เข้าสู่ระบบCHRISTINENeither of us spoke for several seconds until I finally found my voice." What about the healer?" I asked, my voice sounded distant even to my own ears."You said they found someone right?”Nathan nodded slowly. "I did.""A real and capable healer?""Yes.""Someone experienced?""Yes.""A legitimate one?""Yes."Relief almost surfaced until I remembered something, nothing involving the mate bond was ever simple.My fingers tightened around the mug in my hands."So what's the success rate?"Nathan froze just slightly and most people wouldn't have noticed but I did.My stomach immediately dropped.The silence stretched far too long. "Nathan."His jaw tightened."Nathan."I set the mug down carefully. "What is the success rate?"He looked away and that terrified me more than any answer could have because Nathan rarely looked away.He never looked away from difficult conversations, bad news or from me.Finally, he spoke. "One."I frowned."One what?"Nathan swallowed. "One out o
CHRISTINE“Don't Nathan!”The idiot laughed, I could practically see his stupid grin through the phone.“Get home first.”“Nathan.”“Just be patient and get home first, it's not that hard.” “Nathan.”“Home.”I groaned. “You are insufferable.”“I learned from the best.”“I hate you.”“No, you don't.”Unfortunately, he was right.The call ended shortly afterward and I stared at my phone for several seconds before shoving it into my bag.The rest of the drive home passed too quietly.My thoughts kept drifting back to Kael, his room, the way he had stood in front of that door, the way he had looked at me when I kept refusing to answer his questions.I hated that those words kept replaying in my head because they shouldn't matter.None of it should matter, including the concern and the attention.Yet somehow every time I tried to stop thinking about him, my brain stubbornly circled right back.By the time I reached home, I was already irritated with myself.Nathan was waiting already. T
CHRISTINEThe words settled heavily between us. I stared at Kael and he stared right back.Neither of us moved.The hand he had braced against the door remained there, completely blocking my exit.It was infuriating."You don't get to interrogate me."His expression didn't change. "You collapsed.""And I'm awake.""Barely."I folded my arms. "Still none of your business."I could see the annoyance building up already. At the moment, I didn't particularly care."What exactly do you want from me?" I asked."The truth."I laughed once, the laugh was short and humorless."The truth about what?""You tell me."That answer irritated me even more and my jaw tightened.The room suddenly felt too small, quiet and personal and that thought dragged my attention back to where I was.I was in one of his rooms in his private residence, not an office or a guest suite or even a medical facility but his space.I need to leave as soon as possible, I'm not meant to be here, it's only going to complicat
CHRISTINE POVThe door closed behind them and silence immediately returned to the room.For several seconds, I simply stood there staring at the empty doorway.Then I exhaled slowly.“Well,that was awkward.” I muttered. A few minutes ago, I had been trying to figure out where I was and why I had woken up in a stranger's room.Now I had somehow become an unwilling participant in what looked suspiciously like a relationship argument.I rubbed my forehead and walked toward the large window overlooking Moonfall.The city stretched beneath me looking beautiful, busy, alive with nothing like the strange heaviness sitting inside my chest.My thoughts drifted back to what had just happened.Stephanie had walked into the room looking furious and then Kael had appeared.The second he saw her, he'd taken her away without any hesitation or explanation.He just grabbed her hand and left.A snort escaped me. "Well... somebody is definitely in trouble."The thought should have amused me but instea
KAELI was already moving before Darius finished speaking.The hallway seemed longer than usual.Every instinct I possessed was suddenly alert.Stephanie showing up unexpectedly was bad enough and she showing up while Christine was unconscious and waking up in my private residence was significantly worse.My wolf growled low inside my head. I know this won't end well, not even remotely.I pushed open the door without bothering to knock.The scene that greeted me immediately told me everything.Christine stood near the center of the room while Stephanie stood several feet away and neither woman looked happy.In fact, the atmosphere was so tense it felt like lightning had already struck and everyone was simply waiting for the thunder.I felt relieved when I saw Christine standing, she looked better than last night.Christine's arms were folded tightly across her chest while Stephanie's expression was cold.The moment Stephanie saw me, something flashed through her eyes.It was relief,
KAELI didn't sleep properly last night. I tried to but I was genuinely worried about Christine. At some point during the night, I had even gone back to my office and forced myself to look through reports, investigation files and border security updates.None of it worked because every few minutes, my attention drifted to the room down the hall where Christine.The healer I called over had assured me multiple times that her condition was stable but that didn't stop me from checking.The city outside was already awake when my phone vibrated across the desk.I glanced at the screen, it was Nathan calling. My jaw tightened slightly before I answered. "Nathan."The response came immediately. "Kael."Something in his voice made me straighten, he sounded terrible, exhausted, tense and worried.The kind of worries that sat deep in a person's bones."What happened?" I asked and he paused for a while before throwing a question. "Have you seen Christine?"I leaned back in my chair and allowe







