Fated To Not Just One, But Three

Chapter 410: Attraction

Frederick’s POV

I led Selene down the hallway, my hand still cupping her face. Her skin was soft, trembling under my touch, and her tears clung to my fingers like dew. She looked fragile, breakable—everything Olivia refused to be.

"Forget her," I murmured again, softer this time, though my chest still heaved from the fury boiling inside me. "She doesn’t know what she’s doing. Don’t take her words to heart."

Selene sniffled, lowering her lashes. "I... I’ll try, my lord." Her voice trembled, and I hated how wounded she looked. What the hell was happening to me? Why did I care for a woman? This was a first. Ever since Hailee, I hadn’t cared for anyone. With Olivia, I forced myself to try, still struggling every step of the way. But with Selene... it came naturally. The night I first saw her, something inside me shifted—an urge to protect her. I couldn’t explain it.

Sometimes I told myself it was because of her pure hybrid blood. I wanted a taste of it—if she gave it willingly, it would make me twice as powerful as I already was. That was the excuse I kept clinging to, the reason I gave myself for being kind to her. But deep down, I knew it was a lie. I don’t fake attention for anyone, not for anything. So why was I so easily drawn to Selene? Why was I putting her above Olivia, when it shouldn’t be so? Olivia was supposed to be the one I wanted. Since I couldn’t have Hailee, I chose Olivia. And yet here I was, defending a woman I barely knew, siding with her instead of Olivia.

Selene suddenly spoke, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Do you... regret binding yourself to her?" she asked, almost too gently.

I froze. My eyes snapped to her, and she flinched. "Never ask me that again," I growled. "Olivia is chained to me."

Selene looked frightened by the way I snapped and nodded her head before looking away. My chest tightened with guilt. I cursed myself inwardly, hating how easily I lost control.

apologized easily—but I meant them. For Selene, I meant them. For

the hell was wrong with me? Why did I feel so dangerously drawn to

then stopped. I hated how soft my voice sounded. I

the dim light.

Something hot burned in my chest, not fury this time but something far more. It was protection, possessive. The same madness Olivia dragged out of me, but this was softer and

"Don’t thank me," I muttered. "I don’t even know

care," she said quickly, almost desperately. Her small hand reached out, brushing the back of mine. "You are a good man,

man... it had been ages since someone said this to me, and the last person who did was Hailee. My breath caught. Her touch was light, but it lit a fire across my skin. For a heartbeat, I saw young Hailee—stubborn lips, fiery eyes—and the urge that always rode me when she defied me. But Selene wasn’t Hailee. She wasn’t even related to her, so why am I seeing Hailee in

she leaned

just slightly,

pulled back. I should have reminded her who she was and who I was.

my sleeve, pulling me closer, and I deepened it before I could stop myself. Her tears tasted like salt. Her blood scent, sharp and pure, made me snarl in the back of my mind. I felt the urge to take her, to claim her. To sink my

unsteady. I looked at Selene. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips trembling, and her eyes