"Let go of me!" I wrench my arms away, stumbling back against the cold brick wall. It scrapes against my skin, a wee distraction from the turmoil inside me. "How can I believe anything you say when everything since you came into my life has gone to shit?"


    Tears blur my vision as I try to back away from Zayn, the sting of betrayal burning hotter than the humiliation on my cheeks


    "No, that wasn''t me, Cleo, I swear..." His voice cracks with desperation, his hands reaching out then retreating as if he''s afraid to touch me afraid I''ll shatter


    "Then exin it! Exin everything!" My


    demand is a scream, raw and ragged, slicing through the tension between us. "Where is Deacon? Where did those photose from!?"


    Zayn''s jaw clenches, his gray eyes stormy with emotions I can''t decipher. "Who the fuck cares where Deacon is, he isn''t here is he!"


    "Is that what this is, part of what? Is this some game to you?" My body trembles, anger and fear wrestling within me


    "Why the fuck have you been stalking me? Everywhere I turn you are, getting up in my business knowing the conflict you''re causing me" I press him, my voice cracking under the strain. "I may be sired to you, but you''re a full-blooded alpha. You have your aura, you can reject the sire bond, order me away!" My words are a challenge, thrown into the space that divides us


    "Was this your n all along?" I''m shouting now, my vision narrowing until there''s only Zayn who listens to my outburst calmly and the whirlwind of my thoughts. "You hate my father! I feel so fucking stupid, naive! I should have known better than to trust you!" Grief morphs into fury, and I growl, ws slipping from my fingertips


    He steps forward, his presencemanding even as his voice softens. "Cleo, I could never use you as a pawn against your father."


    My breathes in ragged gasps as I search for an answer, any form of relief that might exin the madness crashing down around me


    "You''re a liar!" I spit at him and something seems to snap in him because Zayn bes a storm, his fury encapsting him like a cloak, and when he reaches out, his fingers encase my


    jaw with a grip that''s bothmanding and careful


    "Where is Deacon?" The low growl emanating from Zayn carries a weight that drops my heart to my stomach. It rumbles with barely restrained anger, threatening to unleash and break me


    further


    His steely eyes lock onto mine, the gray hue swirling like the tumultuous clouds that forewarn of a violent storm. In our bubble of intensity, the world around us fades, the escaping crowds from the stadium be nothing more than a distant murmur, background noiseAll content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.


    "Right where he belongs," Zayn continues, his thumb brushing against my cheek as if to soften


    the harshness of his hold. Confusion knots inside me, trying to make sense of what feels


    like a puzzle missing half its pieces


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    I blink away tears that threaten to fall, not just from fear or frustration, but from the raw emotion that Zayn invokes within me. My heart races, pounding against my ribcage, each beat crying out for something I can''t quite understand- something dangerous and all-consuming


    His hands still hold my face. "The photos?" he breathes out, and his voice is a blend of hurt and disbelief. "You really think I had any part in that? Cleo, you know me better than that." His eyes sear into mine, twin infernos of sincerity. "I would never expose what''s mine to the damn city."


    My heart hammers against my ribs, threatening to burst from the sheer intensity of his stare


    Zayn has always been possessive, his protective instincts primal and sometimes overwhelming


    But this? This usation strikes a chord too deep, too raw even for him


    His thumb caresses my jaw, and the gesture feels like both a plea and a promise. "And why haven''t I pushed you away, broken the sire bond? Because I love you, Cleo. I love you with a ferocity that frightens even me."


    His confession pierces through the fog of my doubts. My mind races, trying to reconcile the man before me with the chaos of betrayal that clouds my judgment, making me question everything and everyone


    His grip tightens slightly, his voice lower, darker. "So be prepared for a life of being stalked because I will shadow you to the darkest corners of this world and beyond." His vow slices through the tension. "Should you fall, I will be there to catch you. Should pain find you,


    I will obliterate its source." His jaw clenches, his eyes burning with some emotion that scares and thrills me simultaneously


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    "This isn''t about titles, power, or territories," he continues, his voice a growling whisper as he leans in closer. Our breaths mingle, almost like a shared breath that stokes the mes of desire within me. "If it''s my title that makes you think I''d betray you like that, then I''ll cast it aside without a second thought. If going rogue is what it takes to be with you."


    My chest tightens, my pulse thrumming in my ears. I can almost taste the urgency of his need, the fervor of his words. The air between us crackles with electricity, charged


    "Because I love you, Cleo, more deeply and fiercely than I ever thought possible." His lips are inches from mine, his heat enveloping me


    "Tell me what you need, what you want. I''lly it all at your fucking feet. Just say the word, Cleo, because there is nothing I wouldn''t do for you, no line I wouldn''t cross, no sacrifice I wouldn''t make." I swallow thickly around the lump that is forming in my throat


    "Is that what you want to hear?" He demands


    "Zayn," I gasp, overwhelmed by the torrent of emotions he unleashes within me. The barriers I''ve erected crumble beneath the force of his words, his presence an intoxicating drug that leaves me craving more yet I know that is the sire bond


    "Show me," I challenge, my voice a whisper that belies the angry doubt that still refuses to let go that this mess is because of him. He tilts his head to the side watching me for a second


    "Prove it," I challenge, my voice steady despite the storm of emotions raging inside me. My heart hammers against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat that echoes the turmoil in Zayn''s eyes


    "Mark me," I say, locking gazes with him, my resolve is unwavering as the steeliness 1n his gaze. "Do it knowing I''ll soon have the power to cast you aside, but you you''d be irreversibly bound to me."