Obsession

Chapter 29

Twenty-Nine

T ime seemed to stretch endlessly. Bastian had unleashed a kind of hell on her she could not have predicted existed in her previous life. Yet, with Callum's unexpected alliance, Ren found a sliver of hope.

He had hurt her, but he was also helping, and the two of them shared a bond in their pain.

“Do you think that Bastian is going to break?” Ren asked Callum after preparing for another day of them being taken into Bastian’s room.

“I honestly can’t tell. He’s been so angry. So enraged that I don’t know what he will or won’t do. To be perfectly honest, he’s never made me participate in his games before. I feel like it’s purely for your benefit.” Callum sounded sad in his reply.

“I would rather that he didn’t take out frustrations with me, on you.” Ren said.

“There is no changing his mind once it’s made up.” Callum said while turning to walk down the next hallway.

Their whispered conversation continued in the quiet corners of the mansion and were filled with plans and promises of freedom.

Ren opened the door to Bastian’s room to find him sitting on his chair, similarly to the first time she had snuck in.

He was slightly slumped over with his head resting in his hands.

“You are stronger than I ever gave you credit for Renalta. My beautiful pet.” He had let loose a heavy sigh as he looked up at her standing in his doorway.

Callum stood silently behind Ren waiting for his brother to issue his demands, as he always did.

“I see it clearly now. I won’t have you or Cal in my room any longer. The joy of my torment is no longer in my heart. I will make sure that Grayson knows as well.” Bastian said.

Believing his point had been made, Bastian called off the endless torture sessions and would make sure that Grayson wouldn’t push the issue either.

“You can leave Callum, you have paid your dues for her. She has proven herself, and her love for you.” Bastian said.

“I would endure a millennia of anything you could throw at me for a single day with her. She is my world.” Callum announced to the room before walking away casually.

Ren walked into the room and stood before Bastian. She patiently waited silently before he finally looked up at her again.

“I didn’t just take torture for the sake of torture. I know that you enjoy it. To be honest, I did enjoy when you treated me like a lover and not an enemy.”

Bastian’s eyes seemed to light up at her statement.

“What would you have me do then? Share the most important woman in my life?”

“Yes.”

Ren’s one word answer was solidly stated. Her honesty was bold not knowing how he could or would react.

“All I have is yours, my pet. You fear me. Do as I say. Love me as I love you, and you will never want for anything in your life.” Bastian placed a gentle kiss to her chest from his seated position.

“I do love you.” Ren whispered while she wrapped her arms around him.

The mansion's oppressive atmosphere began to disintegrate in that moment, replaced by the scent of potential change.

She had grown stronger and more resilient from the near relentless savagery of Bastian’s merciless torture. Each time he’d strike her in anger at a moment when she’d slip up in his eyes, she handled the blow without complaint and a sense of personal dignity that she would endure.

Ren would never give up.

She focused her attention more on Callum. She tried to attune herself to his every expression and gesture, analyzing them for reassurance. Most often she felt comforted by his presence, believing that even under the thumb of his brothers, he was with her both in spirit and in their private moments.

It wasn’t quite trust, but it was a sense of mutual need for each other. They wouldn’t survive if they were divided even with Bastian resolution.

So it was only when Callum and Ren were alone that they could truly be themselves and feel completely safe. Bastian and Grayson knew of their affairs of course, but had no real urge to interfere.

The damage they needed to do had been done in their eyes. Jealousy was still wild between the brothers. They argued and fought over the smallest things, but only when Ren was around. A show of peacocking perhaps.

She found it endearing. They still choose her, each of them in their own way. Even Grayson was less of a steel vault and allowed a small smile to escape on occasion.