Chapter 103: Marry Me

The silence in the office was broken only by the sound of their ragged, synchronized breathing. Alaric’s weight was a comforting anchor, his softening cock still buried deep inside her. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent as if it were the only thing keeping him tethered to the earth.

​Sofia clung to his broad shoulders, her skin slick against his, but as the haze of pleasure began to lift, her thoughts turned into a chaotic whirlwind.

​He loves me. The words echoed in her mind, heavy and terrifying. She hadn’t said it back. She couldn’t. She felt a deep, magnetic pull toward him—a fluttering in her heart whenever he looked at her with that possessive intensity—but was it love? Or was it the desperate gratitude of a woman who had been drowning until he pulled her to the surface?

​She thought of the gap between them. He was a seasoned Alpha, a man who had lived a lifetime before she was even born. And his daughter… how could she ever look at Sofia as anything other than an interloper?

​Then, the thought of Damien hit her like a physical blow.

​The bond. She realized with a jolt of horror that Damien must have felt everything.

​Why hasn’t he reached out through the mind link? Why is it so silent? Suddenly, her wolf let out a sharp, agonizing wail inside her mind, a sound of such pure, raw suffering that Sofia gasped. It wasn’t her pain—it was Damien’s. He was in pain, and it was a pain she and Alaric had caused.

​Alaric, blissfully ignorant of the storm raging in her head, tightened his arms around her. He pulled back just enough to look into her eyes, his emerald gaze soft, hopeful, and entirely vulnerable.

​”Sofia,” he whispered, his thumb grazing her swollen lower lip. “Marry me.”

​Alaric’s gaze was so intense it felt like it was stitching itself to her soul. “I want to build a life with you, Sofia. A real one. Not a contract, not a secret in this office.”

​He spoke with a raw desperation she hadn’t expected from a man so powerful. “Sofia,” he whispered, his voice thick and fractured. “You don’t understand. I have spent years in the dark. Since my mate passed, my life has been nothing but cold stone and duty. I thought the fire in my blood had died with her. I thought I was just waiting for my time to end.”

​He choked back a jagged breath, his emerald eyes searching hers with a pleading intensity.

​”But then I saw you. And for the first time in decades, my heart didn’t just beat—it ached. It screamed. I want to build a life with you, a real life. I want to wake up with your scent in my lungs every single day. I want you to be the last thing I see when I close my eyes at night, and the first thing I see when the sun hits the pillow in the morning. I want to give you my name, Sofia. I want to give you my protection, my pack, and every single thing I own. I want to be the man who stands between you and the rest of the world until my last breath.”

​He searched her face, his thumb tracing the curve of her bottom lip. “Please. Don’t tell me this was just a contract. Don’t tell me I’m alone in this. Marry me, Sofia. Be my Luna.”

​Sofia felt a lump form in her throat, her heart hammering against her ribs. The sincerity in his voice was terrifying. It was too much, too fast, and the ghost of Damien was still screaming in the back of her mind.

​Sofia sat there, naked and trembling in his lap, feeling a terrifying numbness spread through her limbs. He was offering her a kingdom, a home, and a heart that had been closed to the world for decades.

​But she was only twenty.

​She had only just shifted into her wolf. She had never traveled, never built a career of her own, never even owned her own car. If she said yes, she wouldn’t be Sofia Stephen; she would be the Alpha’s wife. And then there was the ghost in the room. The bond. How could she commit to the uncle when her soul was still screaming from the agony she felt radiating from the nephew? Even now, her wolf was curled in a ball of silent misery, mourning the connection with Damien that was being shredded with every second she stayed in Alaric’s arms.

​”I can’t marry you, Alpha Alaric,” she whispered.

​She felt the exact moment his heart sank. The muscles in his chest, once warm and relaxed, turned to stone beneath her palms. His emerald eyes flickered, the light in them dimming as if someone had snuffed out a candle.

​”At least… not now,” she added quickly, her voice cracking.

​”Is it because of him?” Alaric’s voice was a low, jagged rasp. “Is it because you still have feelings for Damien?”

​Sofia didn’t answer. She couldn’t. To admit she still loved the man who had tortured her felt like a betrayal of herself, but to deny it was a lie she couldn’t mouth. Alaric’s jaw tightened, the hurt on his face more painful to see than his rage had been.

​”I don’t want this thing between us to end,” she said, reaching out to cup his face, her thumb tracing the stubble on his jaw. “I like you, Alaric. Truly. You make me feel… alive. For now, let’s just let it stay this way.”

​Alaric looked at her, his expression weary, already knowing the answer before he asked the question. “What way, Sofia?”

​She swallowed hard, looking at the shredded remains of her clothes on the floor. “This. What we have. We can have sex, we can be together, but no titles. No marriage. Just… this.”

​Alaric let out a dry, mirthless chuckle, his hands sliding down to her hips, his grip firm but lacking the fire from moments ago. “You want me to be your secret. Your lover in the dark while you decide if your heart still belongs to a boy who didn’t deserve you.”

​Sofia’s lips parted, but she couldn’t say a word.

​Alaric closed his eyes, a pained expression crossing his face as he absorbed her terms. The silence in the room felt heavy, punctuated only by the distant hum of the factory below. He knew the power of a mate bond. It was a primal, spiritual tether that didn’t care about logic, betrayal, or pain. It was a hunger that never truly went away. The idea that Damien still had a hold on her made Alaric’s wolf roar with sadness and jealousy.

​He wanted to tell her no… he doesn’t just want sex… he wants her. But he knew if he pushed further, she would pull away from him. So, mentally, he told himself he would make her fall in love with him.

​He let out a long, shuddering breath, his forehead still pressed against hers. “Okay,” he whispered, the word sounding like it was being torn from his throat. “For now… we do it your way.”

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