“Because she’s your mate,” Louise says quietly.
My laugh is bitter. “The curse said she had to choose me. Not just accept our bond. She didn’t.”
Another petal fades. That’s four now.
“How many are left?” I ask hoarsely.
“Sire…”
“How many, Louise?”
“Six,” she whispers.
Six petals until the curse becomes permanent. Until I’m trapped in this form forever, alone in my castle with my eternal regrets. And maybe that’s all I deserve.
“Leave me,” I tell Louise.
“But…”
“Please.”
She finally goes, and I’m alone with the dying rose and my dying hope.
* * *
I don’t bother leaving the garden anymore. Can’t see the point.
The servants try. They all try. Gideon, as a true soldier, lectures me about giving up. Rosalie tries gentle encouragement. Adrien rambles about true love conquering all.
I ignore them all.
The bond feels like someone’s trying to rip my heart out through my ribs. Every breath hurts. Every moment without her is torture.
I should go after her. Some part of me knows that. Storm into that village and throw my mate over my shoulder. Claim her all over again. And keep her forever. But I can’t. If I force her… if I take away her choice… then I’m still the monster I was all those years ago.
So, I lie in my garden and watch my enchanted rose die.
There are five petals gone now. And five left.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to no one. To her, maybe, wherever she is. “I’m sorry I wasn’t enough.”
The bond doesn’t answer. Just pulls and aches, slowly tearing me apart.
* * *
Then that night, I feel it. A sharp, sudden pain in my chest. Like our bond is being torn from my chest. Breaking.
I curl into myself with a sound that’s half roar, half sob.
She’s not coming back.
The knowledge settles into my bones, heavy and final.
I’ll die here, in this garden, surrounded by my roses and endless regrets. The curse will claim me. The castle will fade. My poor servants will stay trapped here forever because I couldn’t be someone worth choosing.
Another petal fades.
* * *
