Fated To Not Just One But Three novel Chapter 411

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Chapter 411: Leaving

Frederick’s POV

I didn’t think twice. In the blink of an eye—moving with the speed only a vampire possessed—I was standing in front of her. The small bag barely had time to shift before I ripped it from her grasp and flung it into the corner of the room.

Selene startled, half-turned, and for a second she looked so small and scared I hated myself a little for the way my hunger twined with the urge to protect her.

"You’re not leaving," I said in an authoritative voice.

She swallowed. Her voice trembled when she answered. "I... I can’t stay here. I don’t want to cause trouble."

"You caused trouble the moment you walked in," I shot back, but the anger in me was fractured now, threaded with something else I couldn’t name. "You will not walk out that door unprotected. Not when you—"

I stopped. The words I’d been about to say sounded ridiculous in my head. "Not tonight."

She looked at me, worry in her eyes. "Please. I—"

"No," I said sharply, then softer, "No more leaving. You stay."

I watched her chin lift, watching the stubborn flare in her eyes as if it were a dare.

"I’m not a child, Lord Frederick," Selene said, her voice hard even as it trembled. "I can take care of myself. I’ve done it my whole life before you met me."

Her words hit with a strange mix of pride and brittle fear. She squared her shoulders like she meant it.

"I’m leaving. I’ll go back to my hotel and finish my program."

Heat flared under my skin. "You’ll go back alone?" I snapped. "Do you have any idea what you’re asking? You’d be walking straight into danger. There are hundreds of vampires here... this place is not your hometown; it is a city of vampires."

She laughed, but it was bitter. "Danger is everywhere. I’m not here to be coddled, Lord Frederick. I didn’t come here to be someone’s pet."

The tone in her voice pushed a part of me I hate to be unleashed.

"This isn’t about petting you, Selene. It’s about keeping you alive."

She stepped toward me, defiant. "Keep me alive by keeping me prisoner? No. I can do my work without—"

"You think I am asking you to stay here for my own benefit?" I cut in, my voice filled with annoyance. "You think I brought you into my house because I enjoy your company?"

Her eyes flashed. "Then why did you bring me here?" she spat — her eyes filled with pain that for a strange reason, made my heart ache.

"Why are you showing me such love and care... why did you kiss me and act like it was the worst mistake of your life? Why!" she spat at me.

Where I stood inches from her, I didn’t know what to say... All I could feel was the panting of my heart like it was about to explode.

Selene quickly wiped away a strand of tears with the back of her hand and looked me straight in the eyes — those haunting eyes that reminded me of Hailee in her youth.

"You have a fiancée, Lord Frederick, and I am causing trouble for you two... I need to—"

Before she finished, something in me snapped: a mix of fury, desire, and a hunger I couldn’t fully name. I closed the distance between us in one stride. She opened her mouth — surprised, angry — but I crushed my lips to hers.