Chapter 5: Kneel, and Let Me Burn
"You're hesitating," Bryant said, holding the collar like a command.
"Changed your mind already?"
Evelyn's heart thudded once.
She could feel every eye outside that door waiting. Waiting to hear what the monster girl would do. Waiting for her to flinch, to crawl.
She didn't.
Instead, she stepped forward.
And knelt.
Not gracefully.
Not like a lady.
She sank onto one knee, her chin lifted, her scar half-lit by the fire.
"I kneel," Evelyn said, "but on one condition."
Bryant's brow lifted. "You're negotiating now?"
"I am."
His grip on the collar didn't falter, but his voice dropped a notch. "You're in no position to bargain."
"I am if you want this to work."
He stared at her.
Silent.
Listening.
She could feel it again—the pull between them. Like wires drawn tight.
"No one touches me but you," she said.
His eyes darkened. "Territorial already?"
"Call it protection," Evelyn replied. "I wear your collar, I play your game—but I won't be passed around like a token."
His lips curled, faintly. Almost amused. "You think I share what's mine?"
She held her gaze steady. "Do you?"
He didn't answer with words.
Instead, he moved behind her.
Silent steps. Slow. Controlled.
And then—
The cold touch of leather against her throat.
Evelyn flinched—but not from fear.
It wasn't the collar.
It was the way he buckled it.
Firm.
Deliberate.
Possessive.
The soft click of silver locking into place echoed louder than it should have.
She swallowed.
And then she felt it—his breath near her ear.
"You're mine now, Evelyn," he said, voice low, almost intimate. "Which means your body… your rebellion… your silence… all belong to me."
"I'm not a thing."
"No. You're a storm I've decided to cage."
He stepped away, circling her like a predator with a leash he hadn't yet tugged.
She stood.
Slowly.
Defiantly.
The collar sat heavy around her neck, warm from his hands.
"This changes nothing," she said.
"This changes everything," he corrected. "You just handed me your leash. I'll see how far I can pull."
She was about to reply—sharp, clever—but a knock interrupted.
Callan stepped in.
The cheek Evelyn had cut was freshly stitched, swollen.
"My lord," he said stiffly. "Alpha Damon has arrived. He's waiting in the main hall."
Bryant didn't move.
Then—
"Let him wait," he said.
Callan blinked. "He… he came to see—"
"I said wait."
His eyes returned to Evelyn.
"Follow me," Bryant said. "You don't meet royalty in shadows anymore."
She didn't ask where they were going.
But as she walked behind him, collar snug around her throat, steps echoing beside his…
She knew exactly what she was walking into.
A room full of wolves.
A brother who wanted to destroy him.
And a kingdom that would now stare at his monster bride with sharpened teeth.
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[End of Chapter Five]