Chapter 1238
Chapter 1238:
He tightened his grip slightly, his voice trembling with feeling. “From the first moment I saw you, I was drawn to you. Your smile, the way you care without needing to speak.”
He paused, his eyes shining despite his exhaustion. “I know I might not deserve you, but I’m not afraid to fight for you, to protect you. All I’m asking is a chance. Just one.”
My fingers trembled in his. My heart felt like it might split itself open from the pressure of everything I was feeling. I just didn’t know what to say.
Makenna’s POV:
I bit down on my lower lip, my voice barely more than a breath. “But… I already have the three princes.”
A flicker of surprise passed through Alden’s deep-set eyes. He blinked, momentarily stunned, as if I had knocked the air out of him.
But then, a soft, almost helpless smile curved his lips. “I don’t mind that,” he said.
His tone was calm, firm—like someone who had long made peace with what they couldn’t control. “As long as I have a place by your side… that’s enough for me.”
I looked at him—or tried to. His gaze was so intense, so searing, it felt like standing too close to a fire. I flinched away—but then forced myself to meet it. And when I did, I saw it. The quiet ache. The fierce loyalty. The unshakable determination that had always been there, waiting for me to notice.
These past months, he’d stood between me and danger without hesitation, time and again. He bled for me—more than once—and still smiled through the pain, brushing it off like it was nothing. Even before losing consciousness, he clung to my hand like a lifeline, confessing the feelings he could no longer keep buried.
A tremor passed through me—not painful—just… full. My heart ached, tender and full to the brim with something sharp and soft all at once.
“Okay…” I murmured, barely managing a nod.
R3ad th3 l4t3st 0n g4ln0v3ls.c0m
Alden froze.
He stared at me, the question caught somewhere between disbelief and hope. “Makenna… what did you just say?”
“I said… Okay.” My cheeks flushed, but I held his gaze and gave the word again, this time with all the quiet certainty in my chest.
“Really?” His voice cracked, hoarse with wonder. His fingers tightened around mine, a little too much, and I winced.
“Really.” I let out a breath of laughter and reached up to lightly tap his forehead. “How many times do you need to hear it before you believe me?”
The disbelief melted into something luminous—his eyes lit up with so much joy it looked almost boyish, too big to contain.
And then, without warning, he pulled me into his arms.
I stumbled forward, caught off guard, crashing into the solid warmth of his chest. The faint scent of medicine clung to him, and my heart immediately lost its rhythm.
His breath skimmed my cheek as he lowered his head. I could feel it—that pause, that stillness—like he meant to kiss me.
But then he flinched. A sharp gasp tore from him. His body tensed, and a sudden pallor washed over his face.
I looked down—blood was soaking through the bandage around his shoulder. “Alden!” Panic surged through me as I tried to steady him, my voice shooting up in alarm. “Your wound—it’s opened again!”
.
.
.