Bonds at War: The Untouched is Mine novel Chapter 224

Chapter 224 This Moment

ROWAN

I didn’t think words could have that kind of effect on me anymore. I’ve been through battles and multiple betrayals, but nothing, absolutely nothing, hit me like what she just said.

Owen slept here from time to time?

The words crawled into my skin and sank into my bones. She said it so easily, too! Without any hesitation or remorse.

Goddess, I wanted to rip this shirt off.

And yet I didn’t move. For every ounce of jealous rage screaming at me to throw the shirt, there was something deeper anchoring me down.

I didn’t want to ruin this moment.

I didn’t want her to kick me out, not when I was sitting here with her so close, treating my wounds, and not when Calla’s laughter was still humming faintly through the thin walls of this home.

I couldn’t risk it.

I swallowed the storm rising inside me, forcing myself to breathe.

Fate had dragged me here, hadn’t it? I couldn’t explain it, but it didn’t feel like a coincidence.

When I first saw Calla–when her small hand tugged at my sleeve in the field and those wide eyes looked up at me—something had shifted in my bones. I felt a deep and undeniable pull. I had thought I was mistaken, that it was nothing more than memory clawing at me and guilt turning itself into a cruel illusion.

However, with Tessa sitting here, leaning over me, her fingers brushing so carefully against my skin as she cleaned and wrapped my wound, I knew I wasn’t mistaken.

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Chapter 224 This Moment

I couldn’t stop looking at her.

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Her face was calmer than I remembered. Time had smoothed some of her sharp edges, though it hadn’t dimmed her strength. Even with that little crease between her brows, even with her lips pressed thin in concentration, she looked peaceful.

When was the last time I had seen her like this?

Definitely not when she was with me. I had never given her this kind of peace. Back then, I’d been too wrapped up in myself. I was a bastard, and I knew it. D

Sitting in this small house, surrounded by old furniture and walls that smelled faintly of herbs and stew, I realized how foreign it all felt–and how much warmer it was than anything I had ever called “home.”

It made me wonder.

Would it have been like this?

Would we have built something like this if I hadn’t ruined everything? If I had been diligent and careful, would I have fought for her instead of against her?

Would there have been a kitchen filled with her humming, a living room where I’d sit shirtless just to tease her, a child’s voice filling the space with joy instead of silence?

Would there have been us?

The thought lodged itself in

my

throat.

I bit the inside of my cheek and looked away.

My voice came out rougher than I intended. “Is she mine?”

The words hung in the air between us. I didn’t even dare to breathe as her hands stilled on my skin. Her eyes met mine, and I swore the world froze.

For a long second, neither of us spoke. I could hear Calla’s faint humming from

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Chapter 224 This Moment

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the other room, along with the quiet thump of my own pulse pounding in my ears.

She didn’t answer my question outright. Instead, she tilted her head just slightly, her lips parting to weigh a hundred different ways to respond. Finally, she murmured, “What do you think?”

The air left my lungs. My chest clenched so tightly I thought I might choke.

Calla was… mine.

I wanted to laugh, to cry, to scream at myself until my throat bled for being such a fool. I have wasted so much time, and I threw away everything we could have been.

Before I could speak, Calla bounced back into the room. She ran to her mother with pure joy, leaning against her legs.

I turned my head toward her, and for a heartbeat, it felt like I was staring into a reflection. The shape of her eyes, the tilt of her smile, even the bounce in her stride–it was as though she was a mirror of us, split perfectly down the middle.

My breath hitched again.

She was mine.

“It’s time to eat!” Calla exclaimed, her voice bright. She darted forward, her little fingers wrapping around my much larger hand without hesitation.

And just like that–my whole body melted.

Her skin was so warm, so small, so trusting. She simply held me, as though she already knew I belonged here.

I didn’t deserve it, I know. But damn it, do I want it so much.

She dragged me toward the table, giggling the whole way. Tessa was already there, her hands steady as she set down bowls, though her eyes never quite met mine. She didn’t say anything as she ladled stew into my bowl, into Calla’s, and into her own. In the quiet way she moved, it felt like something I had only ever dreamed

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Chapter 224 This Moment

1. of.

A family.

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I sat down, the chair creaking under my weight, Calla across from me, Tessa just to the side. My hands trembled as I picked up the spoon, lifted it to my lips, and took the first bite.

The flavor hit me all at once.

It wasn’t anything extravagant, but the warmth of it spread through me like fire, like life itself. It was simple and comforting.

My eyes burned before I realized what was happening, and then the tears slipped free, hot against my skin. I set the spoon down, my chest heaving as the sobs I’d buried for years rose up without mercy.

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