Chapter 0416

"You left the room?" I hadn't heard a single sound all night. Honestly, I don't even recall drifting off to sleep.

"A simple sleeping charm works wonders. Now get up. Go take a shower. I left some clean clothes for you behind the door."

"What?"

He grips my arms and pulls me upright. "Shower. Now."

"Why?"

"You can't sit at breakfast looking like that."

"No—I mean why are you doing any of this?" I stare straight at him.

"I'm trying to prove I’m not the monster you think I am."

I let out a sharp laugh.

"They really convinced you I’m some kind of beast, didn’t they?" He shakes his head slowly. "I would never harm you."

He reaches toward my face, but I pull back. "Is that what you tell all of them? Sweet words, getting under their skin, making them believe lies? I’m not like the others. I won’t fall for it. You keep pretending this is for me. It’s not. You’re doing this for yourself. It’s that simple."

"What will it take for you to believe this is real?"

"Real? I don’t think you know what that word means."

His eyes narrow. I struck a nerve. He seizes my shoulders, spins me around, and shoves me toward the kitchen. A faint smile touches my lips. Maybe he was finally realizing he couldn’t win me over.

Alexander forces me into a chair. "Sit!" he snarls.

As I sit, he yanks my arms behind my back. I feel something cold and metallic—a chain—wrapping around my wrist. "Let’s try a different approach." He grabs my head, forcing it to the side. His rough fingers push my long hair away from my neck.

"Get off me."

"You won’t be able to resist once I mark you."

"Don’t you dare touch me." I growl, straining against the chains. "I am not your mate. You want to know my birth name? It doesn’t start with a D." I lie through my teeth. "It’s Monroe. Theodore Monroe."

His fingers still in my hair. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not." I had prepared myself to go this far. There was no way I was letting him mark me. That would bind me to him until death.

He drags my chair across the floor.

Crouching down, he locks his sage-green eyes on mine. The blue specks in them darken again—something that happens when he’s about to lose control. "What is your name?"

"Theodore Monroe." I say it clearly, confidently.

"Liar."

"And you’re a fool if you don’t believe me."

"I can smell you. You can’t hide that."

"Maybe your mind is playing tricks. Maybe you’re so obsessed with me you want to believe it’s true. I’ve seen stranger things happen." Clearly, detecting lies wasn’t one of his strengths. Idiot.

He taps my cheek lightly and turns away. "What’s your favorite pancake topping? I’m making you the best damn pancakes you’ve ever tasted."

"You mean you’re going to poison me?"

"No. Why would I do that? I’ve told you, Theodore. I like you. I like you a lot. I want you by my side."

He was delusional.

"What about your true mate?" He was so sure it was me, but I would never accept someone like him.

"We’ll see."

He turns my chair back toward the table and slides it forward until I’m seated properly. He moves away, muttering to himself as he pulls out what sounds like a dozen ingredients.

The window reflection shows his lips moving, but no sound comes out. It was like he was talking to himself—but then I catch his eyes. He was mind-linking someone.

It had to be Evelyn.