Chapter 224 - 0224

Lorelei POV

I’m going to die here.

The thought tore through my mind as another wave of darkness swallowed my vision.

He’s going to choke me to death.

Driven purely by survival instinct, I reached blindly toward the nightstand, my right arm trembling violently as I desperately swept my hand across its surface. My fingers brushed against smooth ceramic, and with the last bit of strength left in my body, I wrapped my hand around the heavy decorative vase.

I didn’t even think.

I just swung.

CRASH!

The vase smashed against the side of his head, exploding into countless ceramic shards that scattered across the bed. Kaelen let out a deep, pained roar, his grip instantly loosening as his hands flew to his head. He staggered backward, finally giving me the opening I desperately needed.

Air slammed back into my lungs, burning all the way down my throat as I gasped desperately.

I immediately clutched my bruised neck and scrambled backward across the tangled sheets until my back hit the heavy headboard.

My chest heaved violently as I struggled to take one breath after another, each inhale feeling painfully precious after being deprived of air.

Blood trickled down the side of Kaelen’s face, dark red streaks running from the cuts left by the shattered ceramic and gathering along his jaw. He remained hunched over for a moment, one hand gripping his head as he tried to steady himself.

Then his jaw clenched, and a furious, gut-wrenching growl tore from his throat before he suddenly lunged toward me again.

A terrified shriek escaped me.

I threw my hands over my face and curled into myself, instinctively making my body as small as possible as though my frail arms could somehow protect me from him.

I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself for the impact, expecting his hands to come crashing down on me again.

But it never came.

Instead, a raspy, broken whisper cut through the heavy silence.

"What... what have I done?"

My entire body continued trembling so violently that I could barely hold myself together. For a few seconds, I was too terrified to move, my hands still shielding my face as I listened to the silence that followed.

Then, slowly and hesitantly, I lowered them.

Only to find Kaelen was kneeling on the edge of the mattress, staring down at his own trembling hands as though he couldn’t understand what he was seeing.

The unnatural black veins that had bulged beneath his skin were slowly receding, disappearing beneath his flesh as though they had never been there.

He looked completely lost.

Completely horrified.

And when he finally lifted his gaze to me, I instinctively flinched and shrank farther into the corner of the bed.

But the terrifying demonic red was gone.

His eyes had returned to their familiar warm, glowing amber, only now they were filled with something I had never seen in them before.

Pure, shattered terror.

"Kaelen...?" I whispered, my voice raw and barely audible beneath the frantic pounding of my heart.

But his expression crumbled completely as his gaze dropped from my face to my neck, and the moment his eyes landed on the dark, angry fingerprints already beginning to bloom purple against my pale skin, something inside him seemed to break.

"I hurt you," he breathed, the words sounding almost like a death sentence. "I... I hurt you."

Before I could say anything, he abruptly tore himself away from the bed. He didn’t even seem to notice the blood still trickling down his temple or the shattered pieces of the vase scattered across the floor as he began pacing back and forth like a trapped animal.

He dragged both hands through his disheveled hair, gripping his scalp so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"No, no, no... not again... not her..." he muttered, the words tumbling out in broken, frantic bursts.

His breathing was fast and uneven, his entire body tense as he spiraled deeper into whatever was happening inside his head. He looked completely lost, almost as if he had forgotten where he was.

I swallowed hard against the sharp ache in my throat as I watched him unravel.

I was still terrified. My body was still trembling from what had just happened, and every instinct in me was screaming to stay as far away from him as possible.

But seeing the devastation on his face, seeing how horrified he was by what he had done, tugged painfully at something inside me.

He wasn’t the same man who had attacked me.

At least, not anymore.

Gathering every ounce of courage I had left, I slowly swung my legs over the edge of the bed. My feet touched the cold marble floor, and I forced myself to stand on my shaky legs.

I moved carefully, keeping every movement slow and deliberate so I wouldn’t frighten him, before taking a cautious step in his direction.

Then another.

My heart hammered heavily against my ribs with every step.

"Kaelen..." I whispered softly, but he didn’t seem to hear me.

Slowly, I took another step, and when I finally reached him, I cautiously lifted my hand. The moment my fingers brushed lightly against his forearm, he snapped toward me with startling speed.

I flinched, but before I could pull away, his eyes met mine and he froze as pure horror washed across his face.

Within seconds, Kaelen recoiled from my touch as though my skin had burned him, stumbling backward several steps until his shoulders slammed against the far wall.

"Don’t... don’t come any closer!" he choked out, throwing both hands up defensively, his palms facing me. "Lorelei, stay back! Please... just stay away from me!"

The raw terror in his eyes made my chest ache, and somehow, it hurt even more because I realized that he wasn’t afraid of me.

He was afraid of himself.

I swallowed hard, my fingers curling slightly at my sides as I stared at him. Then, despite the frantic protests in my head and the fear still twisting painfully in my stomach, I took another slow step toward him.

"Kaelen, listen to me," I said softly, my voice still raspy from the pressure around my throat, but somehow steady. "I know that wasn’t you. I know you would never willingly lay a hand on me. Please, just tell me what’s wrong. Are you okay?"

"I said stay back!" he pleaded, his head thrashing from side to side as he pressed himself harder against the cold wall. "Please... don’t come near me. I don’t want to hurt you again. Please, Lorelei, just go!"

"I’m not afraid of you," I murmured, ignoring the lingering tremble in my knees as I closed the remaining distance between us. "I’m not going anywhere. But I need to know what’s happening. Is this... is this because of your curse? Does it make you lose control like this? Kaelen, please, talk to me."

He was completely cornered now, trapped against the wall with nowhere left to go. Every survival instinct inside me screamed at me to stop, warning me that I was taking an insane risk. A small, terrified part of my mind kept reminding me that he could snap again at any second and turn on me just as he had moments ago.

But I couldn’t leave him like this.

Not when he looked so completely lost in the darkness of his own mind.

I reached out slowly and carefully placed my palms on either side of his face, feeling the intense heat radiating from his skin beneath my hands. His jaw was tense, and I could feel the frantic pulse beating beneath my fingertips.

"Look at me," I whispered. "Please, Kaelen, look at me."

He stubbornly refused, keeping his head lowered as though he couldn’t bring himself to face me. I waited, refusing to move my hands or look away, until he finally seemed to realize I wasn’t going anywhere.

Slowly, he lifted his head, and the moment our eyes met, my breath caught.

For the first time since I had met the formidable Alpha King, I watched in real time as tears welled up in his amber eyes.