<h4>Chapter 489: To Be Loved</h4>


    <strong>****************</strong>


    <strong>Chapter 489</strong>


    <strong>~E’s POV~</strong>


    I blinked.


    Richard’s words rang in my ears, soft but heavy, like a stone dropped into still water.


    <i>"Will you travel back to the Lycan Kingdom with me?"</i>


    I hadn’t expected that. Not tonight or after everything. I just thought he’d want something more, something connected and rted to our bond and rtionship but this...


    It was a much bigger, bolder step forward.


    I stared at him, unsure if I’d heard him right—or if maybe my mind was just ying some cruel trick.


    For a second, I didn’t know what to say. My heart beat faster, louder, and I could feel Vicky stirring beneath my skin, her energy surging toward him like a ma finally free.


    But I smiled slowly and softly.


    Richard waited, his expression unreadable now. Behind his eyes, there was silent fear—not the fear of rejection, but the fear of hoping too much, of wanting too much.


    "I—" I started, but the words caught in my throat.


    He leaned forward a little, his thumb brushing over my hand. "E...?"


    Still I didn’t speak.


    He gave me a small, lopsided smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. "I’m not trying to rush you. I just... I want you with me. And I want you to see what my world is like. Not the duties. Not the pressure. Just... the real parts. The parts I want to share with you."


    I swallowed hard, emotions swelling in my chest like a tide I couldn’t hold back. His voice was so genuine, so full of longing and hope, and I realised in that moment...


    I wanted that too.


    I always wanted that with Kent because of how much I loved him but he turned out to be a jerk. And Ares, although he lied to me, was also genuine.


    So far, Richard had done none of those. Instead, he had been gentle for a lycan and definitely not like his King and Alpha.


    I chose to give him a chance. I wanted love and happiness. Zara was right; I deserved it.


    I nodded slowly, then said it aloud so he wouldn’t miss it, "Yes."


    Richard’s eyes widened just a fraction. And then—just like that—the tension in his shoulders dropped.


    "You mean it?"


    "I mean it," I whispered. "Yes, I’ll go with you."


    Richard didn’t wait another second.


    His arms wrapped around me tightly as he pulled me into his chest, and I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.


    Richard smelled like cedarwood and wind—grounding, warm, familiar. I buried my face in his neck, and he kissed the side of my head gently.


    And then his lips found mine again.


    But this time it was slower, intimate, tender,yered with everything he didn’t say but I could feel.


    My hands moved to the nape of his neck, curling into his hair, and his body pressed closer, warm and steady and real. His kiss deepened, and I let myself get lost in it for a moment.


    He kissed me like a man who had been waiting to exhale. Like someone who thought he might never get this again. And I kissed him back with everything I didn’t know how to say.


    When we finally broke apart, both breathless, I rested my forehead against his, smiling like a fool.


    "I have to tell Zara," I murmured.


    Richard leaned back just enough to look at me. "Of course. I can drop you at her ce."


    "Thank you."


    "She deserves to know. And I know how important she is to you."


    I nodded, that soft grin still tugging at my lips. "She’s... more than a friend. She’s family."


    "Then I’ll wait outside if you want," he said gently, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "Let you two talk. No pressure."


    "No," I said, leaning in again to kiss his cheek. "Wait inside with me. If I know Zara, she’ll want to interrogate you at some point anyway."


    Richard chuckled, then pulled me into another hug, resting his chin on my shoulder. "Whatever makes you happy."


    "This," I whispered against his shirt, my fingers curling into his back. "This right here is making me happy."


    For the first time in a long time, the ache in my chest began to fade.


    And for once, the future didn’t seem so frightening. It felt like a beginning. Our beginning.


    "So you want to go now or...?"


    "I’ll use the shower first. I’ll be quick."


    Richard giggled as he leaned back against the couch. "Take your time, mate."


    I giggled lile a school girl before dashing off.


    <strong>***************</strong>


    <strong>~Snow’s POV~</strong>


    Something shifted. I felt it before I even registered what it was.


    A flicker of something raw... personal. Not dangerous or painful but with certain closeness.


    Too close.


    Zara.


    My chest tightened with a force that didn’t belong to fear—but to instinct. A deep, part of me stirred, growling low beneath my skin like a warning.


    She was being watched.


    Not hunted, stalked, but watched—with interest, with admiration. That kind of gaze had a scent to it, even across distance. It rolled across the mate bond like heat on water.


    <i>"Someone’s watching her," </i>cier groaned within me.


    I stood still in the center of Draven’s war room, my hands hovering over a map we’d been reviewing, but my thoughts were no longer there.


    She wasn’t in danger. Not yet. But someone was too close. And they wanted her.


    I clenched my jaw.


    Was it Kaid? No. I shook my head and cancelled that thought. It couldn’t be him, right?


    Gods.


    I raked my hand through my hair.


    I hated being this far from her. Hated how that who knows whom hade back into her orbit just when things were beginning to settle.


    Was it a dark witch or was it whom?


    My mind drifted to the dragon royal, Davion. He may have looked polite in public and smiled like royalty—but I knew his kind. Predators wore charm like cologne.


    "Snow."


    I turned. Alpha Draven stood just inside the doorway, a faint smudge of dust on his shoulder and a scroll in his hand.


    "Alpha Alexander just sent word."