Claimed By My Husband's Enemy novel Chapter 74

Chapter 74

Chapter 74

(El)

“We have the rest of our lives, honey. I’ll wait until you can love me again. You did it before. You can do it again,” Landon whispered softly as he kneeled before me while securing a golden chain around my foot which was connected to the bed post. “I had this made by the witches. It’s sturdy enough to withstand strong spells, but at the same time, it’s gentle on your skin. It doesn’t scrape your foot, does it?”

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Landon planted a kiss on my foot. “It’s also long enough that you can still walk to the en suite bathroom and take care of your business there.” When I remained quiet, in a defensive voice, he added, “This is temporary, I promise. Once I can trust you not to awaken your powers and not to disappear on me, I’ll remove the chain, honey.”

I laughed while tears streamed down my cheeks. I laughed hard enough that Landon actually stopped for a minute to stare at me like between the two of us, I was the one with the loose screws although that was not impossible.

If I stayed here for a few days, even if the dragons succeeded in getting me out of here, they might have to send me to the psychiatric ward.

As someone whose body was changing, I tend to sleep a lot these days. And when I fell asleep this morning with Creed beside me, never did it occur to me that I would wake up inside a nightmare, that when I’d open my eyes again, I’d be facing the source of almost all of my trauma.

“My poor mate,” Landon cupped my face and wiped my tears, looking truly concerned that it was appalling. He kissed my hair so gently as if he truly cared. “What did they do to you there? Don’t worry, I’ll ask the witches if they can do something to cure you. I’ll be back soon, honey. Wait for me,” he paused and then chuckled. “Oops. My bad. Of course, you’ll have to wait for me. I forgot. You have no choice.”

Landon had just reached the doorknob when I called his name. He seemed excited like he was already anticipating it, as he quickly turned to face me.

“Yes, honey?”

“Even if I didn’t believe in marriage, I married you, Landon. I truly did love you you know.”

He answered me with a smile that used to make my heart race. “I know. That’s why I’m positive you can fall for me again. You already did it once. You have to do it again. Or else…”

“Or else what? You’ll get inside my head again and make me fall for you using deception? Don’t you realize how despicable that sounds? And how despicable you’ve become?”

Landon looked unfazed. “I don’t mind being the most despicable man on earth, Elianna, as long as I get to keep you by my side.”

How come I was not getting through his thick skull? “Even if it’s forced?”

“That’s why I’m hoping it doesn’t have to come to that,” he answered sharply. “It’ll be painful for you, as painful as the time the witches pierce my flesh multiple times to get my blood to build me an army. I don’t want you to be in pain like that.”

For a while, we just stared at each other. He looked at me with yearning, like he was carving my face in his memory while I began questioning myself. Was I really to be blamed? Landon had ruined his life, claiming it was because of me. If I were a simple human being and didn’t have a heat, if he didn’t see me like that, would our marriage be different? Would we have… stayed together? Would we remain husband and wife? Would he become faithful to me?

“You’ve lost everything and what? Just for this?”

Creed had burned Landon’s empire to the ground and made it appear like one of his men bombed it out of a personal vendetta. People loved drama, they naturally bought the news. Yet, Landon didn’t look like he’d lost anything.

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Chapter 74

“I lost nothing. Elianna. As long as I have you, I will always have everything.”

I scoffed. “Because I’m a tamer?”

“Because you are my everything.”

A tear fell down my cheek. “You are wrong. This isn’t love. Love should feel like a home, Landon. It should feel like a shelter and not a prison. You say you love me and yet, you keep treating me like a prisoner.”

“Only because you keep running away from me.”

“You keep hurting me. Love shouldn’t be like this.”

“Maybe this is the kind of love destined for us. One with pain. But at least, with this, we are fulfilling our vows of sticking together through thick and thin, through sadness and suffering.”

“Vows…” I sobbed when I recalled the day we stood in front of the priest. “After the first time you cheated, I was willing to work it out. I was willing to forgive and forget. Even if I was unhappy, I wanted to stay because I made a vow. But you did it again, Landon. You cheated on me again. And again.”

To my surprise, Landon came back to me and brought my palm to his forehead. I took it back, but he gripped my hand tighter. “No, Elianna. Close your eyes and see it for yourself.”

When I didn’t follow him, his hand covered my eyes for me, giving me no choice but to close them. When I did, his memories assaulted my head like big waves, drowning me in.

I saw him during one of my ‘curse’ episodes, he was standing on the bed, looking drained after making love with me for hours while I still wanted more. When he touched me, I started crying.

I saw myself through his eyes.

‘No. My mate. I need my mate,’ I rasped.

‘Mate? Do you mean your husband? But I’m right here.’

‘Not enough. My mate. Give me my mate!’ I roared, my eyes turning gold. ‘You’re not my mate. Where is he?’

I saw Landon freezing, the color draining out of him. Despite that, when I cried again, screaming that I was in pain, he still helped me relieve myself with his hands while he apologized because he was too tired to ‘perform’ anymore.

‘I’m sorry I’m not enough. But I’ll be enough for you, Elianna. I’ll find a way.

I gasped when I realized that was the time Landon started changing. I thought he’d become obsessed with work because he had been coming home very late. It turned out that he was meeting people, witches included. He’d become paranoid, hiring guards so I wouldn’t suddenly vanish and meet my mate. He’d developed a fear of losing me and in the process, he had lost

himself.

‘I have to become the best. I have to become irreplaceable. You don’t understand. I have a very beautiful wife who could leave me if I start looking less than the man she deserves,’ he told his father after being late one time in their business conference because he had a spa appointment.

He began visiting the spa and the gym, worried about his looks and his build after learning who I was from the witches, after discovering that my mate could be a werewolf and male werewolves were built differently.

The next memory I saw was the first time he stole a blood bag through the witches’ suggestion and infused it in his system. It was as if my mom’s blood in his body was fighting him and didn’t want to make things easier for him. I heard his scream; I

saw his tears.

‘Endure. You wanted to be better than her mate, didn’t you?’ the witch asked, smiling wickedly, while they did the spell.

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Chapter 74

Will this make my wife choose me over her mate?’ he asked, sweating profusely.

‘Of course.

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Since then, Landon’s screaming stopped until he had built a tolerance for pain. The next image I saw was him in his… rut, of his body burning from so much heat. I witnessed his first betrayal. And the next. I saw him throw up the first time he cheated on me while calling my name as he rutted into a stranger.

With every blood bag he’d taken, with every spell he’d undergo, his personality had become darker.

When I no longer had the stomach to keep seeing through his memories, I forcefully snatched my hand back.

“Do you realize it now?” Landon asked in a low voice.

I looked away, my eyes watering, upon the realization that I destroyed an innocent soul unconsciously.

My curse, my heat, was the beginning of Landon’s obsession and his damnation.

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15:53 Fri, Jan 9