The Alpha’s Fated Outcast: Rise Of The Moonsinger

Chapter 223 223: Clarissa...

Clarissa

What if love wasn't about leaving, but about staying – no matter the cost?

What if the person you adored carried dark, dangerous secrets, but instead of running, you found yourself drawn in even deeper?

They say love makes you blind. But what if it makes you see everything – every dark secret, every twisted deed – and you choose to stay anyway?

I've loved Nathan for as long as I can remember. At first, I thought it was because he chose Lyla over me. But it wasn't jealousy that kept me joined to the hip with him—it was the thrill, the fascination that grew each time I uncovered a part of him no one else saw.

I didn't fall in love with Nathan because he was perfect – he's far from that. I fell in love with him because I was the only one who saw his imperfections. Each time fate made me witness his darkest moments, each terrible secret I discovered, it only pulled me deeper under his spell.

While others saw the charming Alpha heir obsessed with Lyla, I alone saw the monster beneath the mask – and goddess! That monster was beautiful.

Call it madness, delusion of grandeur – loving a man capable of such things. But the first time I had stumbled on him lying next to his dead mother and weeping uncontrollably despite how it was taboo to do so to the dead, and how he would lay next to her each night… I knew he used to see me but wouldn't say anything.

When he opens to door to where she laid embalmed, he'll keep it half opened and I would spend the night with him. I felt special. Chosen. Like the universe itself was conspiring to show me the real Nathan, the one no one else would believe existed.

All the times, he had confided in me, or I had helped him bury his blood-stained clothes or help treat his cuts or run errands for him… instead of fear, it only made me fall harder.

I know he doesn't love me. Not yet. But that doesn't matter if everyone loved the people who loved them back, who will hurt? Who will be broken? Who will be bitter? More than anything, what matters more to me is that he belongs to me. Only I understand the darkness that lives inside him.

Only I can him for what he truly is.

And I'll make sure he never belongs to anyone else.

~~~

I sat at the vanity in our room carefully brushing out my long dark locs cascading over my shoulders like silk. A small smile played on my lips as I heard the heavy stomping of boots coming towards the room.

Nathan was angry.

in my mother's womb, had survived despite every force working

as he stormed in, grunting in frustration as he shrugged off his jacket, throwing it carelessly to the floor. He peeled off his shirt

to read a book. A while later, the sound of running water stopped and he came out of the

on the book as I turned a page absentmindedly pretending to be

didn't spare him a glance. His nakedness was nothing new, just as his cold silence had become a routine. Most days, he would only grunt at my

blue lingerie I wore was so transparent that it left little to the imagination, but I focused on my book. I felt rather than saw him stop in front of me, likely expecting me to

he wanted. I flipped the pages of my book with deliberate casualness while

shirtless. Instead

heart skipped

but I

Nathan had slept beside me was our wedding night. Our marriage had been a performance since he told me he would never love

remained where I was, flipping another page, though the words blurred. The only sound in the room was

he wasn't

bathroom. Once inside, I leaned against the

plans – plans he had been so sure

of us sleeping together was fifty-fifty. On one hand, I was dressed like Lyla – the way she styles her hair, the sheer blue lingerie that clung to

to get inside his head – he would shut me out completely. Lyla never asked questions. Lyla never

nodding in approval before washing my hands and reapplying Lyla's scent. When I returned, he was sitting in bed and

gaze as I slid beneath the covers, fully aware of the way his eyes lingered on me. Was he admiring

him the

I do something?" he

to him again, held his gaze for a moment, and then shrugged. "Nothing.

his brows furrowing slightly before sighing heavily and leaning back against the headboard.

your mother and the

"Thanks to you, they were able to perform the surgery in time and saved them

Silence again.

did you go? The maids said you

know, just here

there where exactly?" his voice