CHAPTER 8
Bryant's POV
I got down from my carriage with rage practically vibrating off my skin.
The ride back from the Western Palace had done nothing to settle the storm within me. My father's words echoed like poison in my ears, "You can't hold the throne without a Luna by your side..."
He knew exactly what he was doing—trying to trap me. To plant someone in my life, in my court, in my bed. Someone he could manipulate to control me.
I knew my father far too well.
He never relinquished power without leaving a leash behind.
I stormed into my manor, my boots thudding against the stone floor, each step fueled by frustration. I couldn't afford to lose what I'd built over the years. The alliances, the fear, the dominance. Everything could crumble with one wrong choice.
And then—
Rosa.
Her face flashed in my mind, uninvited and unwelcome. That stubborn fire in her eyes. That ridiculous attempt to stab me. The way she bore the pain without screaming.
She was infuriating. Unpredictable. Reckless.
Yet… in that unpredictability lay something I could shape.
She was mine. I had marked her. Claimed her. I knew it was a rash decision that night, but part of me couldn't stand the thought of letting her go. Not to the wild. Not to death.
And definitely not to another man.
I sat behind my desk and, with a clenched jaw, drafted a contract. My quill scratched against the parchment, each word written faster than I could think. It was binding. Formal. Unquestionable.
Once it was done, I folded the parchment and handed it to Kael.
"Get her," I ordered. "Bring her to me. Now."
Kael raised a brow but didn't question it. He never did.
I leaned back in my chair, dragging my fingers through my hair, exhaling sharply.
What the hell was I doing?
This wasn't how I handled things. I didn't act on impulse. I didn't let emotions drive decisions. But here I was, penning a contract for a girl who'd tried to kill me—and for some damned reason, I still couldn't get her out of my head.
I wasn't sure if it was anger, obsession, or desperation.
But it seemed like the only way out.
The only way to beat my father at his game…
Was to play on my own.
And Rosa?
She was about to become my next move.