Chapter 36

Sarah POV

The chill of the night air pressed against my skin as I stepped back from Axel, my heart pounding erratically in my chest. I didn't know whether it was the cold of the forest or the heat that still burned between us, but my body trembled uncontrollably. The forest felt like it was closing in, the darkness whispering around us as Axel stood there, watching me, his eyes still alight with an intensity that unnerved me.

I couldn't look at him—not like this. The kiss, the way his hands had roamed over my body, the things he'd said… It was wrong. So wrong. But it had felt so dangerously right in that moment. My stomach twisted in disgust and guilt, and yet… a part of me had wanted more. The forbidden pull, the twisted desire I tried to bury—it was impossible to ignore.

"Sarah," Axel said, his voice low and dangerous, and yet there was an edge of something softer in it, something fragile, as though he was trying to hold onto the last thread of control. "You don't know what you're doing. You can't just walk away from this. From me."

I stood frozen, unable to respond. The world felt like it was tilting, spinning out of control. I couldn't go back to the mansion—couldn't go back to Eren after this. The thought of facing him after what had just happened with Axel made my skin crawl. But more than that, the knowledge of the curse that bound me to the Blackwood family gnawed at my insides, reminding me that no matter where I went, the darkness would follow.

The silence stretched on, thick and suffocating. I wanted to scream, to run far away from Axel and the twisted obsession he'd just unveiled. But I couldn't make my body move. His presence was too overwhelming, too consuming.

"Sarah, look at me," Axel's voice broke through my thoughts, quieter now, almost pleading. But it wasn't just his voice—it was his very being, demanding my attention, pulling me in.

Reluctantly, I lifted my eyes to his. The hunger in them hadn't lessened. If anything, it had deepened, a dark storm that I couldn't escape.

"I don't want to hurt you," he said softly, his tone so genuine it made my chest ache. "But you have to understand. You're everything to me. I've waited for this. For you. I know you feel it too."

I shook my head violently, the truth sinking in like ice in my veins. "You're Eren's brother, Axel. This can never happen."

"I don't care," he snapped back, his voice harsh, desperate now. "It doesn't matter. He doesn't deserve you, Sarah. He doesn't even see you. I do. I see you." His voice softened again, almost tender, as his gaze raked over me, taking in every inch. "You feel it, don't you? The way we're connected. The way I make you feel. The way I make you want me."

My chest tightened as his words sank in, each one a sharp knife carving into my chest. The pain of what he was saying, of what I was feeling, was too much. The forbidden nature of it all twisted like a knot in my stomach. I didn't know how to fight him, fight this pull, this hunger that had always been there but now threatened to consume me.

"No," I whispered, tears prickling at the edges of my vision. "This is wrong, Axel."

Axel's expression faltered for just a moment, his lips pressing together in a thin line, his jaw clenched. But it was gone in an instant, replaced by something darker, something more dangerous. His hand shot out, gripping my wrist before I could react. He pulled me closer, his face inches from mine, his breath hot against my skin.

"Its not wrong," he growled. "It's me, Sarah. You belong to me. Your body, your soul… it's mine, not Eren's."

He didn't wait for me to respond before his lips crashed onto mine again, this time with a bruising force. I wanted to fight back, to push him away, but something inside of me—a part of me that I couldn't control—responded. My body betrayed me. His kiss was all consuming, and despite every instinct screaming at me to push him away, I couldn't pull myself out of it. His hands roamed once more, and I froze, not in shock this time, but in confusion, in a wave of desire I didn't know how to handle.

This wasn't right. I shouldn't want this. But I did.

Axel pulled away after what felt like hours, his breath ragged, his eyes filled with a mixture of triumph and something else—something darker. "You see?" he murmured, his lips brushing against my ear. "You can't fight it. You belong to me Sarah."

"No, Axel," I said, voice trembling, breaking free from his grasp and stumbling back. "I'm not yours. I won't be."

But the way he looked at me—like I was a part of him he couldn't live without—told me that this wasn't over. Not by a long shot. And in that moment, I knew, with a terrifying certainty, that Axel wouldn't stop. Not until he had me.

"You can say that," Axel said softly, his tone dangerously calm, "but you can't hide from what's inside of you, Sarah. I'll make you see it. I'll make you feel it. You and I… we're inevitable."

With that, he turned, his footsteps fading into the shadows, leaving me standing in the cold, shaking, unable to comprehend what had just happened. The pull of the Blackwood curse was a force unlike anything I'd ever known. And Axel? Axel had just shown me how far he would go to make me his.

