Chapter 170 Mark and Marry
_Alaric’s POV_
Rowena fell asleep within ten minutes of laying on the bed. I knew because her breathing shifted, growing slower and deeper in a steady way.
I had been watching her from the chair I sat in by the window without fully realizing it, and once her breathing settled, I finally allowed myself to lean back and stop keeping guard over the door.
The room was completely quiet now, she was finally getting some real rest, and I stayed right there because she had asked me not to leave which I had no intention of leaving.
Not that she was scared of the dark, but I guessed she just wanted someone to watch over her while she slept.
I needed to be out there handling matters about Reid and the others, also Kasper had given me a few voice messages of Celeste’s plans, but I was in no mood for work.
Just watching Rowena sleep brought me comfort.
I looked at her for a moment in the low light of the room, she looked younger when she was sleeping, something I suspected she would find deeply annoying if I ever dared to say it out loud. All the control she maintained every waking moment had nowhere to go while she was unconscious. What remained here was simply a person who had been through something terrible, carrying a deep kind of exhaustion that a few nights of sleep wasn’t going to fix.
My mind drifted back to the gym and the things Virella had done to her.
I had been thinking about it on and off ever since she told me what happened there. I managed to push it aside while we had work to do, but the thought was always waiting for me the moment things slowed down. Those bastards made torturing her a session, with the men walking into the room when her wolf was barely hanging on to beat her.
I wasn’t even there to help, and I claim to love her.
“It’s not your fault.” Phillip sighed. “Her wolf was killed, there was no way to communicate.”
She said she’d counted ceiling tiles just to stay sane, and through all of it, she had given them nothing.
Rowena was the strongest woman I know, despite everything, she never broke down. She never gave in to them. Even if I didn’t see it myself, I believed her words more than life itself.
And I would make sure Virella gets punished accordingly.
I sat with that for a moment, letting my thoughts run wild as I thought of possible punishment for that woman.
It was a feeling that had been building for much longer than I cared to admit, and for once, I just let it sit there instead of trying to organize it into something neat and manageable.
I was always careful and coordinated, but not anymore. For Rowena Asthorne, I didn’t mind treating the world apart.
Phillip remained quiet for most of the night, my wolf usually did that when things turned serious. He would always go quiet to let me focus without interjecting, which was a help in its own way.
“I’m not going yet. I think you should tell her,” he said simply.
“Tell her what?” I replied, even though I knew exactly what he meant.
A few days before our arrival here, I’d ordered it. A diamond ring.
“Tell her you want her to be ours. Mark and marry.”
I looked over at Rowena sleeping and thought about the memories we’ve shared. The moment we ran together, the kiss, everything related.
I just knew the love I had for her wouldn’t vanish in the twinkle of an eye.
I wanted her to be mine, forever.
I remembered the way she had looked at me, as if she were gauging who I was and hadn’t entirely decided on the verdict yet.
“She definitely liked you back,” Phillip said.
“And how sure are you?”
“100 percent. Her wolf was connected to me even before she died. Poor Kyra.” Phillip sighed dramatically.
I didn’t respond and just thought about it. She kissed me back, that was enough sign to tell that she maybe felt the same way with me.
Rowena wasn’t the type to ask people to stay with her. She wasn’t built for asking, just as she wasn’t built for showing weakness, admitting pain, or any of the other small moments she had quietly let slip in front of me over the past few weeks. Every single time she let her guard down, it left an impression on me that didn’t go away.
She was different and I loved her.
I wanted no one else as Luna Queen but Rowena Ashthorne.
“Then make it happen,” Phillip sighed.
I pulled the ring box out and stared at it for a long time. When all this was over, I would definitely give this ring to her and officially ask her to marry me.
We might’ve never dated, but there was no need for dating.
“And if she rejects?”
“Then I’ll try harder until she accepts me. I’m never letting her go.” I replied positively.
Not in this life or another life.
Just then, sounds of shuffle rang out in the room before her calm soothing voice followed.
“You’re still here.”