Chapter 197

Chapter 197: Chapter 197

Lena’s POV

Dominic stood outside the door, not barging in like he used to.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

I lifted a brow.

Hearing that from his mouth was rarer than getting an apology out of him.

"Since when do you ask? You used to act like this place was basically yours."

"It’s different now."

Yeah. It was different. The bond was broken. He wasn’t my mate anymore, and technically, he had zero reason to be standing outside my apartment.

I stepped aside and gave him room.

Dominic walked in. He didn’t take off his coat. Didn’t sit, either. He just stood there in the middle of my living room, all broad shoulders and heavy presence, making my already tiny apartment feel even smaller.

"What do you want to drink?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Then talk."

I sat down on the couch, folding my arms over my chest. His gaze flicked to the bruises on my neck, and his jaw tightened hard.

"Eliza will stand trial."

"I know."

"Blueridge’s transaction records have already been handed over to the council. Your father will be investigated too."

"Good."

Then he went quiet again.

I almost laughed. A few minutes ago, I’d seen that look on his face at the door—that look like he’d finally made up his mind. But now that he was actually here, standing in front of me, he’d turned back into that same familiar wall.

"If you just came to give me an update, you can leave."

I had just started to get up when he spoke.

"I love you."

My whole body froze.

No warning. No lead-in. No soft setup. Just those three words, dropped straight into the life I’d spent weeks trying to patch back together.

Slowly, I sat down again. "Did Gemma tell you to say that?"

"She asked me a question."

"So you came here to give me your answer."

"No." He took one step forward, then stopped. "I came to admit something I’ve known for a long time, but refused to say."

My fingers curled tight around my sleeve.

Dominic looked straight at me. For once, he didn’t look away.

"In the cellar, you were holding that beast, and you said I wasn’t a coward. After that, I couldn’t keep seeing you as just a contract."

"You still sent me away."

"Because I thought if I made you leave first, I wouldn’t have to go through being abandoned again."

"And then?"

"Then you really left." His voice dropped lower. "And I found out that hurt worse than the curse ever did."

I turned my face away.

The flowers by the window had been replaced. White petals sat quietly under the lamp, soft and still. I didn’t want him seeing my eyes right then.

"You’re too late."

"I know."

"I asked you more than once."

"I know."

"Every single time, you gave me something else instead. Duty. Partnership. Taking care of me. You said everything except love."

"I know."

I turned back and glared at him. "Do you know how to say anything other than that?"

"I’m sorry."

That shut me up.

Dominic never apologized. He made up for things. He fixed them. He used action to plaster over every crack and then acted like the crack had never been there in the first place.

But he did not say sorry.

"I shouldn’t have disappeared without a word. I shouldn’t have left you guessing what place you held in my heart. And I definitely shouldn’t have used ‘what’s best for you’ to replace the words you actually needed to hear." His voice was slow and steady. "I thought saying love would make me weak. Truth is, being too afraid to say it was the weak part."

I’d imagined him admitting his feelings so many times.

Maybe after we’d been together, with him holding me close, saying it when his guard was down. Maybe in front of the pack, finally giving our relationship a real name. Or maybe in the middle of some brutal argument, when I’d pushed him so far he had nowhere left to run.

But never like this.

No flowers. No carefully planned dinner. I was in pajamas, with someone else’s fingerprints still bruised into my neck, and his shirt looked wrinkled to hell.

And maybe that was why it felt real.

He wasn’t trying to create some perfect romantic moment.

He just didn’t want to lie anymore.

He pulled out the ring from his pocket and set it on the coffee table. "I’m not here to ask you to put it back on."

I stared at it. It had stayed on my hand for so long that even after I took it off, I still caught myself reaching for that empty finger without thinking.

"Then why bring it?"

"It’s yours. Whether you wear it or not is your choice."

"What if I never wear it again?"

His throat moved. "Then I’ll keep waiting."

He said it calmly, but his eyes never left mine.

And all at once, I realized this might be the first time in his life he’d handed the full decision over to someone else. For an Alpha who always had to control everything, waiting was probably the hardest promise he could make.

"If I choose someone else?"

"I’ll respect your choice." He paused, and his eyes cooled a little. "But I won’t like him."

I let out a laugh before I could stop myself. There he was. That sounded way more like Dominic.

His expression softened too. "I’m not asking you to restore the bond right now. I’m only asking for a chance to court you again."

"You even know how to court a woman?"

"No."

"Then what makes you think you’ll succeed?"

"I can learn."

That made me think of Daniel. Apparently men from Bloodmoon Pack only had one line when it came to feelings.

"I have conditions," I said.

Dominic straightened instantly. "Name them."

"You do not make decisions for me. You do not force me when I say no. And you do not go silent and make me guess ever again. My job, my apartment, my money—they’re all mine."

"Okay."

"And Gemma. You can take care of her, but you don’t get to confuse guilt with responsibility anymore. And you do not keep things from me."

"Okay."

"Celeste does not get a vote in whether we have puppies."

"On that one, I agree with you even more than you do."

"If we start over, then Gemma, Eliza, and anyone else from your past can’t be treated like forbidden topics anymore. If I ask, you answer."

"I’ll answer."

"Even if the answer sucks?"

"Even if it makes you angry."

"And no more having Daniel keep tabs on me."

Something flickered in his eyes.

I narrowed mine. "You actually did that?"

"Not keeping tabs. Just making sure you were safe."

"Cancel it."

He went silent for a few seconds. "Okay."

I knew exactly how hard that one word was for him. The line between protection and control was still something he had a long way to go before he truly understood.

Then again, so did I. I had to learn how to speak when I was scared instead of deciding for the other person that leaving was the only option.

I took a deep breath. "Last one. Don’t think I’m forgiving you just because I’m letting you try."

"Understood."

He answered too fast, and weirdly, that annoyed me. "You’re not even going to fight for it a little?"

"I am fighting for it." At last, he walked over and crouched down in front of me. "Lena, may I kiss you?"

I looked at him.

He was really waiting. No hand on the back of my neck. No pinning me to the wall. No Alpha pressure, no trying to force me into yielding.

The choice was in my hands.

I reached out, grabbed his tie, and pulled him toward me. "One time only."

When his lips touched mine, the kiss was soft, careful, like he was checking to make sure I wouldn’t regret it. Then, the second I tightened my grip, a crack showed in that restraint of his.

He cupped my face and deepened the kiss, but he never crossed the line I had set.

When we pulled apart, our foreheads rested together, both our breathing uneven.

"That’s one," he said. "Can I apply for a second?"

I shoved his face away. "Out."

He stood, and to my surprise, he was smiling.

When he got to the door, he glanced back once at the ring on the coffee table.

I didn’t pick it up.

After the door closed, I sat on the couch for a long time. In the end, I reached out and took the ring into my hand.

I didn’t put it on. I just held it in my palm.

But this time, it didn’t feel like a shackle anymore.