CHAPTER 118
The word mate hung in the air, vibrating with a significance that made the very shadows of the room go still.
Isabella felt the air leave her lungs. She had expected a rejection or a cold dismissal, but she hadn't expected this.
"Worthy?" she echoed. The "hard girl" armor she had spent all day welding together was now a pile of scrap metal at her feet.
She searched his face for a lie, but his crimson eyes were drowning in genuine remorse. Lucian let out a breath, his hands clenching into fists to stop the trembling.
"I looked at you in that forest and saw nothing but a meal. I called you names that should never have touched your ears. From the very beginning, I treated you like a common scavenger."
He stepped forward until he stood just inches from the bed. "Every time I look at you," Lucian continued, his voice hoarse "I see the girl in that trap. I see the blood on my hands and the hunger in my eyes. I don't blame you for rejecting me that night."
