Alpha Xander's Undoing Chasing my Unknown Mate Back novel Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Chapter 94

*Rory*

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“Keep staring and I’ll assume you like the view,” I said, voice sharp enough to cut through the chain dragging at my wrists.

Isaac’s head jerked, guilt flashing across his face before he looked away. He had been glancing at me every other step since we left the fight, his blue eyes darting like he couldn’t help it.

The forest air was cold on my skin, sharper than stone walls of the dungeon, but it wasn’t freedom. The chains rattled with every stumble, cuffs biting deep enough that even my healing couldn’t keep up. Every link screamed at me, yet his stare stung worse.

“Not staring,” he muttered finally.

“Sure,” I shot back. “You’ve got guilt painted across your face so loud it’s blinding.”

His jaw tightened. He didn’t argue this time. He just shifted the food sack on his shoulder and kept walking, eyes fixed on the dark ahead.

Every step jolted the cuffs at my wrists and ankles, until the sting blurred into something duller, heavier.

Isaac still kept glancing at me.

He thought he was subtle, but his guilt sat so plain on his face it was like he’d painted it there. Kind blue eyes darting toward the raw skin on my wrists, toward the way I stumbled when the chain pulled too tight.

I bared my teeth at him. “If you’re going to let guilt eat you up, at least offer to carry me,” I half-joked.

He flinched, like I’d slapped him. His mouth opened, closed, then he shook his head hard and faced forward again.

“Didn’t think so,” I muttered, low enough that Durnham wouldn’t hear.

For a while, all I had was the sound of chains dragging over roots and the wet hiss of leaves under boots. The drip of the dungeon had followed me out, turned into this rhythm now-metal, breath, steps. The fight had been a blur now. I barely made it through in my mind, so I just put it behind me, hoping that the presence of Scouts didn’t mean that the assassins were close behind.

I couldn’t stop thinking how the silence inside me still weighed heavier than the shackles. Zerina’s absence was a wound that no scar would ever cover. Xander’s too. That bond should have been tugging, warm and alive. And although I felt that ghost tug, it still wasn’t enough. There was still that iron emptiness.

Isaac looked back again. This time, I didn’t let him look away.

“What?” I snapped, “You enjoy watching me bleed?” I didn’t mean to be harsh, but I was going through a hard time. And if he was going to watch me and do nothing, then he shouldn’t watch me at all.

His jaw tightened. “No.”

13:22 Wed, Sep 17 N

Chapter 94

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“Then why do you keep looking?”

“Because-” He stopped walking so abruptly the chain jerked against me. “Because I feel bad, alright?” His voice cracked quiet, but the words rang sharp.

I blinked, surprised he’d snapped at all. “Congratulations. You feel bad. I feel chained.”

His eyes flicked to mine, looking pained. We stood there long enough that Durnham turned back, gaze cool and steady as he motioned us to move forward again. Isaac ducked his head, muttered an apology under his breath, and tugged me gently along.

I didn’t forgive him, but I felt the edge of my own guilt too. My snarl was armor, and I hated how quick it cut him.

When the silence grew too heavy, I sighed and got it off my chest.

“The Venatorum bound you to Durnham. I get that. but what’s keeping you You can destroy him with a wave of your hand. That’s why I snapped at you earlier. You’re more powerful than him and you still make him hold you captive?”

His hand twitched toward his scar before he shoved it into his pocket. “I know. But

I’m bound.”

The word dropped between us like ash. Bound. How ironic.

“I was young. They came for me because of what I am. My gift made me a target.” He swallowed. “Durnham saved me, but he was smart. He knew what I was and he knew one day I might use my gift against him. So he bound me.”

“Like a blood oath?” I asked.

He nodded, showing me his palm where another ragged scar sat.

I studied the line across his skin. It didn’t look like salvation. It looked like punishment branded into him. “So you’re bound to him forever? That’s the deal?”

Isaac didn’t answer right away. His face pinched like the words hurt him more than the scar ever had. “He says survival comes with chains. Better his than theirs.”

Something inside me twisted. “Chains are chains, Isaac. You think these feel lighter because they’re his?” I lifted my raw wrists for him to see. “Survival without freedom isn’t living. It’s waiting to die.”

He flinched like I’d struck the scar itself. His steps faltered, and for the first time I saw him hesitate-not because he wanted to defend Durnham, but because a part of him agreed with me.

I pressed harder. “You’re strong. You’re gifted. I saw the way you looked at me earlier-you hate this. So why keep pretending you don’t?”

His breath came sharp through his nose. “Because I don’t know another way. And if I rebel, I’ll die. It’s either he dies, or I do.” His voice cracked softer this time. “I don’t know who I am without the chains.”

13:22 Wed, Sep 17 N

Chapter 94

39

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The confession made my chest ache. I should have hated him, and I did, but I also recognized that hollow note in his voice. It was the same one that lived in me now, with Zerina gone.

We walked on, trees closing in tighter. The moon slipped between branches, silver slicing through black. My chains rattled with every root I stumbled over.

Somewhere ahead, the trail bent wider, and I caught the faint smell of oil and metal. Vehicles.

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