Chapter 148. Shatter Me

Rasmus’s POV

Xerina was slipping away from me. Every time I looked into her eyes, it felt like she was miles away, buried beneath the haze of confusion and broken memories. I hated it. The helplessness. The anger. The feeling of losing her again, even though she was right there.

Her father, Xerxes, stood across from me in the dimly lit room. His presence loomed like a shadow, as cold and unyielding as the stone walls around us. He had been more distant than usual, ever since the truth of our bond became clear. Xerina was mine. My mate. The woman I would die for. The woman I had already bled for.

But Xerxes didn’t see it that way. Not anymore.

“You need to be careful with her,” Xerxes said, his voice sharp, measured. “She’s not stable, Rasmus.”

I clenched my fists, the urge to snap back at him rising in my throat, but I held it down. He was her father. He had a right to be protective, but damn it, he didn’t know the pain of watching your mate forg