Free Web NovelChapter 42: Trapped (II)
Rosalie:
My breath caught.
The next thing I knew, my back hit the nearest wall. Hard enough to startle me. A gasp escaped my lips as Alastor’s arm slammed against the wall beside my head. Then the other. Caging me in and trapping me in place.
His body blocked every possible escape route.
Shock rooted me to the spot as I stared into his eyes. Not once in all the years I had known him had he ever treated me this way. He had always been cold toward others, always demanding and ruthless when it came to outsiders, but never me. No matter how angry he became, no matter how many disagreements we had, he had never once cornered me against a wall or looked at me as though my wishes no longer mattered. Yet standing here now, trapped between his arms, I suddenly understood something painful. I wasn’t different anymore. I wasn’t special anymore. I was just another person standing on the opposite side of him.
The realization hurt far more than I wanted to admit.
My eyes burned. And I hated that they did.
I hated that after everything, after all the anger and betrayal and disappointment, I still found myself wanting to cry in front of him. I turned my head away, refusing to let him see it, refusing to let him witness another weakness he no longer deserved to witness.
But Alastor wouldn’t allow it.
His hand moved to my face. The touch was firm, yet gentle and infuriatingly familiar. His fingers wrapped around my jaw and turned my face back toward him.
"Look at me."
I refused. Only for him to force me to look at him just a second later.
Around us, the room had fallen into complete silence. But then Kaiser finally spoke, and there was a warning in his voice I didn’t expect.
"Alastor. Step back."
Darien immediately agreed. "You are making this worse."
For a moment, I thought they might actually stop him. But then Alastor spoke without taking his eyes off me.
"No."
The single word silenced the room.
His gaze never wavered as his next words landed heavily.
"Unless both of you are prepared to watch her walk out of our lives forever, then let me deal with this."
I watched both men’s expressions change. Watched understanding dawn. They were afraid. Because despite everything that had happened, despite the arguments and accusations, they had finally realized one thing.
I meant it when I said I was leaving. It wasn’t a threat or a test to see if they would try to stop me... it was exactly what the word implied.
Kaiser’s jaw tightened. Then, without another word, he turned around and walked out of the room.
The door opened and then closed, leaving only three of us behind.
Darien remained. And for several long moments, he looked caught between two impossible choices - stay or leave, protect me or support his friend. The struggle was written plainly across his face.
Eventually, he lowered his eyes and then looked at Alastor one final time. "Don’t hurt her."
The irony was so absurd it bordered on comedy. After everything they had done, now they were worried about hurting me.
Darien left then.
The door closed once more. And suddenly it was just me and Alastor. Alone. Silence stretched between us. Then something unexpected happened.
The anger disappeared from his face. The possessiveness, the coldness, the sharp edges... they all vanished. And standing before me was a version of Alastor I hadn’t seen in a very long time. One that made my chest ache. One that reminded me of the man I used to love.
"I’m sorry."
The words caught me completely off guard. I blinked, almost certain I had misheard him. But then he said it again.
"I’m sorry, Rosalie."
His voice was quieter now. Almost rough... and desperate. His hand remained against my cheek. And for the first time tonight, his eyes held something dangerously close to pleading.
"I know I hurt you."
I stared at him silently.
"I know things weren’t handled the way they should have been." His throat worked, as though even speaking the words was difficult. "I know you are angry. But I can’t change what happened."
His gaze lowered briefly, then returned to mine.
"I can’t change who the Moon Goddess chose as my mate." Pain flashed across his face. "So don’t ask me to."
The room felt strangely smaller. More suffocating.
"I also can’t erase that night." His voice dropped lower. "I can’t undo what happened after I was drugged. I can’t change the fact that Charlotte is now my Luna."
There it was - the truth, the reality neither of us could escape.
Charlotte was Luna. She carried their future and held everything that once belonged to me. Yet somehow Alastor still looked at me as though I was the unreasonable one.
His hand slid through my hair. And the familiar gesture nearly shattered something inside me. Because once upon a time, that touch had been home. But now it felt like a memory.
"I understand why you are hurting." His voice softened further. "And I understand why you are angry."
Then his expression became hopeful, dangerously hopeful.
"But you are back now."
My stomach sank. Because suddenly I knew exactly where this conversation was heading. And somehow that made everything worse.
"We can start over."
I closed my eyes.
No.
No, we couldn’t.
But he continued anyway. "Nothing has to change."
The words sounded ridiculous, almost delusional. Yet he seemed to genuinely believe them.
"Charlotte being here changes nothing between us."
My eyes opened again as disbelief flooded me.
"You’ll still have us." His thumb brushed against my cheek. "We’ll still take care of you. You’ll still be part of this family."
I stared at him for a long moment. Then finally asked the question that had been building inside me the entire time.
"What exactly do you want from me?"
Alastor frowned. The question clearly wasn’t the response he expected.
I stepped away from the wall. Far enough to create distance, but not far enough to escape. Then I repeated myself, "What do you want me to be?" frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
He answered with silence which made me chuckle, and once again the sound held no amusement.
"Your mistress?"
The word visibly startled him.
"Is that it?"
