Chapter 69 When Madness Wears A Smile
FINN
The wind carried the <b>scent </b>of pine as I stood in the second–floor corridor, by a cathedral–style window that stretched from floor to ceiling, <b>my </b>eyes on the slender figure moving swiftly <b>through </b>the garden and slipping passed the outer Academy gales.
Soft rap
of boots echoed behind <b>me</b><b>. </b>I didn’t turn.
Alpha Hugo’s scent hit me before his voice did–leather, power, and steel.
With a low growl, he tossed something at my feet. A crumpled envelope slid across <b>the </b>polished floor and came to a stop by my boot.
The letter.
My letter.
“I am warning you,” his voice was rough, edged in anger, but quieter than I expected. “Don’t you dare threaten me like <b>that </b>again<b>.</b>”
I didn’t look at him. Just kept my gaze locked on Seth’s silhouette vanishing into <b>the </b>trees.
“Thank you.” I said softly. “For changing your <b>mind</b><b>.</b>”
“Nothing has changed,” he snarled. “I have only given him a chance to prove his innocence by tomorrow which is impossible. He will meet his fate and everything is fixed. It’s just Seth Darven <b>that </b>wants to change something that is impossible. He paused, his voice colder now, “And you…”
I felt his eyes on the side of my face.
“You’re not the type to beg or bluff. Let alone threaten me with this letter when you admitted Killing Dante, just to save Seth.” he narrowed his eyes and asked, “Why the hell <b>are </b>you acting this way for that boy?”
Silence fell between us<b>. </b>I didn’t answer<b>. </b>
A cold wind brushed passed me. My eyes dropped to my hands as Seth’s voice, shouting my <b>name </b>when my mind was lost- when I was gone.
“Finn<b>:</b><b>” </b>
It echoed in my mind.
It wasn’t strength
It wasn’t magic.
<b>It </b>was <b>Seth’s </b>voice that had pierced through the madness. But his will. His fury. His belief <b>in </b>me.
That sound it still echoed inside my <b>bones</b>.
My hand rose to my check, I pressed <b>my </b>palm there, grounding myself in that impossible warmth.
“I wonder that too,” I linally whispered.
Alpha Hugo stood in silence for a long moment behind me.
Then he left.
My mind went back to Seth’s impossible soft <b>touch </b>and the thin melodious voice that slipped from his lips under the pressure and light without him realizing.
I slowly opened my eyes <b>at </b>what that evil thing whispered to me. It was too <b>talkative</b>, “How much it spilled out..
SERAPHINA
11:52AM P
Chapter 69 When Madness Wears A Smile
“Time to strip.” he murmured, his voice low and deliberate–each word a deced in silk.
His smile made me breathless, almost more than <b>his </b>words did.
Konan.
He <b>wasn’t </b>supposed to be here.
My thoughts spun, colliding into one another like shards of shattered ss.
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Alpha Hugo had been clear, <b>every </b>Alpha <b>was </b>sent to a different forest. One Alpha per forest. That was the rule. That was the
system.
So how….how was he the only one here?
And then it hit me.
Like a thunderp.
Like a trap snapping <b>shut</b>.
The fog in my <b>mind </b>cleared with terrifying rity.
He had lied.
He’d nned this.
Ronan <b>had </b>told Alpha Hugo he’d witnessed Dante’s murder.
He had framed me.
Not because he truly believed I was guilty. Not because he <b>stood </b>to gain anything from it.
But because he wanted this.
Me.
Alone
With him
In Thornfall Forest, where no one else would be watching.
A trap dressed as testimony.
My heart thundered violently, an erratic rhythm of rage <b>and </b>disbelief. Heat surged beneath my skin like moltenva, boiling over <b>and </b>threatening to erupt.
“You
Thussed, eyes burning, blood roaring in my ears <b>as </b>I red at <b>him</b>. “How dare you <b>y </b>with me?
I didn’t care <b>how </b>I looked–ugly, <b>furious</b>, wild, Let <b>him </b><b>see </b>it.
<b>Ronan’s </b>smile faded, his expression hardening into something <b>far </b>colder.
“That’s what I <b>asked </b>myself <b>countless </b><b>times</b>,” he said, his voice low and lethal. “How I let you y with me. Again and again. And still let <b>you </b>go.
