Chapter 326: Chapter 326 See Through His Eyes

They had always found excuses for the way they treated Addison, dressing up their cruelty as something justified. But in truth, they simply needed a scapegoat, a target for their own bitterness and dissatisfaction with life.

There will always be people who bully the weak and cower before the strong, and Addison became their victim. They tormented her mercilessly, yet when Zion slaughtered their family members before their very eyes, not one of them dared to even lift their head.

Zion also knew he wasn’t entirely blameless for what happened to Addison. That was why the nightmares never stopped. Each time he dreamed of her being tortured in the dungeon, another version of himself would appear, one that seethed with hatred for her.

And every time, he would ask himself why. Why had he hated Addison? She wasn’t the enemy. The vampires were the very ones who killed his father.

Going to the frontlines and slaughtering them should have been enough to vent his anger and hatred. Yet instead of aiming his rage where it truly belonged, he had placed such a crushing blame on a fragile woman who couldn’t even bring herself to kill a bug.

That version of Zion, the one who questioned and condemned him, was like his inner demon, constantly dragging him toward the edge. It whispered for him to let go, to surrender to his beastly instincts and burn everything to ash.

It crushed his restraint underfoot, forcing him to relive Addison’s suffering again and again. In his nightmares, it stood beside him as he watched her being tortured, while mocking his helplessness.

It circled him like a predator, taunting and jeering, then shifted its gaze to Addison, snickering with perverse delight at her tear-streaked face, as though her agony was a spectacle it savored.

When Zion finally found Addison again, it was as if that demon inside him had sunk to the depths of his mind, silenced by the light she brought back into his world. She was his driftwood in the storm, the one thing keeping him afloat when he was drowning in darkness.

But now, seeing Addison dragged under by the weight of her past trauma, he could feel that demon stirring once more. This time, however, its murderous hunger was no longer turned inward; it was fixed squarely on Greg.

Zion’s resolve hardened. He would end Greg, and with him, tear out the root of Addison’s suffering and trauma.

It took Zion a long while to coax Addison into calming down, whispering reassurances that he would always be there for her. Yet, no matter how many promises he spoke, the true anchor that pulled Addison back wasn’t his words, but it was their children.

The mere thought of them reignited her rationality.

’I can’t stay like this forever. If I crumble just at the sound of Greg’s name, how could I ever protect my children? I can’t afford to be this weak. I need to stand tall, for my two angels.’

Slowly, the trembling in her body stilled. The haze in her eyes sharpened, hardening into steel. She lifted her gaze, no longer dazed but resolute, as if bracing herself for the fight ahead.

Addison lifted her gaze to Zion’s, searching his eyes as if the truth could be found there. No matter how strong she had become, she knew she couldn’t fight this battle alone; she needed to know how much he was willing to give to protect her.

And what she saw left her breathless. His eyes burned with unwavering devotion, so absolute it left no room for doubt. Beneath that loyalty, however, lingered a deeper intensity, an obsession, a possessiveness, that made her tremble.

Yet it wasn’t fear that stirred within her, but something else, something that tugged at her heart.

The Zion before her was no longer the man of the past. He was not the immature Alpha who had once misdirected his grief and blamed her instead of their true enemies. This Zion was different; he was sharper, steadier, a man who knew exactly where to aim his hatred and who his real enemy was.

’Zion, can I really trust you this time?’ Addison wondered, her gaze locked firmly on his.

Zion didn’t look away. He held her eyes, knowing full well she was searching his soul, weighing whether he was worthy of her trust. He didn’t try to hide what he felt, his conviction, his remorse, his fierce determination; he laid them bare for her to see.

But not all of it.

The darkest parts of him, the ever-growing obsession and suffocating possessiveness he had fought so hard to restrain, he kept hidden. He feared that if she glimpsed the full extent of it, she might recoil from him.

So he forced himself to soften the edges of his emotions, revealing just enough to reassure her without showing the overwhelming depths he kept caged inside.

He could see Addison’s fear, but now it looked like she was facing it, steadying herself and looking at him as if asking whether she could trust him, whether he would truly stand by her no matter what.

He answered her with everything he had. His stance would not change: he would stand by Addison through thick and thin.

True, that vow should have been sealed the moment they marked each other, and it was late to make up for what he’d failed to do, but it was never too late to start, so long as he knew where he’d gone wrong and was ready to make amends.

“Addie, don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’ll bring that bastard to you, so you can take your revenge with your own hands.”

The last words carried a faint snarl as he vowed this to Addison, his eyes glowing gold with Shura’s presence shining through them, as if to promise her that they would stop at nothing to catch Greg, so she could deliver justice with her own hands, and that they would stand by her no matter what.

Seeing this, Addison felt a deep reassurance. She could sense Zion’s sincerity, that whatever had happened between them belonged to the past, and he was no longer the man he once was.

For the first time, she began to lean toward believing that she really could trust him… and maybe even forgive him. Perhaps, once she exacted her revenge on Greg and finally put an end to him, she could truly let go of her pain, release the shadows of her trauma, and open herself to the possibility of giving Zion a chance.

And maybe that was exactly what Zion wanted, to free her from the grip of her past by delivering Greg to her.

After all, Greg had been the root of her trauma, while Zion’s negligence and cold indifference had only deepened it. Now, through his vow and his sincerity, Zion was showing her that he was no longer the man who once failed her.

’Zion, just this once, I’ll trust you again. Please… don’t disappoint me.’

Addison had finally decided in her heart to give him a chance at redemption.

But she kept the words to herself.

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