispered.

Soft.

Ancient.

Hungry.

"Bring her to me."

Both of them heard it.

Neither of them knew...

they were no longer alone.