"Stop." I press my fingers against his lips. "Let me talk. Please."
He goes still beneath my touch. Those dark eyes fix on my face with an intensity that feels like drowning.
"I'm sorry," I say quietly. "I'm sorry for never hearing you out. For assuming the worst. For punishing you when you were trying so hard to give me what I needed."
"No." The word comes fierce despite his weakness. "Don't apologize. You had every right to be angry. I humiliated you in front of the entire clan. Announced you like property instead of asking you properly. I took away your choice?—"
"Did you, though?" I interrupt. The question hangs between us. "Really think about it, Rakk. If you had come to me that night. If you'd pulled me aside before the festival and said, 'Serah, I want to mate you. Not because of my father or clan pressure, but because I want you and only you. Will you have me?'—what do you think I would have said?"
He stares at me. Something vulnerable and desperate flickers across his features. "I... I didn't know. I thought?—"
"You thought asking would spook me." I lean closer, bringing our faces inches apart. "But you're forgetting something important. I'd already chosen you, Rakk. Every night by the river. Every time I let you touch me. Every moment I spent wanting you even when I was terrified of wanting anyone. I chose you over and over."
His breath catches. "Serah?—"
"All you had to do was ask," I continue, my voice cracking. "If I'd understood the pressure you were under. If I'd known your father was pushing you toward arranged mates and warriors were circling me like prey. If you'd justtoldme you wanted me—not because it was politically convenient, but because you actually wanted me... I would have said yes. I would have mated you willingly."
A sound escapes him—something between a laugh and a sob. "I was an idiot."
"Yes." I manage a watery smile. "But you've more than made up for it. I didn't know you had magic like that. Or thatyou soul-bound us. I didn't understand how much you've been sacrificing."
He lifts his hand—the movement clearly painful—and touches my cheek with devastating gentleness. "I'd do anything for you. I'd burn the world down. I'd destroy myself piece by piece. Whatever it takes to keep you safe and whole."
"I get that now." Tears spill over again. "And I'm sorry I didn't see it before."
We stay frozen like that for a moment. Close enough that I can feel his breath against my lips. Close enough that the space between us feels charged with everything unspoken.
"I want to start over," I whisper. "Let go of the past hurts. The misunderstandings. All of it. I want to truly be with you. As your mate. As your partner. Not just... going through the motions."
Something brilliant and desperate flares in his eyes. "I've wanted that since the moment I saw you. Since I touched you and drowned in you and knew I'd never want anyone else."
"I've missed you," I admit. The confession feels like stepping off a cliff. "All this time without you has been miserable. I kept telling myself I was protecting myself, but really I was just... lonely. And scared. And wanting something I convinced myself I couldn't have."
His thumb traces along my cheekbone. "You can have anything you want from me. Everything. I'm yours completely."
The words settle into my bones like warmth after years of cold.
"Did you mean it?" I ask quietly. "When you said you love me?"
"Yes." No hesitation. No doubt. Just absolute certainty. "I love you. I've loved you since before I understood what that meant. And I'll love you until the day I die—which, given the soul-binding, will hopefully be the same day you die because the idea of existing without you is unbearable."
A laugh escapes me—watery and broken but genuine. "That's morbid."
"It's true." His expression turns serious. "I meant every word, Serah. You're everything to me."
I shake my head slowly. The reality of it settling over me like a blanket. "I never thought I'd trust someone again. Never thought I could feel safe with anyone, much less an orc. But here I am..." I pause, letting the truth of it wash through me. "I've fallen in love with an orc. With you."
The effect my words have on him is immediate and devastating.
His entire body goes rigid beneath mine. Those dark eyes widen with something that looks like shock mixed with desperate hope, like a drowning man who just felt solid ground beneath his feet. For a heartbeat, he just stares at me—expression raw and vulnerable in a way I've never seen before.
"You—" His voice breaks. He tries again. "You love me?"
"I love you," I repeat, and saying it a second time feels easier. Feels right. "I think I've loved you for a while now. I was just too scared to admit it."
A sound escapes him—half laugh, half sob—and then he's pulling me closer with a strength that should be impossible given his injuries. His massive hands frame my face, thumbs brushing away tears I didn't realize were still falling.
"Rakk, wait—" I try to protest. "You're hurt. You shouldn't be moving like this. Your ribs?—"
