Bound By Fire And Fate || Bakugo X Reader

Divided Loyalties (Y/N pov)

I stand frozen in the clearing, the weight of Bakugo's promise ringing in my ears, but the ache in my chest is already settling into something darker, something that feels too much like loss. I watch as the last of the guards vanish with him, and the forest falls into a suffocating silence.

"Alden," I whisper, my voice shaking as I turn to him. "Why? Why couldn't you let us-"

"Let you what?" he snaps, his eyes fierce but his voice laced with pain. "Destroy yourself for him? Do you have any idea what you're asking, what you're risking? He's the prince of a kingdom that's slaughtered our people. His family-his father-would see you dead without a second thought."

"But he's not like them!" I cry, my hands balling into fists. "He's not like any of them, Alden. He's..." I trail off, my voice faltering. I don't know how to make him understand the pull I feel, the connection I've never been able to shake, no matter how many times I've tried.

Alden's shoulders sag, and for a moment, I see something break in him. "I care about you," he murmurs, his voice softer. "More than you know. But this... this path only leads to pain. You can't love him without becoming part of his world, and his world will destroy you."

"I don't need you to protect me, Alden," I say quietly, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. "I know the risks. I know what I'm doing."

He studies me, a war raging in his eyes as he searches for something-maybe a sign that I'm lying, that I don't mean it. But I do. I know it, and so does he. "Then you're choosing him over us?" he whispers, his voice choked. "Over me?"

His words strike like a blow, and I want to deny it, to tell him it's not like that. But I can't. Not when the truth is lodged so deep inside me that I can't shake it free.

"I'm choosing to follow my heart," I say, my voice trembling. "Even if it means losing everything."

He lets out a harsh breath, his jaw clenching as he looks away. "Then you're a fool," he says, his voice thick with emotion. "But I hope, for your sake, that he's worth it."

And with that, he turns, disappearing into the trees, leaving me alone in the dark, his words echoing in my mind.