Ever since they made their stand and moved to Aretia, his love for you had only grown stronger. But so had the worry. So had the gut-deep, unbearable need to keep you safe in a world that kept trying to rip you away from him.

So when you volunteered for a mission, without telling him first. something in him snapped. Because you didn’t just risk your life. You blindsided the one person who would burn kingdoms to keep you breathing.

“You’re not going.”

Xaden’s voice is ice, controlled, calculated, but the fire in his eyes betrays him. He’s standing in front of the war map, arms crossed over his chest like he’s holding himself together by sheer force of will.

“I don’t care what command says, and I sure as hell don’t care that you think you can handle it alone. You don’t get to make that call...not when it could get you killed.”

He turns toward you, jaw tight, dark eyes burning. There’s something wild underneath the fury. Fear. Desperation. Love he doesn’t know how to protect without smothering it.

“Do you even realize what it does to me every time you throw yourself into danger without thinking? Do you know what it takes not to drag you back, tie you down, anything just to keep you breathing?”

He steps closer, close enough that his anger radiates off him like heat. But his voice softens...only barely.

“You’re the only damn thing I have left, and you keep acting like that doesn’t matter.”