The Gate He Closed Became My Crown Chapter 08

The Gate He Closed Became My Crown Chapter 08

Marcus’s attempt at dignity lasted only as long as Caelan allowed it.

“A misunderstanding,” Caelan repeated.

Frost still clung to the floor around his boots. The broken ruby lay near my feet, each fragment bright against the marble.

Marcus swallowed.

“Sienna and I were once promised to each other,” he said. “We were fated mates. The bord was never properly released.”

He turned to me with a look I had once mistaken for tenderness.

“Sienna, tell them. We were together for seven years. Whatever happened between us, the bond was real.”

“The promise was real,” I said. “Until you broke it.”

“You were angry. You left before we could speak properly.”

“You let go of my hand at the altar and chose another woman in front of every noble house sworn to Blackthorn.”

Clara’s fingers curled into her skirt, but Marcus no longer looked at her.

“I made a political choice,” he said quickly. “Clara’s bloodline could secure my lordship. You knew what Blackthorn needed.”

“What Blackthorn needed was honor.”

Caelan stood close behind me, but the words were mine to give.

“You asked me to wait in the shadows while Clara gave you legitimacy. You promised me a title later, after I had already been humiliated. That was not a bond. That was ownership.”

Marcus’s composure cracked.

“Sienna, I was wrong. But you cannot pretend there is nothing left between us.”

“There is nothing left.”

His eyes moved to Caelan.

“You chose him because I hurt you. That is all. He found you wounded and angry, and you let him replace me.”

1 covered Carlan’s hand with mine

“In this life, my only mate is Caelan Frost.”

The bond answered before anyone else could.

Silver-blue light rose beneath my skin and flowed into Caelan’s hand, bright and unmistakable. It was not the fragile ceremony Marcus had abandoned it was a completed Dragon bond, blessed by the Dragon Goddess and sealed by choice.

Caelan’s fingers closed around mine, careful of the bruises, and the cold in the room softened around me and Theo.

Marcus stared at the bond light

“No. She would not bless this ”

Clara let out a broken laugh.

“Now you care about the Dragon Goddess?”

Marcus turned on her.

“Be quiet”

But Clara had already lost too much to obey him.

“You told everyone our union was blessed. You paraded me through Blackthorn Keep as your chosen mate. You said my child would be the pure-blooded heir.

Marcus’s mouth opened, but nothing useful came out.

“Say it,” Clara snapped. “Tell them the truth.”

He backed away half a step.

“Sienna, listen to me. Clara and I never completed the Dragon bond. The Dragon Goddess never accepted her.”

Clara screamed his name.

Royal guards seized her before she could reach him, but she kept struggling.

“You used me. You used my bloodline, my child, my family name—”

“You knew what this was,” Marcus snapped. “You wanted the title as much as I did.”

“And our son?” she demanded. “Was he only useful while you thought Sienna would never return?”

Marcus did not answer quickly enough.

The Blackthorn elders withdrew from him without a word.

Marcus saw the room leaving him.

“Sienna, come back to me,” he said. “I will complete the Dragon bond properly. I will give you the ceremony you deserved. The whole court will witness it.”

“No.”

“I will raise your child as mine.”

Caelan’s power lashed through the hall.

Marcus dropped to one knee under the pressure, but desperation kept words spilling from him.

“I will make you the true Lady of Blackthorn. Clara means nothing. Her son means nothing. He was only a tool to secure what should have been ours.”

Clara went rigid in the guards’ hold.

Carlan’s voice cut through Marcus’s pleading

“The Dragon Goddess does not bless traitors.”

Marcus looked up at me

“She will forgive me if you return, the bond can be restored. It has to be restored”

I had loved him for seven years and mistaken ambition for duty because I wanted to believe the man I loved could not be small.

Now he was on his knees in front of the court, begging not for me, but for the throne he had lost through me.

“Marcus.”

His eyes lifted, hungry for mercy.

“I am grateful for one thing

Hope flickered across his takes

“I am grateful I left you three years ago.

The last color drained from him.

I turned from Marcus Blackthorn and took Caelan’s hand.

Behind us, Clara began laughing through her tears, and Marcus remained on the marble floor, staring at the bond-light he could neveTM claim.