Five Mates Let Me Burn, So I Rejected Them All novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: One Breath
Althea's POV
At noon I stood in front of the altar with the cracked stone in my hand.
It was dull again, and the silver threads had gone back to wherever they live.
The Temple was almost empty.
I had asked for that, and the priestess had cleared it, so that only the wardens at the doors and the grey widow in the first pew were there to hear.
Five men came up the aisle with their faces washed and their knees stiff.
They stopped in a line on the marble where they had first knelt, and for a moment nobody spoke.
"You came," I said.
Ronan almost smiled.
"Hear me once, because I won't say it twice," I said. "I rejected you in this room because you had already left me, and the law was kind enough to let me say so."
"I'd do it again," I said.
"We know," said Corin quietly.
"I rejected you because I had died once for being the wife you didn't want."
None of them moved.
"But I have watched you for twenty days," I said. "I watched Ronan kneel all night and refuse a blanket. I watched Elias leave his post for me. I watched Corin burn a note and Nolan cry on the stones and the healer count mornings."
"And I've decided what I want."
The grey widow in the first pew leaned forward.
"Moon Law says a bond comes back only if the female offers it," I said. "I'm offering. With terms."
"Name them," said Ronan.
"Three years."
A pause.
"Three years, and then I look at each of you again, and we decide fresh. That's the term. It's the same wait the law gave you."
Keep reading free with an account. Start Five Mates Let Me Burn, So I Rejected Them All from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
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