Page 135 of His Eternal Claim

Hands shaking. Those nightmares.

Blood between her thighs. Calling for me.

Screaming my name while this woman stood there and watched. While my child, my child, died before ever taking a breath.

Something tears inside my chest. My vision clouds. Rain mixes with blood on my face. And for one brutal second, I understand why men lose their minds. Why they black out. Why bodies are found in pieces, and no one asks questions.

Because I want to hurt her. I want every scream she ripped from Selene shoved back down her throat.

I want her terrified. Helpless.

Crying.

I want her begging, and I want her to know exactly why mercy never comes for people like her. Why God created men like me to bring justice to this world. Because it needs it. The cleansing act.

“You held her down?” The words scrape out of me. “She begged for help…” My grip tightens harder. “And you looked at her.” Hannah sucks in air. I can barely hear it over the roaring in my ears. “You watched my wife bleed.” My forehead nearly touches hers. “You listened to her scream my name.” My lip curls. “And you touched her.”

My shoulder burns as blood keeps spilling, but I don’t feel any of it. Pain is nothing. This… however, is something else.

This is a darkness so deep it feels holy. Like every violent instinct I’ve ever buried has finally been handed permission.

Hannah trembles for the first time since I saw her walking through the gates of our mansion.

I enjoy the fear on her face. Her pulse jumps against my fingers. I do what any sane man would do: I smile. “You should pray she never hears every detail.” Her breath catches. “Because if Selene ever finds out exactly what you did to her,” I lean closer, whisper in her ear, “I won’t have to touch you.”

My chest rises hard. “She’ll destroy you herself.” The tracker screams in my hand.

Closer. So close.

And beneath the rage, under all of it, there’s grief. A sharp, vicious thing lodged so deep it feels permanent.

I should’ve been there. Should’ve protected her. Should’ve known.

Should’ve burned the world sooner.

Should’ve killed everyone before any of this reached her.

My child.

My wife was forced to carry pain she never deserved.

And this woman standing here, breathing all those years while watching my world crumble from afar.

My hand twitches, and I almost break her wrist.

But Hannah laughs. And every murderous instinct inside me rises higher. Because I know exactly what I want now.

I want Selene safe.

I want her in my arms.

And then, I want every lie Hannah built dragged into the light while she watches it burn.

I want her alive long enough to feel every piece collapse. To see Selene look at her and choose someone else.

To understand what losing everything actually feels like. To know helplessness.

To taste it.