Chapter 160

_Author’s POV_

Rowena didn’t dress it up as she always did, she went ahead to explain in detail this time.

That was the thing about Rowena, she never performed her pain for anyone. She didn’t reach for dramatic words or let her voice wobble at the difficult parts. She just told it the way it happened and in the same calm tone she always had.

Alaric sat very still and listened.

She started from the beginning. The first day they moved her from the room to the gym on the lower floor of the facility. She hadn’t understood why at first, the gym was large, empty, equipment pushed to the walls, and the floor cleared in the middle.

Then they brought the three people in. Three of them were big and scary, the type of people who didn’t need to be told twice what they were there to do.

They weren’t even aiming for a particular information. They just tortured her and made sure not to be gentle about it.

Alaric’s hands resting on his knees clenched with every word that came out of Rowena’s mouth.

He had tried hard to stay calm but each word sent him over the edge.

She told him about the first session, how they had been careful about it, inflicting pain

She had said nothing useful to them, which they had expected. She explained how the force fed her and beat her up.

She didn’t go into every detail and he didn’t ask her to. He understood the shape of it from what she gave him, and the shape of it was enough to trigger him badly.

What she focused on instead was how she had kept herself together through it. She had counted things, the ceiling tiles, seconds between sounds, and the number of steps it took the men to cross the room. She had stayed in her head, kept her mind working, and refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing her come apart.

“Kyra would have helped,” she said, and it was the first moment where her voice changed slightly. “Having a wolf grounds you. Gives you something to hold onto when everything outside is trying to take you apart.” She paused. “Without her it was just me.

Alaric looked at her closely when she said that. She wasn’t looking at him in return, she was looking at her hands in her lap, seeming composed, and finishing what she’d started.

“But just me was enough,” she said simply. “I kept everything they might have wanted out of reach, so they got nothing.”

The room was quiet for a moment after she finished, Alaric hadn’t moved an inch. His face was controlled and at a closer look, you could see he was struggling with his control.

Rowena watched him carefully and sighed. “Say something,” she said.

He looked at her. “I don’t have the right words right now,” he said honestly.

“Then say the wrong ones.”

He was quiet for another moment, then, “I should have found you sooner.”

“You found me eventually,” she said. “That’s what matters.”

“Rowena…..”

“Alaric.” Her voice was firm but not unkind. “Don’t do that. Don’t carry it the way Reid carried his guilt and let it curdle into something else. You came at the right time, you always were going to come.” She held his gaze steadily. “I knew that, even in that gym, I knew that.”

Something crossed his face at those words, something he didn’t manage to keep below the surface in time.

He looked down briefly and then back up at her. When he spoke again his voice was lower than before. “You knew I was coming, right?”

“Yes,” she smiled thinly.

“Did it help you hold still?”

She didn’t answer that directly, Instead she looked at him for a long moment and then said something she probably hadn’t planned to say. “You’re the only person I’ve never had to explain myself to,” she said. “You just understand it. Whatever I say, whatever I decide, however I handle something. You understand it without me having to walk you through it.” She paused and continued. “That’s not a small thing.”

Alaric said nothing and just looked at her, the feelings grew daily and he wasn’t even ashamed of it.

“Rowena.” He called out softly. “I’m sorry once again for not showing up on time, and I promise to catch Virella. When I do, I’ll give you the right to punish her in whatever way you want.” He assured her.

Rowena nodded at him and smiled again. She already had lots of ideas on how to punish Virella when she’s caught.

Alaric moved from his seated position and sat beside her. Without thinking, he pulled her closer to himself and wrapped her in a hug.

Rowena let him wrap his arms around her, pulling him closer to herself as well.

Back in that room when she was injected, she’d never thought she would make it out alive.

That she would see him again.

She realized that Alaric wasn’t just a partner she wanted, but someone she couldn’t live without.

Being away from him had made her miss everything about him and also realized her feelings for him.

Alaric pulled back slightly and kissed her forehead. “I missed you so much.” He muttered into her hair.

“I missed you too, Alaric.” Rowena said back without moving.

“And I love you.” Alaric added.

Rowena thought about it, letting the silence reign for a long time before she mouthed the words. “I love you too.”