“You really think that?”
“Oh, yes.” His glowing cerulean gaze slid slowly over me. “I think everything about you is incredible.”
The way he said it—slow. Certain.
Like he genuinely meant it.
Warmth spread through my chest so suddenly it almost hurt.
I wasn’t used to compliments.
Not real ones.
Not the kind given without expectation or mockery attached.
Most of my life, compliments from my family came carefully packaged with conditions.
You’d be so pretty if you lost weight.
You’d be stunning if you dressed differently.
You’d have potential if your magic ever manifested properly.
Even my mother’s approval always felt earned rather than freely given.
But Sten?
Sten looked at me like there was already something worth wanting.
And gods—that was dangerous.
Because the more time I spent around him, the easier it became to imagine impossible things.
Things like maybe a Monster could actually want me.
Maybe I could belong somewhere.
Maybe I could belong to someone.
The thought settled deep in my chest and bloomed there, warm and aching and terrifying.
My mother had warned me to stay away from Monsters before I ever arrived at Runevald.
Her exact words had been, “Powerful creatures do not mix well with desperate, vulnerable women.”
At the time, I’d assumed she meant danger.
Violence.
Manipulation.
But standing beside Sten now beneath the glowing skies of Asgarheim?
I had a sudden, deeply inconvenient thought.
Maybe my mother had simply never met a Monster like him.
Because if she had—I wasn’t entirely convinced she would have married my father instead.
