"I have a past," he said quietly.
Isabella raised an eyebrow. "Obviously."
Cyrus almost laughed, but the sound died in his throat. His expression tightened again, eyes turning heavy with pain.
"I ca from Fifth City," he admitted.
Isabella’s expression did not change much, but inside her mind, pieces clicked into place. The wrist binding charm. Kian’s recognition. Cyrus’s stiffening.
She did not interrupt.
Cyrus continued, voice low, as if he feared the walls themselves might hear.
"In Fifth City... there are people who trade rare beasts and females like they are livestock," he said. His hand clenched as he rembered the past and everything that had happened to not just him but also the poor people.
"They do not only buy and sell. They also capture. They use trained n, marked and controlled, to locate mountain beasts and drag them down."
His eyes flickered as if seeing sothing else.
"I was useful to them," he admitted bitterly. "Because I could sense rare beasts in the mountains. I could follow spiritual traces. I could find what others could not."
Isabella’s chest tightened. She had guessed sothing like this, but hearing it spoken out loud still made her stomach twist.
She could also see from looking at Cyrus how much he hated talking about what happened in his past.
She could only imagine how much suffering he must have gone through. She felt her heart clench just at the thought.
"They made you do it," she said trying to keep her emotions in check.
Cyrus nodded, jaw tight. He was still scared of Isabella hating him for his past. But he already made up his mind that since she was his mate now it was only natural she knew everything about him.
"They sent on missions," he continued. "We captured beasts. Sotis we captured n. Sotis... females. Fertile female who would be used for reproducing, rare males who would be locked up and sotis trained for more capturing. I did not choose it," he said, voice rough. "If I refused, they would punish the others."
He paused. His breathing shook slightly.
"The n I call brothers are not my real brothers," he said. "They were just boys like , raised in the sa place, controlled the sa way. We grew up together. We survived together."
His gaze lifted, eyes burning with a fierce light now, like a snake lifting its head from tall grass.
"When I realized what Fifth City truly was, when I realized we were never going to be free, I made a decision," he said.
He swallowed hard. "I helped them escape. I broke the tracker charm on my wrist. I fled."
Isabella watched him carefully.
She expected guilt, tears, sha.
Instead, what she saw was a man who had carried chains for so long that even freedom felt like a cri.
"And you ran until you found ," Isabella said softly.
Cyrus’s lips parted. His eyes softened painfully.
"Yes," he whispered. "And when I t you... I thought I could finally be soone else."
His gaze dropped again, voice trembling.
"But Fifth City does not forget," he said. "They will co. If they found those attackers, if they recognized that charm... they may already be searching. And if they co here..."
His eyes snapped up, desperation raw.
"They will hurt you," he said. "They will take you. They will take our babies."
Isabella’s heart clenched, but her face stayed steady.
"So you were thinking of leaving," she said.
Cyrus froze.
His silence was answer enough.
Isabella stared at him for a long mont, then reached out and cupped his face with her hand. She did it gently, not allowing him to pull away this ti.
Cyrus’s breath hitched. His eyes widened slightly. He did not move. He looked like soone terrified that if he blinked, she would vanish.
"I am listening," Isabella said calmly. "And I am not judging you. You are here now. That is what matters."
Cyrus’s eyes trembled. His throat tightened.
"But I..." he began.
Isabella cut him off imdiately.
"But nothing," she said. "If Fifth City cos, we fight. If they send enforcers, we kill them. If they think they can buy people like livestock, we show them teeth."
Her hand slid down to his chest, fingers resting there firmly, as if anchoring him to the present.
"And you," she added, eyes narrowing, "will not leave."
Cyrus stared at her.
Isabella leaned in slightly, her voice dropping into sothing dangerously gentle.
"If you leave," she said, "and I look for you, I will find you. Do you understand. I will drag you back by your tail, and I will torture you."
Cyrus blinked.
The words were harsh, but the way she said them was so Isabella that it was almost ridiculous. She sounded like a small angry queen threatening a giant snake who had tried to slither away.
For a second, his tight expression cracked.
A short laugh escaped his throat, rough and surprised, like he hadn’t laughed properly in a long ti.
Isabella’s lips curved faintly. "There," she said. "That laugh proves you are still alive inside. Now promise ."
Cyrus swallowed, eyes shining.
"I promise," he said quietly. "I will not leave."
Isabella nodded, satisfied.
"Good," she said. "Because if you try, you will learn that a pregnant woman can still be terrifying."
Cyrus’s chest shook with a small, real laugh this ti. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead gently to hers, careful of her belly, careful of the softness in her eyes.
"I am sorry," he whispered. "For pulling away."
Isabella huffed softly. "If you pull away again, I will bite you."
Cyrus’s eyes widened slightly, then softened with warmth. "If you bite , I will accept it."
Isabella rolled her eyes, but her heart finally loosened.
Outside the corridor, winter wind scratched at the stone palace walls. Sowhere far away, bigger cities watched and planned. Inside this village, Isabella’s hand rested on Cyrus’s chest, and her gaze was sharp with a promise that did not need to be spoken aloud.
They could co.
This ti, they would find a village that had teeth.
...
Hey, if you have gotten this far you might as well gift this author🙂
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