The ground shook behind them.
A roaring explosion split through the air—a shockwave so powerful it sent birds scattering from the treetops, their panicked cries piercing the early dawn.
The cave was gone.
The portal was gone.
And with it, her world.
Melodie went still.
Her chest felt hollow. Her ears rang with the force of the destruction, but she didn't care.
She barely felt the strong arms holding her down, the warmth of Malec's lap, or the rhythmic movement of the horse beneath them.
All she could do was watch.
Watch as the place she had fought so hard to reach—the place that should have been her escape—was reduced to rubble.
The smoke curled into the sky, rising higher and higher like the final funeral pyre of everything she had left behind.
And just like that—
Her mission was over.
Her father was gone.
Her people were safe.
She had won.
Then why did it feel like she had lost everything?
A deep, shuddering sob tore through her throat.
She bit her lip, tried to hold it in, but it was useless.
Her vision blurred.
Her body trembled.
Tears spilled silently down her cheeks, dropping onto the fabric of Malec's coat.
He felt them.
He always felt everything.
Above her, she sensed his stare, his body still against her as the other riders slowed their horses to a halt.
The entire group watched the cave burn.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Even the wind held its breath.
But Malec—
Malec only watched her.
He had won too.
The cave was gone.
The threat was eliminated.
Nothing stood between them anymore.
She was his.
Forever.
Yet…
A strange, heavy feeling settled in his chest as he looked down at his little dove—the one he had fought so hard to keep.
She had never cried before.
Not when she was beaten, not when she was humiliated, not when she had been caged like an animal.
Not even when she had realized she would never be free.
But now—
Now, she was breaking.
And for the first time, he hated it.
Something deep inside him twisted.
Something unfamiliar.
Something that told him he had made a terrible mistake.
Malec clenched his jaw.
He could force her body to stay by his side, but her heart—her soul—that would take time.
And time was the one thing he had in abundance.
He would wait.
He would earn her.
He would make her see—
That she was never meant to leave him.
That she belonged to him.
And one day—
One day, she would accept it.
A slow, unreadable smile touched his lips as he pressed a kiss to the top of her shaking head.
"Shh, little dove," he murmured, his voice a soothing purr against her ear.
"You're home now."
Melodie sat stiffly in her enemy's lap, his arms wrapped too tightly around her, his breath brushing against her ear as he had the audacity to kiss her head.
And then—
Then, he had the nerve to whisper the most horrifying words she had ever heard in her life.
"You're home now."
Her blood boiled.
Her fingers curled into fists.
Her teeth clenched so hard her jaw ached.
She was home? HOME?
She had no home anymore because of HIM.
She had one purpose—one goal—and he had stolen it from her.
The cave was gone.
Her father was gone.
Her entire species' survival now rested in the hands of men with guns and science in another world—a world she would never see again.
Because of him.
Because he had decided—**without her consent, without her permission, without even a shred of mercy—**that she would belong to him.
No.
Not like this.
She jerked violently in his hold, struggling to get down.
But his grip tightened, his arms locking around her like steel chains, an unbreakable cage disguised as a gentle restraint.
"Shhh, little dove," Malec murmured, his voice velvet soft, as if trying to soothe her.
Soften her.
Break her down.
She glared up at him, shaking, her rage blinding.
"Why?"
The question was barely a whisper, but it cut through the cold morning air like a blade.
Malec looked down at her, his stone colored eyes calm, almost curious, as if he had no idea why she would ask such a thing.
She hated that look.
That detached arrogance.
That unshakable confidence.
He was so sure of himself.
So sure that she would bend.
That she would accept this.
That she would ever stop fighting.
"Why me?" she demanded, her voice sharper now, cutting through the silence like a dagger to his throat.
"Why did you choose me? Why did you take everything from me? Why did you decide that I am nothing more than some pet to be kept in a cage?"
Something flickered in his gaze, something deep, something dark—but it was gone in an instant.
"You are not nothing," he said simply, as if that was an explanation, as if that justified everything he had done to her.
Her stomach twisted in disgust.
She was so much more than what he wanted her to be.
She was a soldier.
A highly skilled, highly trained officer who had single-handedly figured out the origin of the disease that nearly wiped out her people.
She had tracked down the cure.
She had saved her species from extinction.
She had burned her only way home to the ground to ensure humanity's survival.
And what was she now?
A doll.
A house pet.
A prized possession for a monster who thought he owned her.
She refused.
Malec had taken everything from her—
Her freedom.
Her family.
Her future.
And now?
Now, she would rip something from him.
She would shred him apart piece by piece, tear through that cold, arrogant shell he wrapped himself in until there was nothing left but raw, miserable regret.
He thought he could break her?
He thought she would bend, obey, submit?
No.
She would rot in this prison before she ever let him win.
And if she was going to suffer in this hell, then she would drag him down with her.
"Fine."
The word was poison on her tongue, her body going still in his arms—not in defeat, but in silent, simmering rage, the kind that set fire to everything in its path.
Her hatred burned white-hot, but her voice was icy, lethal when she spoke.
"You want me, Malec? Fine. But I swear to God—before I leave this world, before I take my last breath—I will make you wish you never laid eyes on me."
TO BE CONTINUED…........
Book 2 in the works! Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE!!!!!!!!!