Fated To Not Just One, But Three

Chapter 321: At My Door

Lennox’s POV

The first knock came soft and hesitant, like she was afraid even to knock. I didn’t move. I’d heard her long before she reached my door. Her scent had found me first—that maddening, intoxicating scent that set every nerve in me on fire. Then came her voice, gentle and pleading, slipping through the mind link. "Lennox... please open up."

I clenched my jaw and stared at the wall, forcing my heartbeat to steady. I was a mess and didn’t want to face her now. But when she spoke again, something in her tone chipped at the wall I’d built.

"Lennox... please." The sound of her voice slid under my skin like it belonged there, stirring things I wanted to bury.

I inhaled slowly and deeply but didn’t answer. Because if I answered, I might let her in, and if I let her in... she’d see the mess she’d made of me. The scent of her cooking reached me next. My favorite. Damn her. She remembered. Of course she remembered.

I kept my eyes on the floor, but every word she sent through the link hit harder than I wanted it to. "You can remain angry at me if you want. You can ignore me forever. But you’re not going to starve because you’re too stubborn to see me."

She didn’t understand. It wasn’t just anger. It was the way her words earlier had hurt me. It was the image of her looking at me like I was the last person she wanted near her. I’d rather go hungry than pretend that didn’t matter.

Then I heard it—the sound of her sitting down on the other side of the door. "I’ll be here... When you’re ready to open the door... I’ll be here."

I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the chair. I didn’t deserve her waiting for me. And yet... I sat there listening to the steady rhythm of her breathing through the barrier between us, every inhale and exhale finding its way into the cracks I swore I’d keep sealed.

again, his voice

had a pull of its own. My chest tightened. I was still furious—furious that of all the

her. Because if she did, she would

link, quieter this time and a bit shaky. "Do you remember... "She began, hesitation brushing against my mind, "a week before my fourteenth birthday? When you

already knew where she was going. "I lied to you," she said, the words laced with shame. "I told you I was at Anita’s house... when

like a punch to the chest. I could still see it—walking into that café, finding her sitting across from him, smiling faintly while

explain, told you he’d been begging me to go with him, and I just...

her doing anything to "make Silas happy" made something dark coil

continued softly. "But you didn’t. You wouldn’t see me.

that silence. I’d locked myself away, too angry to trust what might come out of my mouth if

room for hours," she said, her voice trembling now. "And somewhere in the middle of the night...

jumped in my jaw. That night I’d carried her in while she slept, tucking her under my blanket, and sat in the chair watching

whispered through the link. I’m

through the bond—the soft shuddering of her crying. It hit me square