<h4>Chapter 410: Attraction</h4>


    Frederick’s POV


    I led Selene down the hallway, my hand still cupping her face. Her skin was soft, trembling under my touch, and her tears clung to my fingers like dew. She looked fragile, breakable—everything Olivia refused to be.


    "Forget her," I murmured again, softer this time, though my chest still heaved from the fury boiling inside me. "She doesn’t know what she’s doing. Don’t take her words to heart."


    Selene sniffled, lowering hershes. "I... I’ll try, my lord." Her voice trembled, and I hated how wounded she looked. What the hell was happening to me? Why did I care for a woman? This was a first. Ever since Hailee, I hadn’t cared for anyone. With Olivia, I forced myself to try, still struggling every step of the way. But with Selene... it came naturally. The night I first saw her, something inside me shifted—an urge to protect her. I couldn’t exin it.


    Sometimes I told myself it was because of her pure hybrid blood. I wanted a taste of it—if she gave it willingly, it would make me twice as powerful as I already was. That was the excuse I kept clinging to, the reason I gave myself for being kind to her. But deep down, I knew it was a lie. I don’t fake attention for anyone, not for anything. So why was I so easily drawn to Selene? Why was I putting her above Olivia, when it shouldn’t be so? Olivia was supposed to be the one I wanted. Since I couldn’t have Hailee, I chose Olivia. And yet here I was, defending a woman I barely knew, siding with her instead of Olivia.


    Selene suddenly spoke, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Do you... regret binding yourself to her?" she asked, almost too gently.


    I froze. My eyes snapped to her, and she flinched. "Never ask me that again," I growled. "Olivia is chained to me."


    Selene looked frightened by the way I snapped and nodded her head before looking away. My chest tightened with guilt. I cursed myself inwardly, hating how easily I lost control.


    "I’m sorry." The words felt wrong in my mouth. I wasn’t the type who apologized easily—but I meant them. For Selene, I meant them. For the part of me that surprised me.


    She gave a small nod and sat down on the bed. My throat tightened. What the hell was wrong with me? Why did I feel so dangerously drawn to this woman?


    "Selene..." I started, then stopped. I hated how soft my voice sounded. I hated that my anger toward Olivia was bleeding into this... this weakness.


    Slowly, she lifted her face. Her eyes were wet, glimmering in the dim light. "No man has ever defended me like that," she whispered. Her voice cracked.


    I swallowed hard. Something hot burned in my chest, not fury this time but something far more. It was protection, possessive. The same madness Olivia dragged out of me, but this was softer and sneakier.


    I took a step closer. "Don’t thank me," I muttered. "I don’t even know why I did."


    "You did because you care," she said quickly, almost desperately. Her small hand reached out, brushing the back of mine. "You are a good man, Lord Frederick."


    A good man... it had been ages since someone said this to me, and thest person who did was Hailee. My breath caught. Her touch was light, but it lit a fire across my skin. For a heartbeat, I saw young Hailee—stubborn lips, fiery eyes—and the urge that always rode me when she defied me. But Selene wasn’t Hailee. She wasn’t even rted to her, so why am I seeing Hailee in her?


    Suddenly, she leaned toward me.


    Her lips parted just slightly, as though asking without words.


    I should have pulled back. I should have reminded her who she was and who I was. But instead, I bent down, and our mouths met.


    The kiss was soft at first. Then her fingers clutched at my sleeve, pulling me closer, and I deepened it before I could stop myself. Her tears tasted like salt. Her blood scent, sharp and pure, made me snarl in the back of my mind. I felt the urge to take her, to im her. To sink my teeth in. But I broke the kiss suddenly, stumbling a step back, my chest heaving.


    "What the hell..." I muttered, dragging a hand over my mouth. Shame and hunger battled in my veins, leaving me unsteady. I looked at Selene. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips trembling, and her eyes searching mine for something I couldn’t give.


    "This should never happen again," I forced out, my voice rough. "Do you hear me? Never. I am bound to Olivia. I am to marry her."


    Selene’s face crumpled, guilt shing across her features. "I... I’m sorry, Lord Frederick," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I shouldn’t have—"


    "Enough," I snapped, though the sound of her apology twisted inside me. She looked so small, so hurt. My chest ached with the urge to pull her back, to taste her again, to sink into thefort she offered. I hated myself for wanting it. I hated how part of me screamed to im her, while another part clung stubbornly to Olivia.


    I turned away sharply, my fists tight at my sides, and walked out before I did something I would regret.


    By the time I reached the living room, the fury and confusion inside me had swelled until I thought I might burst. I grabbed the nearest bottle from the table, ripped the cork free, and drank. The liquor burned, but not enough. Nothing was enough to erase the feeling of her lips, or the sound of her whisper calling me a good man.


    I mmed the bottle down, breathing hard. My vow to Olivia weighed like chains on my chest, yet my body still throbbed with hunger for another woman. A woman I barely knew. A woman who wasn’t mine.


    <fn5ef4> Newest update provided by fι?dnοvel</fn5ef4>


    The sound of footsteps on the stairs broke through my thoughts.


    I looked up, and there was Selene. Her eyes were red, her cheeks blotched from crying, but her back was straight. In her hand, she carried a small traveling bag.


    "I’m leaving,"