The Alpha's Forbidden Vow novel Chapter 67

POV: Selene

My harsh words had struck Zane with the force of a physical blow.

The look of utter devastation in his eyes as he retreated from his own bedroom haunted me for hours.

My inner wolf was a confused, whining creature, torn between the instinct to soothe its mate’s pain and the wounded pride of its human half, who knew that pain was deserved.

I had expected him to rage, to lash out with the familiar cruelty he used as a shield.

But he didn’t.

The silence that followed my rejection was more profound and unsettling than any argument.

It was the sound of an Alpha accepting his defeat, at least for now.

A short while later, a nervous-looking servant appeared at the door to his chambers.

“Lady Selene,” she stammered, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and awe. “Alpha Zane has ordered me to prepare the grand guest suite for you, the one adjoining the Luna's wing. He said… he said you are to be treated as the most honored guest of the manor, with all the respect that entails.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper. “He has also reassigned all your former duties. You are not to serve.”

I stared at her, stunned into silence.

He hadn't punished me.

He had… elevated me.

He had accepted my boundary and, in his own clumsy, autocratic way, was trying to atone.

He was giving me a place of honor, even if it was a lonely one.

The grand guest suite was magnificent, a world away from the servant's quarters.

It had a sprawling four-poster bed, a private sitting room, and a balcony with a breathtaking view of the estate’s gardens.

He was giving me space.

It was a silent act of profound respect, a language he had never used with me before.

My heart was a battlefield.

One part of me, the part that remembered five years of lonely tears and endless struggle, was grateful for the distance, wary of his motives.

Another part, the part that had seen the raw, unshielded pain in his eyes, was deeply touched by his quiet acts of atonement.

He wasn't demanding my forgiveness; he was trying to earn it, one silent, painful sacrifice at a time.

The push and pull was agonizing.

The chasm of years and pain still felt too vast to cross, but for the first time, I saw a flicker of light on the other side.