Chapter 79
He was a relentless man. Even in a near-death state, he must have sensed her approaching pheromones. His eyes fluttered open. Their gazes met. But Marie didn’t back away.
“G-get out…”
His voice was rough, broken. In the past, she might have panicked and drawn dark conclusions from it. But not now.
“If I leave, you’ll die.”
“Still… go. I can’t hurt you.”
He was barely holding on to reason. His fingernails dug into his palms with a sickening crunch, drawing deep wounds. The sharp tang of blood filled the air.
She remembered that he’d been wounded saving her once. Back then, his insane Alpha-level regeneration left barely a faint scar. Now, even that was failing him.
He was really going to die.
If she closed her eyes and walked away now, he wouldn’t survive.
“Your Highness Russell. You are arrogant and cruel.”
Marie didn’t raise her voice. She simply moved closer and tugged at his sweat-soaked clothes. He groaned and looked at her with that same harsh gaze, like he couldn’t understand what she was doing.
“You think I didn’t want to hear what you had to say?”
An Alpha who had imprinted, albeit only halfway, must have felt her heart as if it were his own.
Marie had only ever known the theory behind imprinting. But now, she believed it. It was real.
She hadn’t wanted to hear him. Because she was afraid. Afraid that whatever he said would hurt her, push her away.
Like a wounded animal curling up in the dark, she had hidden herself, withdrawn into the corner of her fear.
And so, the Alpha who had imprinted on her had obeyed that unspoken wish completely.
He was infuriating. Maddeningly infuriating.
“Why is it that you only listened to me then?”
“M-Marie…”
“Do you like that your life is in my hands now? What do you think I’m going to choose?”
“I… I warned you it could be dangerous…”
“And didn’t you do whatever you wanted? This time, I’ll do what I want.”
Marie deliberately released her pheromones. His large, sweat-drenched hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.
That hand that was always so strong now trembled. Marie gently placed her own hand over his.
“You’re as awful a person as you are good-looking… You always were. From the very beginning. But isn’t it strange?”
Tears welled in her eyes as she lowered her head, and with trembling lips, she brushed his cracked, bloodied mouth with a kiss.
“From the moment you kissed me.”
The tear that slipped from her eye landed on his cheek.
As glistening as her eyes, her heart rippled with a storm of emotion and that wave of feeling transmitted directly to the Alpha who had imprinted on her. Love. Love. And more love.
“I still can’t let go of you.”
“Marie…”
“When you found out that… that I wasn’t your enemy. Why didn’t you just tell me sooner? Even one day sooner…”
Her pheromones were drawn into him, as if his very body was drinking them in. And somehow, Marie felt it. Not just her, but the life inside her, that small, dust-like soul, was also doing its utmost to save the Alpha before them.
That tiny life, no more than a speck, was desperately trying to save its father.
“Marie, I…”
Even in such a wrecked state, he still looked beautiful. He opened his mouth, lips trembling.
“I…was wrong.”
And as though a dam had burst. Those long-held, agonizing words came pouring out.
“I was wrong. I was wrong. So please…”
He pleaded, his weak voice almost childlike.
“Stay by my side…”
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