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CHAPTER 156
~Valerie's POV~
My fists clenched. Riven hadn't been there. He didn't see the way she looked at me before I kissed her. The way she melted, even if only for a second.
Riven's eyes gleamed red, just faintly, like a flicker beneath the surface. "Funny, isn't it? You walk around like she's already yours, but the second she finds comfort elsewhere, the wolf in you panics. That bond's messy, Dristan. Unpredictable. Not the kind you can control."
"I don't need to control her," I bit out. "Valerie's not a puppet."
"No, but you hate that she chooses something other than you. You hate that it's not you she ran to when her world cracked."
I stepped forward, closing the space between us. "Say her name again, Alucard, and I'll give the Council something to discuss besides policies and titles."
Riven's smile only widened, and that was the worst part. He wanted me to snap. He wanted me to slip.
But I wouldn't, not here.