CH20
Snow’s P.O.V
After breakfast, the council elder named Maverick cornered me just outside the hall that lead to my room
I had sensed him before I saw him–especially his stare pressing into my back like a blade. The moment I turned, he was there and the lights casted his sharp, aging features in deep shadows.
“You should leave him.”
His voice was very cold and I instantly realized it wasn’t a suggestion. It was a warning.
I clenched my hands into fists, my nails digging into my palms.
He studied me with an expression that made my skin crawl. There was no outright hostility, no raised voice or physical threat- just a quiet, suffocating certainty that he knew better than me. That he had already decided I was unworthy.
“You are not fit to be his mate,” he said, his tone matter–of–fact. “And if you remain by his side, you will only lead him to ruin.”
The words landed heavier than they should have.
I swallowed, my throat dry.
I had already known I wasn’t what they wanted. That was obvious from the moment I had been introduced to them. But hearing it spoken so plainly, so confidently, made it feel… different.
More real. Would they react the same way if they knew I was now half vampire and not as weak as they believed?
“I don’t want to ruin him,” I finally mouthed, my fingers unsteady.
The old man furrowed his brows and I had to gesture to him that I want the best for their King who was also my mate.
He understood that and Maverick’s mouth curled into something almost like pity.
“Then do the right thing and leave before it’s too late.”
I held my breath as he turned and walked away, his steps disappearing down the corridor.
My hands trembled.
The air in the palace had already been stifling, but now it felt even heavier.
As I stood alone in the dimly lit hall, I wondered-
Was he right?
I had been nothing before this. A servant. A weak omega no one had noticed or cared about. Roman was a king. A ruler who carried the weight of an entire kingdom on his shoulders.
And now he had to protect me, too?
I started walking, my feet carrying me aimlessly through the endless halls. I needed air, something to clear the thoughts pressing against my skull like a vice but I didn’t know the place well so I went back to my room remaining there until night time.
once it was dark, I snuck out of my room and began walking down the corridors and halls in the castle.
I didn’t realize how far I had wandered until I stepped outside.
The gardens stretched before me, glowing silver beneath the moonlight. The scent of damp earth and blooming roses filled my lungs, the cool night air a sharp contrast to the suffocating warmth inside.
1/3
CHIC
+25 Bonus
I wrapped my arms around myself.
I shouldn’t be out here alone.
But I couldn’t bring myself to go back just yet.
I took another step forward-
“What the hell are you doing?”
My breath caught.
Roman’s voice sliced through the quiet, rough and full of barely restrained fury.
I turned, finding him standing at the edge of the path, his jacket was opened, his dark pants hanging low on his hips. His muscles were rigid with tension, his golden eyes glowing too brightly in the dark.
For a moment, I couldn’t move.
The sheer power of him, the way his presence dominated everything around him, made my stomach tighten in something close
to fear.
He was furious.
Not just angry–furious.
I flinched as he strode toward me, his steps heavy, his jaw clenched.
“Do you have a death wish?” he growled. “Do you have any idea what could happen if you wandered into the wrong part of the palace?”
I shook my head, my pulse thrumming in my ears.
He was standing in front of me now, towering, imposing, his chest rising and falling with sharp, controlled breaths.
I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.
His scent was stronger in the night air, all wild musk and something darker, something that made my stomach clench in ways I didn’t understand.
His lips parted as if he was about to scold me again—
And then his expression shifted.
His eyes flickered over my body.
He saw the way my arms were wrapped around myself, the small shiver I hadn’t even realized had run through me.
For a second, he hesitated.
Then, without a word, he shrugged off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders.
The weight of it was warm, heavy, carrying the scent of him.
I swallowed hard, my fingers curling into the fabric as I pulled it tighter around myself.
His touch was absent, impersonal. But it was the first time he had offered me any kind of warmth, any kind of comfort that didn’t come wrapped in dominance or authority.
I glanced up at him, trying to read his expression, trying to understand why-
But his face had already hardened again.
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“Come inside,” he ordered, turning away.
I followed without hesitation.
And for the rest of the night, even as I lay in bed, I kept his jacket wrapped around me.
+25 Bonus
The next morning, a man arrived at my door.
He was older, with a sharp, intelligent gaze and a quiet presence. He bowed slightly when I opened the door.
“I have been instructed to teach you how to sign properly, my lady.”
1 blinked, taken aback.
Roman.
This was Roman’s doing.
Something twisted inside me, something I couldn’t quite place.
But before I could even begin to process it, the man continued-
“It is also mandatory that all members of the court and palace staff learn as well.”
I stared.
Everyone?
I had spent my entire life being ignored, being dismissed as a nuisance because I couldn’t speak. And now, suddenly, the entire kingdom was being forced to learn my language?
I wasn’t sure what to feel.
But as I stepped aside to let the instructor in, one thought burned in my mind-
Roman was not the man I had thought he was.
Not entirely.
