🔹️THORNE
I watched her grip tighten around the shard and the bond screamed for me to stop her. Despite what she had done—it was instinctual.
"I am only making you choose." She smirked. "Me or Seraphina."
As her name slipped out of her mouth, I took a step forward before I realized I had moved. I barely registered anything else, my focus narrowed until there was only her—ashen, defiant. She turned fully toward me.
"Don't you dare utter her name."
Althea's chin raised. "She is the reason you hesitate. The reason you keep me at arm's length while the bond pulls you apart from the inside. You want me."
I grit my teeth as my decision settled into my chest. "I will never claim you. You will never have me."
Her face crumbled, pain bleeding through as she spat, "You are a fucking liar." She pressed the shard deeper, blood flowing.
