They Stole Her for a Breeding Den, She Chose the Alpha Who Let Her Leave novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: The Ledger

Darius's POV

She woke at four, the way she had told me she always did, and she went to the ovens.

I lay on the sacks in the cold and watched her light the pilot under the big steel oven with her bare arms white to the elbow with old flour.

She did it without thinking, and her hands knew every dial.

For a week I had seen her afraid, angry, brave and, once, on a dock, terrifying.

I had not seen her happy in her own kitchen.

I got up and put my trousers on.

The black book lay on the steel table where I had set it down, with its cord still tied.

My father had handed it to me at twenty-one, along with the ring, and I had kept it in a locked drawer for fifteen years.

I had read it more than once.

I had never once wished to be rid of it.

"Come here," I said.

She turned, dusted her hands down her apron, and came.

I pushed the book across the table toward her.

"What is it?"

"Every family at that table owes ours something. Money, a favor, a man buried, a daughter married off. Silas has run it for six years." I untied the cord. "It's why eleven men sit and vote the way he wants. Not one of them loves him."

She stared at the book.

"It's the leash," I said. "I'm giving you the end of it."

"Darius."

"If you tell them tomorrow that every debt is forgiven, Silas has no votes. If you read them out in the hall, he has no friends. If you burn it, he has nothing at all." I made myself keep my voice level. "It's yours. All of it."

← Chapter 20 · All chapters · Chapter 22 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend