Alpha's Bite Between My Legs-Chapter 545: The Bound

Rosina’s lips twitched, caught between a bitter laugh and a snarl.

"Fine with it?" Rosina repeated, her voice cold enough to frost the air. "Gastone, I tolerated it because I assumed you’d have the sense to keep her out of our world. Loving Lucia is one thing. Dragging her here is another. Do you even realize what you’ve done?"

Gastone’s jaw tightened. "I saved her."

"You endangered her," Rosina shot back, stepping forward until they were nearly nose-to-nose. "And you endangered yourself. The councils already whisper about your... sigh. Now, when they find out you smuggled two humans into the heart of the realm—"

"They won’t find out," Gastone interrupted, his tone sharp as steel.

Rosina laughed— low, humorless, and dangerous. "You think secrets stay buried here? One scent out of place, one careless move, and the entire territory will know. You’re gambling with her life, Gastone. And Joseph’s. And yours."

Gastone clenched his fists as he tried to think about what Rosina had stated, completely forgotten about the danger that lurked beforehand in the werewolf realm as he completely forgot about it.

"I’m not gambling," Gastone said, voice low but firm. "I’m choosing. I chose to save Lucia instead of watching her be bound to Daniel like a prisoner. I chose to protect Joseph because he’s innocent in all this... I dragged him to this."

Rosina’s eyes flashed green for an instant. "You’re thinking with your heart instead of your head. That’s how wolves get themselves— and everyone they love— killed."

Gastone didn’t back down. "And thinking only with your head is how you lose what actually matters."

For a moment, the only sound was the rustle of leaves in the garden, the tension between them thick enough to choke on.

They only looked into each other’s eyes, testing what they could tolerate.

Rosina finally stepped back, exhaling sharply. "You have become soft... too soft for my liking."

Gastone didn’t answer— because deep down, he knew Rosina wasn’t entirely wrong. He took a huge responsibility and a gamble when he couldn’t even fix himself.

Rosina took a last glance at Gastone before she left, vanishing in thin air as she teleported back to the palace and left Gastone with a problem.

Upstairs, the guest room was quiet— at least at first.

Joseph was pacing, glancing between the door and Lucia, who sat on the edge of the bed. Her hands were clasped in her lap, knuckles white.

"You’re too calm," Joseph muttered. "We just got smoke-bombed, teleported, and dumped into some palace garden like it’s a Tuesday afternoon. And you’re just... sitting there?"

Joseph placed his arms on his hips while staring at Lucia. He wanted her to talk, but she remained silent the whole time they were together.

At that moment, Joseph didn’t even think about spending some quality time with Lucia and taking her heart since his safety was his priority.

Lucia didn’t answer. Her mind was still reeling, but she couldn’t shake the pull she felt toward Gastone— something strange, something that made her chest tighten in ways she didn’t understand.

Then voices drifted in through the barely closed window.

Joseph froze mid-step. "Wait. Do you hear that?"

Lucia tilted her head. The low murmur of Gastone’s voice carried upward, followed by a sharper, colder tone— Rosina’s.

"...you endangered her." Rosina’s words were clear, each one cutting through the air like glass. "And you endangered yourself."

Joseph’s brows shot up. He looked at Lucia. "They’re talking about you."

Lucia rose silently, crossing the room to the window. The breeze carried more fragments upward.

"I chose to save her instead of watching her be bound to Daniel..." Gastone’s voice— firm, defiant.

Lucia’s pulse quickened. Bound to Daniel? The marriage?

Lucia had a lot of questions in mind, but she thought Gastone was fine with her plan to marry Daniel for her revenge.

Joseph’s expression turned wary. "Haha, isn’t it funny?" he whispered awkwardly, glancing at Lucia.

"Let’s not eavesdrop further," Lucia looked away as she had a feeling that they shouldn’t hear what the two were talking about from below.

"Aren’t you curious what they were talking about? Who knows, maybe that’s his girlfriend," Joseph teased with a sly smile.

However, those words stabbed Lucia’s heart with thousands of knives. She snapped back at Joseph and glared at him.

"Then, we should go away before we ruin something special," Lucia replied. She tried to smile and act as if it didn’t bother her a bit, but Joseph saw the pain in her eyes.

Seeing how Lucia reacted was already causing despair in Joseph’s heart, as he also wanted Lucia for himself.

"Maybe you’re right. Do you want to escape this place with me?" Joseph walked closer toward Lucia and extended his hand, hoping that she would accept it.

Lucia sighed. She was already tired, and the wedding dress she wore, which weighed tons, was pulling her down.

"Don’t get your hopes up," Lucia replied weakly as she sat at the edge of the bed again. Her mind was swirling with problems that she wanted to solve immediately.

Joseph’s lips went into a flat line while looking at his rejected hand. "Oh well. I guess we’re staying here. Besides, I’m sure that woman won’t kick us, right?" he stated, referring to Rosina.

Lucia remained silent on Joseph’s taunts. She knew he was only doing it to trigger her, but she was too tired to even pay attention to his mind games.

Lucia’s silence didn’t stop the pounding in Joseph’s chest— half from fear, half from the frustration of being powerless. He turned away from her, pacing again, but his eyes kept flicking toward the door. Every creak in the hallway made his muscles tense.

’Should I kidnap her?’ Joseph thought, sparing a glance at Lucia. ’We’re alone together, and this is a perfect opportunity to take her with me back to our house.’

However, both got distracted by their thoughts when they heard a sound.

Downstairs, the garden door slammed shut, rattling the glass panes. Heavy footsteps echoed through the corridors, slow, deliberate... coming closer.