Marrying a Warhound (Cassian) novel Chapter 131

ATASHA’S POV

“You’re sending me back to the mansion?” I asked, frowning. “Why?”

A

The words slipped out before I could stop them. Why would he apologize only to tell me to leave right after? None of it made sense.

Cassian didn’t answer. Instead, he stood and crossed the room to pour himself a glass of wine. The sound of the liquid hitting the glass was the only response I got.

My chest tightened. “You’re not answering my question,” I said, my voice sharper than before. “Why do you need me to go back to the northern walls? I’m needed here. Matron Yara just learned about my-”

“That wasn’t a question.” His voice cut through mine like a blade.

For a moment, I just stood there, unable to breathe properly. “What does that mean?” I asked, the words trembling out of me.

“It means it was an order, Atasha,” he said without looking at me. “You will go back to the mansion.”

I let out a short, disbelieving laugh. It sounded wrong even to my own ears. “An order?” My throat burned. “Is this because of my confession?”

He stilled, his back rigid.

I knew I should’ve stopped there. A part of me begged myself to shut up, to swallow the words before they made things worse, to at least keep what little pride I had left. But another part, the louder one, refused to stay silent.

Maybe it was exhaustion. Maybe it was anger. Or maybe it was the fact that, for the first time in my life, I wasn’t going to let someone decide what I should feel or say. I had spent years keeping my head down, letting others speak for me, dictate what I could be, what I was worth. But not this time. Not with him.

So even when my heart pounded and my throat tightened, I stood my ground. I wasn’t fearless, not even close, but for once, fear wasn’t enough to shut me up.

“I know it was foolish,” I went on, my voice breaking. “I know I shouldn’t have said it. I know we started with a contract, and I’m not trying to force anything between us. But what I said that night wasn’t a lie.”

His face darkened, but I couldn’t stop. The words had already started, and I wasn’t sure I could hold them back anymore.

“I meant it,” I said, my hands curling into fists at my sides. “Every word of it. And I won’t take it back just because you’ve decided to push me away again.”

I hated how my voice cracked at the end, how I sounded less like a consort and more like a woman begging to be heard. But it was too late to care.

“And I–I won’t apologize for it,” I said, my voice shaking but firm. “What I should be apologizing for is

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Chapter 131

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something I can’t do.” I drew in a deep breath, my chest tight. “For the love of the goddess, Cassian… I can’t leave this place. I won’t. And I sure as hell won’t stay away from you.”

Cassian’s head snapped toward me, his crimson eyes flashing. “You understand nothing,” he growled.

The sound hit me like a physical blow, low and rough enough to make my chest ache. But instead of stepping back, I lifted my chin. “Then make me understand.”

I took a shaky breath and pushed on, even though my heart was pounding hard enough to hurt. “Make me understand, Cassian. Because as far as I know, you were supposed to be out there, outside these walls, feral, gone. You weren’t supposed to know anyone. You weren’t supposed to be… you. And yet, here you are. Alive. In control.” My throat tightened, but I didn’t stop. “And while I still don’t understand everything about what I can do, I know it has something to do with it. So forgive me if I don’t understand, but I’m not staying away from you.”

His eyes narrowed as he took another step toward me. The air between us seemed to shrink, thick and heavy, like even breathing might set something off. For the first time since the argument began, a voice in my head told me to run… run far, before I did something stupid.

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