The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 241

Jealousy 2

Jealousy-2

And then he saw her name.

*Lorelei Thompson.*

His fists clenched.

His jaw tightened.

His heart stopped.

She had applied.

She had actually applied.

Claim

The words of their conversation echoed in his mind: *Let us give ourselves the chance to know each other before we make any decisions.*

That had been the plan. The rational plan. The plan that gave both of them an escape route if the bond proved to be too difficult, too complicated, too impossible.

But after today—after seeing her with that boy, after feeling the possessive rage that had nearly consumed him-Attia knew that the decision was already made.

There was no escape route. There was no walking away. There was no letting her go to build a life with someone else.

She was his.

She had been his since the moment the Goddess tied their souls together, whether he had asked for it or not. And she had had her chance yesterday-to run, to reject him, to insist that he let her go.

She had not taken it.

She had stayed. She had fought. She had looked at him with those green eyes and asked *what if I want you anyway?*

Now it was too late.

r

Attia leaned back in his chair, staring at her name on the screen.

He would still give her the weeks they had agreed upon. He would let her work in his office, observe him, decide for herself if she could accept a man like him. He would use that time to let her get used to his presence, to build something that resembled trust, and in the meantime to find a solution to the mess with his family.

But one thing he knew for certain.

She was his mate.

And she had no escape from this bond.

No matter what.

< Jealousy 2

Claim

Attia closed the sss and stood up from his desk.

His knee throbbed a reminder of his limitations, his failures, the curse that had stolen his future. But even that pain felt distant compared to the fire burning in his chest.

He walked to the window and stared out at the darkening campus.

Somewhere out there, in one of those small dormitory rooms, Lorelei Thompson was probably sitting at her desk, studying, unaware that she had just sealed her fate with a single click.

*She doesn’t know yet,* he thought. *She thinks she still has a choice.

But she didn’t.

Not anymore.

Attia pressed his palm against the cold glass.

He thought about her smile. Her laugh. The way she had looked at him like he was something other than a

monster.

He would do whatever it took to protect her. From his family. From the scandal. From the wolves who would try to tear them apart.

And he would do whatever it took to keep her.

Even if it meant becoming the man she deserved.

Even if it meant burning down everything he had built.

“She is ours,” Athos said, finally calm, finally satisfied./

“Yes,” Attia replied. “She is.”

He turned from the window and walked back to his desk.

There was work to be done.

But first-

He opened her application again.

Read her words carefully.

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