Chapter 59

MAGNAR’S POV The restless thoughts I had been carrying since last night still swirled in my mind as I sat on the edge of my bed, my hands clasped together. No matter how many times I replayed the scene in my head, I couldn’t make sense of it. Valeria wasn’t the same person I remembered, and there was no denying that. The quiet, submissive slave who once trembled at my mere presence was gone, replaced by someone with fire in her eyes and an aura that demanded attention. I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was up to something. My instincts screamed it, but there was something else—a pull I couldn’t ignore. It wasn’t the mate bond. That had been severed, or at least I thought it had. No, this was different. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was drawn to her in a way I couldn’t explain. And then there was what happened in the field. The protection barrier. The way she had stood there, unflinching under the lashes, daring my father to do his worst. It didn’t make sense. Unless… Unless she