Bonds

Chapter 53

-Alex’s POV-

Eight years old.

That was the first time the crimson color of blood stained my world. It wasn’t a scrape from a fall, a burst lip from a careless tumble. No, this blood flowed freely, painting a gruesome scene etched forever in my memory.

win I wasn’t supposed to see it. Tucked away in a forgotten corner of my father’s study, hidden amongst towering bookshelves and leather–bound tomes, I became an unwilling witness. The man on the floor wasn’t fighting back. There was no struggle, no desperate pleas for mercy. Just a look of utter defeat etched on his face, his eyes wide and vacant, staring sightlessly into the distance.

his chest heaving, claws dripping with a crimson stain that mirrored the spreading pool beneath the man’s body. A guttural growl ripped from his throat, a sound primal and terrifying. “Get him out of my sight!” he commanded, his voice a low rumble that vibrated through

obscured by the gloom. Without a word, they grabbed the now lifeless body. the man’s limbs dangling

reaction. But as I huddled in my makeshift hiding place, a strange calmness washed over me. Curiosity, perhaps, or maybe a

voice, still laced with raw anger, echoed

my age, I understood the term, keep your friends close and my enemies closer. Damon Thome was a man I considered my enemy

into a reflection of his own monstrous being. Anything but that. I was never going to be like him. 1 would be just like her.

melt back into the shadows, a new conversation snagged my attention, anchoring me to

my m

Chapter 53

soft voice startled me. A petite nurse with a dazzling smile and a blush creeping up her cheeks stood in front of me. I hadn’t even realized when she walked up to me, “I will take you to him