LOGINChapter 207ElowenI couldn't hold it in anymore.I pulled Giuliana into my arms and held her against my chest like I could shield her from the whole world, like I could pour every ounce of strength I had into her small body and make her invincible."You're so brave," I whispered into her hair. My voice was barely there. "You're the bravest person I've ever known.""I'm scared though," she said against my shoulder, so quietly I almost didn't hear it.My heart cracked wide open."I know, baby," I said. "I know. Being brave doesn't mean you're not scared. It means you're scared and you do it anyway."Her thin arms wrapped around my neck and held on tight.Behind me, I heard Matteo make a sound that might have been a sob or might have been something else entirely.Then I felt movement, and suddenly his arms were around both of us, his large frame curving around his daughter and me, holding us together like he could keep us safe through sheer force of will.And then Kian was there too.He
Chapter 206Elowen "What face?" I asked."The one where you're trying not to look scared."None of us answered that.She tilted her head and studied us the way she always did, like she was reading something written underneath our skin."I just woke up," she said, and her voice was so light, so ordinary, like this was any other afternoon. "I heard the door open. I thought maybe it was for the hot chocolate.""We'll get you the hot chocolate," I said immediately. "I promise. Right after we...""You have something to tell me," she said.Matteo stiffened beside me."Yes," he said. "We do."Giuliana looked at him for a moment.Then she said quietly, "I know."Matteo went very still. "You know what?"She looked down at her hands. Her small, thin hands. And when she looked back up, her eyes were calm in a way that made my chest ache."I can feel it," she said softly. "That I don't have much time. That I might leave soon." She said it like it was simply a fact of the world, something that ju
Chapter 205 ElowenThe word hung in the air between us like something fragile, something that could shatter if any of us breathed too hard."A medication," I repeated slowly. "What kind of medication?"Matteo turned away. He walked to the window and stood there with his back to us, one hand pressed flat against the glass, staring out at the garden like he couldn't bring himself to look at me.Kian was the one who answered."It's experimental," he said carefully. "Still in trials. Her doctor called this morning. There's a new drug being tested on children with her condition. The results so far..." He paused. "They're not guaranteed. Nothing is guaranteed. But they're showing promise."I stood very still.My brain was trying to process what he was saying, trying to find the catch, because there was always a catch."What kind of promise?" I asked."Slowing the progression," Kian said. "In some cases, reversing it. In others..." He stopped again."In others, nothing," Matteo said from
Chapter 204ElowenNo.That couldn't be possible.That didn't make sense.You couldn't have feelings for two people at once. That wasn't how it worked.But my traitorous heart didn't seem to care about logic.It kept racing, kept pounding, kept responding to both of them in ways I didn't understand and couldn't control.I looked down at the plate in my hands, suddenly unable to meet either of their eyes."Thank you," I mumbled. "This is... thank you."The silence in the room was thick, heavy with things unsaid.Then Giuliana stirred.All three of us immediately focused on her, watching as her eyes fluttered open and she blinked sleepily at us."Mama?" she said, her voice still rough with sleep. "Papa? Uncle Kian?""We're all here, principessa," Matteo said softly, squeezing her hand.She smiled, that bright beautiful smile that made everything else fade away."All my favorite people in one room," she said. "This is the best way to wake up."And just like that, the tension broke.Matte
Chapter 203ElowenI woke up to sunlight streaming through my window, far brighter than it should have been.I reached for my phone groggily and my eyes went wide when I saw the time.11:23 AM.I never slept this late. Not since coming to Italy. Not since becoming Giuliana's "mama."Every other morning I'd been up by seven at the latest, ready to spend every possible moment with her.But today I'd slept past eleven.And the strangest part? I didn't feel guilty about what had happened last night.I should have. I knew I should have.I'd slept with Matteo. In the garden. Under the stars. While pretending to be married to Kian.That should have filled me with shame, with regret, with self-loathing.But it didn't.Instead, I felt... alive. Awake. More myself than I'd been in months.And the fact that I didn't feel guilty made me feel guilty.It was a strange circular logic that made my head hurt.I dragged myself out of bed and headed for the shower, letting the hot water wash away the re
Chapter 202Elowen "Don't stop," I breathed. "Please don't stop."We sank to the ground together, the grass soft beneath us, and for a moment we just looked at each other.His eyes were dark with desire but also with pain, with grief, with a desperate need to feel something good in the midst of all this darkness.I reached up and touched his face, traced the line of his jaw, brushed my thumb across his lips."You're allowed to feel this," I told him softly. "You're allowed to want this. You're allowed to take comfort where you can find it.""Even if it's wrong?" he asked."Especially if it's wrong," I said. "Nothing about any of this is right, Matteo. So we might as well take what little happiness we can find."He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch, and I saw a single tear slide down his cheek."I'm using you," he said, his voice breaking. "I know I'm using you and that makes me a terrible person but I can't stop wanting you anyway." My heart missed a beat at his words. "Then
Chapter 99Kain My wolf's ears pricked up and I moved to my door silently, pressing my ear against it, listening with the enhanced hearing that let me track sounds most humans couldn't detect.Elowen.I knew her footsteps by now, knew the particular rhythm of her gait and the weight of her step, a
Chapter 100ElowenI should have stopped him, should have pushed him away and insisted we deal with his injuries and fever first before anything else happened.But his hands were sliding under my shirt and his mouth found mine and suddenly I was kissing him back with equal desperation, needing this
Chapter 103Elowen Tried not to think about three days with Kain that had felt like paradise before revealing themselves as just another layer of hell.Tried not to think about anything except surviving the next minute, then the next hour, then the next day.When we finally landed I grabbed my pho
Chapter 101ElowenMy phone was on the nightstand where I'd left it earlier, still displaying photos from the trip with Kian, still showing evidence of three days that apparently meant nothing to anyone except me.I should delete them, I thought distantly, I should erase every reminder of how stupi







