The Alpha's Forbidden Vow novel Chapter 112

POV: Selene

I was a prisoner. Again.

I stood in the vast, silent expanse of Zane’s bedroom, listening as the heavy lock clicked into place on the other side of the door.

The room was a luxurious cage, filled with the scent of him—pine, musk, and a faint, lingering trace of the whiskey he drank to quiet his demons.

The scent should have been a comfort, a reminder of the man I had reconnected with in the cave.

Instead, it was a torment. It was the scent of a stranger who wore his face.

I sank onto the edge of his massive bed, the silk comforter cool against my skin, and finally let the tears of frustration and helplessness fall.

My anger at his霸道—his domineering tyranny—was immense. But what truly broke my heart was the utter lack of recognition in his eyes. He looked at me and saw a possession, a disobedient subordinate, not the woman he had sacrificed his life for just a few weeks ago.

How could I fight a ghost? How could I win back a man who didn't even know he was lost?

I must have been crying for a long time, because the next thing I knew, I heard a small, scratching sound from the direction of the large, walk-in closet.

I sat up, my tears stopping instantly, my senses on high alert.

A small panel at the back of the closet, hidden behind a row of his suits, creaked open.

A small head with a mop of unruly brown hair poked through.

“Leo?” I whispered in disbelief.

“Mama?” his own small voice replied. “Are you in trouble again?”

He crawled through the opening. It was an old, forgotten servant’s passage, connecting the master suite to the adjacent rooms—a relic from a time of secrets and intrigue that Zane clearly didn't know existed.

He ran to me and scrambled onto the bed, his small arms wrapping around my neck in a fierce hug.

“I heard Daddy yelling,” he whispered into my ear. “And then I heard you crying.”

He pulled back and looked at my tear-streaked face, his own small face a mask of serious, worried concentration.

He wasn't an enemy to be fought.

He was sick. He needed to be healed.

Leo’s innocent words were a key, unlocking a new door in my mind.

My goal was no longer just to endure, or to escape.

My resentment, my anger… it all melted away, replaced by a fierce, clear, and absolute new purpose.

I would not be a passive victim in this tragedy.

I would be the cure.

I hugged my son tight, a new, formidable strength flowing through me.

*Yes, baby,* I thought, my resolve hardening into diamond. *Daddy is sick. And Mommy is going to make him better.*