The Bride He Hates-Chapter 28: Unexpected Emotions

The dinner was torture. To her surprise, Azrael said nothing. He just ate, but Lyanna could sense his anger under his controlled exterior.

He hadn’t spoken to her since the council chamber meeting. Lyanna tried to eat, but her stomach was knotted with anxiety. She kept thinking about Roland’s offer.

When they were done, Azrael put down his wine glass dramatically. He stood up from the table and walked to the window, with his back facing her.

"What did Roland say to you?" He finally asked.

Lyanna’s mind immediately started racing. She could lie and say Roland just offered diplomatic pleasantries. But Azrael wasn’t stupid. She knew lying would only make things worse.

Or she could tell the truth and face the consequences.

"He said it’s good to see a human queen influencing vampire governance. Nothing inappropriate." She went with the partial truth option.

Azrael turned from the window and looked at her like a predator.

"Liar. I saw how he looked at you all evening. I saw how close he stood to you, I saw him lean in to whisper something. So I’ll ask you again, and this time I want the truth. What did he say to you?" He asked again as he walked towards her.

Lyanna stood up as well.

"I told you..."

"You told me the partial truth." Azrael cut her off. "I could see how you froze when he spoke, I saw how he glanced around to ensure no one else could hear before he said whatever he said."

He was now standing in front of her.

"Tell me what he offered you or I’ll drag Roland here and beat the truth out of him before executing him for impropriety towards my queen. Your choice. Tell me, or I’ll extract it from him. Either way, I will know."

Lyanna weighed her options quickly. If she stayed silent, Roland would be hurt or killed, and she’d have his blood on her hands. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

If she tells him the truth...at least she could try to minimise the damage.

"He offered me shelter in Valdris if I ever needed escape. I couldn’t reply, you came before I could say anything."

Azrael went still.

"He offered you escape." Azrael repeated the words in his dangerous voice. "Shelter? He offered you to abandon everything and live in a human kingdom."

He stepped back, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides as if he was restraining himself from being violent.

"And what were you planning to say?" He asked softly. "If I hadn’t come, what would your answer have been? Yes? Were you seriously considering abandoning your marriage, and your vows?"

The assumption that she’d been considering Roland’s offer ignited Lyanna’s anger.

"My vows?" She snickered. "You mean the vows you forced me to make under the threat of death? The revenge marriage?"

She walked towards him.

"Yes, Azrael, the thought of escaping is appealing! I’m trapped with someone who treats me like property, who controls every aspect of my life, who punishes me for having thoughts he doesn’t approve of, so yes, the idea of freedom is tempting! Did you expect something different?

You’ve made it clear that I’m nothing but your possession! That my feelings don’t matter, my dignity is irrelevant, and I exist only for your revenge! So the idea of escaping to a place where I’ll be treated like a person is indeed tempting!"

Azrael closed the distance between them in a blur, and gripped her upper arms.

"You are my property. You agreed to that. You stood before my council and accepted those terms. And to even think that you’d run to humans, that you’d humiliate me again by abandoning this marriage..."

He couldn’t finish the sentence. The rage seemed to choke his words.

"You don’t get it." He continued. "You don’t understand what it would mean if you left. It’s not just about losing property or political embarrassment. It’s about..."

He stopped, realizing he was saying too much.

"You’re hurt." She was surprised. "You’re not just angry, you’re actually hurt."

"Don’t be absurd." Azrael snapped, but his eyes betrayed him.

"You’re not just worried about political consequences or your wounded pride. You’re genuinely hurt by the thought that I might walk away from you."

He didn’t reply, just kept staring at her.

"Why do you care?" Lyanna asked, shoving his chest. "You hate me. You married me for revenge. You’ve spent weeks trying to break me, punish me, make me miserable. So why are you hurt?"

Azrael grabbed her wrists, pinning them between their bodies.

"Because you’re mine."

The possessiveness in his voice was absolute.

"I don’t have to like you to refuse to let you go." He continued. "I don’t have to want your happiness to need you to stay. The thought of you in some human kingdom, free, living a life without consequences while I’m abandoned again..."

He stopped. His grip on her wrists loosened slightly.

"You don’t get to reject me twice, Lyanna. Once was enough for a lifetime. I survived that somehow, but if you choose to walk away from this marriage again..."

He couldn’t finish.

"If you’re miserable here, good. You should be. You deserve to be. But you’ll stay. You can’t run to humans. You can’t abandon your vows and you absolutely can’t leave me."

The last two words were barely a whisper. Lyanna could feel his fear of abandonment. He was four hundred years old, king of the strongest vampire court. And he was terrified that she might leave him.

Lyanna went completely still in his grip and made a reckless decision. One that might be a mistake, and might give him a chance to hurt her worse later.

"I wasn’t going to say yes to Roland. I wasn’t considering leaving."

"Why not? Why wouldn’t you escape if you had the chance?" He chuckled.

"Because despite everything you’ve done to me, despite how much I hate you, despite how many reasons I have to run...I’ll keep my vows. When I agreed to marry you, I meant it, because I gave my word. And I don’t go back on my words."

His anger transformed into surprise.

"I said I’d survive you and endure this marriage. It means staying, even when it’s hard, even when I desperately want to escape.

So no, I wasn’t going to accept Roland’s offer. Because running would mean proving you right that I’m weak and a coward. And I refuse to give you that satisfaction."

His grip on her wrists was no longer restraining. His thumb brushed her wrist, feeling her heartbeat.

"You’re not lying." He could hear her heartbeat and could sense whether she was lying or not. "You weren’t considering leaving. Even though you could have."

His other hand cupped her face.

"Why stay with someone who has made you miserable? Someone cruel to you?" He asked again.

"Because running would mean giving up, and I’m not ready to give up. I’m not ready to give up on surviving you...maybe.... not even on you."

He didn’t wait and kissed her with desperate intensity. It felt like he was trying to communicate through touch.

Lyanna kissed him back with equal intensity, her hands gripped his shoulders, pulling him closer instead of pushing him away.