I couldn't trust myself anymore—not when it came to him. I was in too deep, and I didn't know if I could find a way out. Every step I took from here on out would be dangerous. But I had to keep going, had to figure out what my place in this twisted family truly was before it was too late.

Before Axel consumed me completely.

___

The mansion loomed before me like an ancient beast, its towering spires cutting through the mist, its windows dark and unforgiving. Every corner of this place, every inch of the estate, seemed to be dripping with secrets, with lies. I had thought I was stepping into a dream, into a life with Eren, but instead, I had been drawn into a nightmare—one I was too deep in to escape.

I paused at the front door, feeling the chill in the air seep into my bones. It wasn't just the cold of the night that had my heart racing. It was the storm inside me—the whirlwind of emotions, the suffocating weight of everything I had just learned. Everything I thought I understood was shattered. My world had cracked wide open, and in the place of everything I thought was love and security, all I found was darkness. The Blackwood curse. The manipulation. The lies. The family I had thought would be normal, so perfect, was nothing more than a web of deception, wrapped around me like a noose.

Eren. I had loved him. I had thought I knew him. But now… now, I wasn't sure of anything anymore. Was I truly in love with him? Or was I just another piece of the Blackwood family's twisted puzzle? The thought made me sick to my stomach.

I could still feel the echo of Axel's touch, his words… "You belong to me."

No. No, I didn't. I couldn't.

But what was I supposed to believe? How could I trust anyone in this house, anyone in this family, after everything I had learned? Eren's perfect smile, his promises of a future together—they had all been part of some cruel game, some ritual I didn't even understand. He had known. He had known all along about the curse, about the sacrifice. I wasn't just his wife. I was a pawn in his family's twisted legacy.

And then there was Axel. His eyes, his hands, his words—they all seemed to pierce through me, breaking down every defense I had left. I had tried to push him away, but there was something about him, something dangerous and magnetic, that made it impossible to simply forget. But I couldn't afford to give in. I couldn't let him or anyone in this family get close enough to hurt me more.

No one in the Blackwood family cared about me. Not really.

Not even Eren.

It was all part of the curse. All of it. I was nothing but a tool, a means to an end. And I had walked right into their trap, blind to the truth.

The doors creaked open in front of me, and I stepped inside, barely noticing the warmth that greeted me. It was all a facade, a false sense of security. The house felt empty, like a shell that had been hollowed out, and I was nothing more than an intruder, a stranger in my own life.

I had married Eren because I thought he loved me. I thought I was marrying the man I would build a family with, the man who would be my partner in everything. But now… now I saw the truth. I wasn't his partner. I was a piece in a much darker game. And even if I had once believed in him, in the love we shared, now I had to wonder if I had been blind.

How could I trust him? How could I trust any of them?

I walked through the darkened halls, my footsteps echoing in the silence. Everything felt wrong. The air was thick with a heaviness that seemed to press on me from all sides. The curse. The ritual. Everything I had thought I understood about love, about family, had been warped.

The walls felt like they were closing in on me. The Blackwood family wasn't just rich. They weren't just powerful. They were dangerous. And I was trapped in the middle of it all.

I thought back to Eleanor, the woman who had once seemed so welcoming. But was she really? Could she have been deceiving me all along? Was she just another player in this sickening game? Or was she just as much a victim as I was?

Victor. The patriarch. The man who seemed to pull the strings from the shadows. I didn't even know him, not really. But I had seen enough of his influence on Eren and the others to know that he was no innocent bystander. He was probably the one who had orchestrated all of this.

But I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

I clenched my fists at my sides, my heart pounding. I couldn't let them win. I couldn't let the curse consume me, let their lies destroy me. I had to find a way out. I had to understand what had really happened to me, to this family, and to this place.

But how could I trust myself, let alone anyone else? How could I make sense of anything when everything felt like a lie?

I walked into the drawing room, my eyes landing on the grand fireplace that loomed over the room, its crackling fire offering no warmth, only more shadows. I should have felt relief at being home, but instead, I felt more alone than ever before. My heart ached with a longing for something I couldn't even name. For a life that wasn't wrapped in deceit. For a love that was real.

I sank into a chair, my hands shaking. I closed my eyes, trying to steady my breath, but the fear, the uncertainty, only seemed to grow stronger with each passing second.

I wanted to leave. I wanted to escape.

But where would I go?

I was bound here. I was bound to Eren, bound to the Blackwood family, bound to the curse that had followed me into this life....and bound to that demon.

And no matter how much I wanted to run, no matter how much I wanted to scream, I knew one thing: I couldn't escape.

I was trapped.

And the darkness was closing in.