301 The Promise

I stared at him, my wolf already howling with threats.

“Open it,” he said softly. “See for yourself.”

“What the hell is this?”

“I didn’t even know you were coming,” I said, folding my arms. “You could’ve given a heads-up.”

Lord Frederick rose too, but he didn’t move closer. His expression didn’t change, though his voice dropped into a more serious tone.

My brow furrowed slightly. “No. You tell me.”

He nodded. “And when she asked what I wanted in return… I told her I would think about it.”

I clenched my jaw, the scroll still unopened in my hand. My entire body was heating with disbelief and growing rage.

My lips parted, but no words came out. My breath hitched in my throat, and for a moment, everything felt too quiet.

“I meant no harm,” he murmured, giving me one last glance. “We’ll speak again… when you’re ready.”

My stomach turned. Not from fear—but from rage, like my life had been written without my consent.

My brows shot up. “Excuse me?”

“Do you know how I knew your great-grandmother, Hailee?”

I turned to Calvin, barely breathing.

That startled me a bit. “You saved her?”

For the first time, something flickered in Frederick’s expression: regret, maybe even sadness. But he nodded once, slowly, as though he’d expected this.

And damn, he looked… good.

I blinked, confused. “Yours? What does that mean?”

Lord Frederick didn’t even flinch. “I’m not lying.”

“It’s true,” he said quietly. “All of it.”

“What?”

The room was silent again, but the pressure hadn’t lifted from my chest.

The moment I reached the final step, I caught sight of Calvin standing in the sitting room, arms crossed as he spoke quietly to someone seated casually on one of the leather couches.

My heart thudded harder.

“You too,” I said, the words slipping past my lips…

“I knew Hailee was special, but she wasn’t the one I wanted. I asked her for someone instead—the next special one.” He paused, his voice soft but clear. “She gave me her word, that the one born with the next special ability… would be mine.”

My breath caught.

That made my spine stiffen slightly, but I nodded and followed him to the couch. He waited until I sat first before taking the seat opposite me. Calvin remained standing, arms crossed, watching us like a guard dog.

A faint, almost nostalgic smile played on his lips. “I saved her life once. A long time ago… when she was young, barely older than you are now.”

“What is this?” I asked, reaching out but not yet opening it.

Lord Frederick.

“I like surprises,” he replied smoothly. “Besides… you weren’t exactly reachable the last few days.”

A scroll.

Then he spoke.

I froze. “What?”

He chuckled. “Guilty. I figured if I’m going to show up uninvited, I might as well not look like a relic.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said, even though a part of me already did.

I tilted my head, skeptical. “So?”

I stood slowly, unsettled by the weight of his gaze. “What exactly are you saying?”

He turned as I approached, and when our eyes met, he stood up slowly, giving me a once-over that wasn’t exactly subtle. His gaze lingered for a second too long on my tied shirt and jeans before lifting to meet my eyes.

I glanced at Calvin, who didn’t look too thrilled about this whole situation.

And then he was gone–moving with supernatural speed out the door, vanishing before I could blink.

“That’s enough,” Calvin growled suddenly. He stepped between me and Frederick, his posture tense, protective. “You’ve said enough. She’s overwhelmed–and you’re scaring her. Leave.”

He met my gaze steadily. “A promise.”

“Olivia,” he said with a warm, low voice. “You look beautiful.”

Frederick reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and slowly pulled out something long and old, carefully wrapped in dark silk. He placed it gently on the table between us, then unwrapped it.

“I’m saying… I’ve waited for years. I haven’t aged a day because I’ve held off my own end. My time should’ve come and gone, but I refused it. I waited for you, Olivia.”

My stomach twisted again.

“If you don’t,” he said softly, “you’ll die.”

“You were promised to me, as my wife. That scroll in your hand… is your great-grandmother’s blood-sealed vow. Her word.”

“You’re lying,” I snapped, my voice sharp. “This is insane. You expect me to believe that I was promised to you?”

I leaned back into the couch, already having a bad feeling about this. Lord Frederick watched me with unnerving calm, the kind of stillness only someone not quite human could master.

“What do you want, Frederick?” I asked, keeping my tone polite.

“Even if what you’re saying is true–which I highly doubt,” I spat, “I’m not accepting it. Never.”

But I didn’t.

A real one. The parchment was aged, sealed with a blood-red wax emblem.

His expression stayed calm, though something darker dimmed his eyes. “You have to.”

Olivia’s POV

“I’m not threatening you, Olivia,” he said immediately, stepping back slightly as if to show he meant no harm. “I could never hurt you. That was the deal. Hailee made a pact sealed in blood. I am forbidden from ever causing you pain. But the magic in that scroll… it’s binding. If you reject the bond, the cost will fall on you.”

He looked young, relaxed, but there was still that unmistakable aura of power and quiet confidence that clung to him.

He looked at me, and the apology in his eyes told me everything I needed to know before he even spoke.

He wasn’t dressed like the uptight man I remembered seeing days ago. Gone was the formal cloak and the stiff suits. Instead, he wore a fitted black t-shirt that hugged his toned chest and dark jeans that hung low on his hips. A leather wristband circled his wrist, and his silver hair was slightly tousled, like he hadn’t bothered to fix it–or maybe he just liked looking effortlessly hot.

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he motioned toward the sitting area. “Can we sit? It’s not the kind of conversation you have while standing.”