Bonds at War: The Untouched is Mine novel Chapter 369

Chapter 369 Mocking

LUNA

“Axe?” Abel turned to me with a small frown.

“Jaxon?” I asked, looking into his eyes.

And then it clicked.

This was him. The name I’d only ever heard whispered between the lines of Abel’s guarded silences. Abel’s cousin–the same one who happened to be the source of the conflict I was in.

Once the realization sank in, the change in the air felt even more evident. The soft clatter of practice weapons faded, the shouts and laughter of training dissolving into silence.

It wasn’t until Tyson’s sharp voice cut through the silence that I realized the warriors had stopped moving. He stood a few feet away, his gaze bouncing between Abel and Jaxon.

For a long, heavy moment, no one moved. Then Tyson met Abel’s eyes. A silent message passed between them.

Abel nodded once.

Tyson exhaled, straightened, and turned toward the gathered trainees. “That’s enough for today!” he barked. “Clear the grounds–now!”

The warriors hesitated for only a second before scattering. Even the ones who were pretending to spar dropped everything and left quickly. Their footsteps pounded the dirt in unison until all that was left was dust.

Soon, it was just me, Abel, Tyson, Jaxon, and the small group of his cousins who’d lingered behind.

Jaxon stood in front, looking infuriatingly composed, his smirk growing wider.

“You didn’t have to make them go away,” he said lazily. “Why? You don’t want them to see how possessive you are?”

Abel didn’t answer him, but I could feel his pulse racing against me.

I looked between them, my throat dry. “You two know each other?” Abel whispered to me then, sounding like he already knew the answer and dreaded hearing it.

I hesitated, glancing at Jaxon, whose smirk deepened. “He was the one who told me about your curse,” I murmured quietly.

Abel’s entire body tensed. He bit his lip hard, then tilted his head back, eyes closing briefly before snapping open again.

Jaxon laughed. Loud and sharp.

“Oh, that’s rich,” he said, stepping forward. “You really kept it from her until the end, huh? Sorry,” he added unapologetically. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said it out loud.”

Jaxon’s laughter only grew. He glanced back at the others, his cousins–all wearing that same knowing smirk.

The one with long blonde hair and sharp cheekbones stepped forward, studying me for a long moment. “I’ll give it to you,” she said finally. “You’re really pretty.”

“But,” she continued, “you’re going to die soon if you stay with him.”

My frown deepened.

“You need to be tactical about this,” she added. “You seem nice. Sweet. But you don’t belong in this curse of a bloodline. If you were smart, you’d run while still can.”

Abel’s growl rumbled low in his chest. It sent a shiver through the ground beneath us.

“Starr,” he warned.

But she only shrugged, unfazed. “It’s the truth. You think she deserves to die because of your title?”

Before Abel could respond, Jaxon stepped closer. He stopped only a few feet from me, and I could feel the heat of Abel’s arm tightening protectively around me, drawing me closer into his side.

“If I were you,” he said, dripping with false sincerity, “I’d come with me.”

I stared at him, stunned.

“I’ll give you a much better life than Abel ever could,” he went on. “No curses. No enemies waiting to rip you apart. No sleepless nights wondering if the man beside you will lose control.”

Abel moved before I could react.

He stepped between us, his hand gripping my wrist tightly, shielding me completely from Jaxon’s view. “You’ve said enough,” he bit out.

But Jaxon only smiled wider. “Did I touch a nerve, cousin?”

Abel’s voice was calm when he spoke next. “You come near her again, and I’ll make sure you regret ever setting foot here.”

“Now I see why you want the title so much,” I muttered.

the life you

“Jaxon,” Abel warned.

But Jaxon ignored him, his gaze fixed on me. “He won’t even give you a life, you know? He’s using you. You’re just a human he’ll burn through before the curse eats you whole.”

“Let’s go,” Abel said, the exhaustion leaking through.

But I wasn’t done.

I wasn’t going to let them trample over him like that.

“That will never happen in my entire life,” I said sharply, the words cutting through the silence.

All eyes snapped to me again. I could feel the heat of Abel’s hand tighten at my side, but I took another step forward anyway.

“I helped you back then,” I said, staring straight at Jaxon. “Because you were in need of help. Because I thought you were a decent man. So I kept talking to you. I gave you the benefit of the doubt.”

Jaxon’s smirk faltered, just slightly.

“But now,” I said, “I can see why Abel hates you.”

“I hate you too.”

Abel’s head turned toward me in surprise, but I didn’t look at him. I kept my eyes locked on Jaxon, on that face that seemed so amused a few minutes ago but now had gone still.

“You think I’m stupid,” I said. “You think you can scare me with talk of curses. But you don’t understand what it means to choose someone, do you?”

I took a deep breath. “I would much rather die with him,” I said, “than live a life full of nothing without him.”

“And if there’s anyone to be pitied in this place, it’s you.”

“Because you would never be able to understand what it would feel like to treasure someone this much.”

Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.