Claimed by My Bestie's Alpha Daddy novel Chapter 181

Richard

The moment I stepped through the breach, the bond hit me like a punch to the chest. It wasn’t warm or welcoming. It burned with a sick, foreign pressure, the kind that clawed through bone instead of calling me toward her. My knees buckled under it, every part of me pulled tight around the sudden flood of sensation. The bond was alive again, but it was wrong.

It jammed itself back into place in all the wrong ways, sharp and misaligned like a bone forced to heal crooked. I didn’t just feel her presence. I felt her intent.

I saw it in her face, she didn’t want to threaten me. She wanted me dead.

I pressed a hand against the wall, dragging in a breath as I forced my legs to move. The hallway was dim and reeking of magic, its stone floors warped with heat, the walls slick with condensation. Somewhere deeper inside, a ward cracked and whined, but I didn’t stop. I could feel her, closer with every step, her aura wrapping tighter and tighter around my spine until it was hard to think. The pull wasn’t gentle or familiar; it was brutal, suffocating, and possessive in a way that made my skin crawl and ache all at once.

She stepped out from the shadows like she’d been waiting for me. Her hair was matted with sweat. Her shoulders were too still. Her face was pale, lips tinted dark fromfeeding, her eyes glassy and distant, like she hadn’t been sleeping —or like she hadn’t been herself.

“Amelia.

She tilted her head. Her mouth curled upward; not into a smile, but into something unreadable. “You came,” she said, like it surprised her.

My throat closed around the words. “Of course I came.”

She took a step forward, light on her feet, every movement deliberate. “You shouldn’t have.”

She was close enough to touch now. Her hand rose to my chest, fingers brushing over my shirt. Her eyes flicked to

– my face, and for a heartbeat, one single fragile moment, something in her expression flickered. Doubt?

Recognition?

Then she struck. Her hand slammed into my ribs so hard I thought I heard bone creak. Her claws dragged down through my side, a brutal, deliberate rip. I cried out and stumbled, warmth already flooding my shirt. The wall caught me, barely. I didn’t raise a hand. I wouldn’t, not against her.

Her claws raked through my side, slicing clean and deep. I gasped, stumbling back from the shock of it, but I didn’t raise a hand to stop her. The pain burst like heat, and blood soaked through the fabric of my shirt in an instant.

She didn’t hesitate. Her next blow came faster, and withmore force. I crashed into the wall, shoulder slamming into stone. She followed, grabbing me by the collar and snarling close to my ear.

“I trusted you,” she spat. “I waited for you. I fought for you.

And you left me. You went back to her.”

Blood was running down my ribs in a hot, constant line. I gritted my teeth. “I didn’t. I searched for you every hour of every day. I tore this kingdom apart looking for you.”

“Liar.”

She lunged at me again, a blur of heat and fury, and Slammed me to the ground. Her knees pinned my hips. I barely had time to breathe before her fangs buried in my shoulder, tearing into muscle with a violence I hadn’t thought her capable of.

My back slammed against the floor, the breath knocked from my lungs. She was on top of me, pinning me with a strength I didn’t recognize, like her body had been reworked with something crueler than willpower.

“You left me to rot,” she growled. “While you played house with Elsa and Jenny. While you smiled for cameras and made speeches.”

“I didn’t,” I said, my voice hoarse. “I’ve been dying every day since you disappeared.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Then maybe you should just finish it.”

She leaned down and sank her fangs into my neck. Itwasn’t tender. It wasn’t a bond mark. It was meant to hurt

The pain exploded white behind my eyes. Her bite tore deep, and my blood hit her tongue with a jolt that made her body freeze.

Her pupils blew wide and her body seized. She ripped back from me like she’d bitten into a live wire, mouth stained red and eyes wild with confusion.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify