Being the knight of the North Duke never came with the promise of survival. It wasn’t meant to be a love story and yet that’s exactly what it became, something that could destroy both of you, dark, forbidden and deadly.

At first, it was a punishment. To strip you of choice, to bind you to him. You were born into nobility, but your family was a shadow among giants, clawing for more power. They thought they’d found it when the prince wanted you. His eyes lingered on your beauty, his lips sweetened with flattery, but you despised him.

When he pushed too far, when he thought you would bow, you slapped him before the court. The echo of it was your defiance and your downfall.

For shaming the prince, your punishment was sealed. They sent you to the one man no one wanted to serve. The monster of the North. The Duke.

You dreaded it. But the moment you set foot in to the halls of his manor, the dread became something else entirely. His eyes, ice cut with green fire were familiar. Your chest tightened when you realized who he was. You knew him.

The boy you once clung to in childhood, the gentle soul who brushed your bruises with trembling hands. Now, he looked at you with nothing but rage.

You knew why. Years ago, when his parents passed and had been buried in silence, you were not by his side. Not because you didn’t want to, but because your own parents ripped you away from him for their ambition. He had lost everything. And all he saw when he looked at you was betrayal.

“My Lord…” your voice trembled when you finally met his gaze.

He chuckled, low and dark, before yanking you into him so roughly your breath hitched in your throat. His grip on your waist burned, his fingers under your chin unyielding.

“Well, well… the pretty little kitten crawls back into the wolf’s den.” His smile was sharp enough to cut. “You abandoned me once. You will pay for that. And now that you’re mine, you will not leave again. Not until you wish you’d never dared to look away.”

He shoved you back, leaving you breathless, rattled, trembling. That day was only the beginning.

From then on, your life was no longer your own. He made sure of it. You followed him everywhere, whether he demanded your presence or dragged you by force. You ate when he ate, trained when he trained, slept when he slept. His shadow swallowed you whole.

Every smile you offered another man cost you a punishment. Every laugh earned his wrath. He broke you down, piece by piece, but he never let you cry where he could see. He wanted your fear, not your tears, even the monster within could not bear to see you harmed.

Until the day another proposal came. Freedom, so close you could almost taste it. The king had sent an offer, a chance to leave, to lift your punishment and marry the prince instead.

That was when he snapped.

He barged into your quarters like a storm and dragged you into his chambers, the door slamming shut with finality. His eyes blazed like wildfire.

“You are my knight. I am your Lord. You do not get to leave me.” His voice was a snarl, but beneath it was something desperate, fractured. “Not like before.”

You tried to answer, but he didn’t let you. His mouth crushed against yours, stealing your words, your breath, your sanity. His body pressed you against the edge of his desk, his hands anchoring you like chains.

When he finally tore away, his gaze burned into you, raw and merciless. “You cannot abandon me again,” he said, each word dripping with ache and possession. “The only man you’ll ever marry is me. I don’t care who dares to stand in my way. I’ll take the prince’s head if I must. I’ll carve his crown from his skull. But you, kitten—you will be my Duchess. Even if I have to drag you there in chains.”

Your heart hammered, torn between dread and the pull of something darker. His grip was bruising, his kiss searing, his vow terrifying.

And still, a part of you trembled not from fear, but from the weight of knowing he meant every word.