His words were calm, but the darkness in his tone was suffocating
My fists clenched. “What the hell <b>are </b>you talking about?!”
He didn’t inch He didn’t patise
“I let you break your promise I let you lie” His voice dropped further, velvetced with steel, 1 let you escape. I let you betray me
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<b>11 </b><b>53 </b>AM
Chapter 69 When Madness Wears A Smile
He stepped closer
His gaze <b>locked </b>onto mine, and for one horrifying moment, I saw it all.
The memories. The <b>truth </b>behind his usations. The moments I <b>had </b>walked away. The promises I’d left behind.
The fury I felt a heartbeat ago copsed into a tidal wave of <b>shame </b>and confusion.
“And then<b>,</b>” he murmured, dragging his gaze down my body. “I remembered why I let you do it.”
He paused. His stare scorched me with its intensity.
“I wanted to strip you.”
I froze, paralyzed by the heat in his gaze, by the authority in his stance.
His words weren
t just a threat.
They were a promise.
“Now strip, Seraphina,” he said again, voice like dark silk. “Or I’ll do it for you.”
My limbs went cold. The air shifted, heavy with his dominant aura<b>, </b>and I instinctively took a step back.
“Crazy,” I muttered under my breath, willing myself to stand my ground. “You’ve gone insane.”
I met his eyes, unflinching. “There is no way I’m ying this sick game of yours. <b>I’m </b>leaving.”
I turned sharply, heart hammering in my chest as I marched away.
Every instinct screamed at me to run, to get out before it was toote.
But after barely ten steps, I collided with something.
Hard<b>. </b>
Unseen.
Unmovable.
I staggered <b>back</b><b>, </b><b>panic </b><b>rising </b>in my throat.
“<b>What</b>… <b>what </b>is this?” I gasped, reaching out in confusion. My hands met nothing but <b>resistance</b><b>, </b>an invisible wall.
I <b>could </b>see the trees, the <b>path </b>I <b>had </b>taken to get here, the familiar forest behind me… but I couldn’t move forward.
“Let me go!” I shouted, mming my <b>hands </b>against the unseen barrier. “Let me OUT!”
“You can’t,” came his voice–low, <b>near</b>, and far too <b>calm</b>.
I <b>froze </b>as warmth pressed <b>against </b>my back, a solid <b>chest </b><b>caging </b>me between the <b>invisible </b><b>wall </b><b>and </b>his body.
“Once you enter the trial. you can’t leave until it ends,” he whispered beside <b>my </b><b>car</b>.
His breath grazed my <b>skin</b><b>. </b>
“What?” I <b>choked</b>, horror and disbelief twisting through <b>my </b>veins. “You’re lying. Tin trapped here with you?”
He pressed closer, his body <b>fiting </b>against <b>mine </b><b>like </b>a vice
And then he said it–bas lips brushing my ear, huis tune dark <b>and </b><b>possessive </b>
“And <b>this </b><b>trial </b>won’t end until I say su, Seraphi
My <b>lungs </b>refused to <b>work</b><b>. </b>My heart stuttered
11:51AM P <b>P </b>
Chapter 69 When Madness Wears A Smile
Worse, I could feel him–his body against mine.
His arousal.
The hard pressure of it against my ass
<b>My </b>instincts took over.
With every ounce of strength I had, I shoved him back.
He <b>stumbled</b>. Just a step, but it was enough.
1 spun around to run, but before I could <b>even </b>take another step, his hand caught the back of my shirt.
His strength met my momentum like flint meeting steel.
RIP.
The buttons of my shirt flew off, scattering to the ground like fallen teeth<b>. </b>
I gasped <b>and </b>spun around, but he <b>already </b><b>had </b>a fistful of fabric.
His grip tightened and the remaining buttons popped off, tearing away <b>what </b>little barrier remained.
Ronan’s eyes changed and moved.
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He <b>stood </b>motionless, gaze locked on me–on my chest, wrapped tightly with the band of cloth I used to hide the truth.
His throat moved in a <b>slow </b>swallow.
“Beautiful,” he whispered, voice reverent<b>, </b>almost broken.
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