Chapter 0003

•NYMERIA•

"Nym."

I stopped outside the tent with Millie by my side. I closed my eyes and wished we had never come here.

"Come, you must meet Declan," my brother said behind me. "You two haven't seen each other for five years."

I turned around and plastered the widest smile on my face. "Ah yes, Declan!" I leaned toward them. "I'm sorry, but I wanted to get something for my daughter in the kitchen."

"Nymeria," Declan said as he took my hand and brought it up to his lips. "It's so good to see you again.”

I looked at him and remembered our last moments together. We were so close to being seen by my brother, and that moment almost scared me to death.

I couldn't lose Christopher or him. So I left and never looked back. And now he was here. The boy I had loved all my life but couldn't have.

"It's — ah — good to see you again. You're alive and well," I answered, my heart pounding in my chest.

The memories of his lips against mine clutched my heart and made me breathless.

I remembered his heavy breaths against my ear while he was pounding inside my wet pussy, making me scream his name.

I pulled away from him and smiled.

"Declan has been away from Hollowshade as well," my brother said as he wrapped his arm around his bride. "According to him, he was exploring some business prospects, while my sister found a job in another city. I hardly saw you two for years, but now you're here, and my heart is content."

"In my defense, I have called and sent plenty of emails while I was away," Declan replied, chuckling. "So, I was never truly away for a long time."

"Well, yes," Chris chuckled. "At least you called, unlike someone I know." He glanced at me and stifled a laugh. "She barely remembered that she had a brother. But that's gone and forgotten, she's here now with the sweetest little girl I've ever known."

Christopher looked at Millie beside me. My poor baby clung to me as if she were not the famous problem child in her previous kindergarten schools.

"Millie kept me busy," I chuckled, though my chest tightened. "She barely gave me time to myself."

They all laughed, except for Declan who was looking at me. I couldn't decide if he was wondering where the years had gone, or if he was fucking me in his mind all over again.

"She is beautiful," Declan said, and for one breathless second, I thought he meant me. Then I followed his eyes and found Millie.

"Thank you," I answered.

"She looks like you."

I didn't answer that.

"Well, where's the girl you came with, Declan?" Chris asked as he turned to him. "I know you wouldn't have come to the wedding alone."

I cleared my throat and looked away, trying to stop my heart from drowning. Even after five long years, I couldn't fathom the thought of him being with another woman.

"Here she is," Declan said as he looked toward a woman approaching us.

My heart stopped.

Sloane. My best friend before I left Hollowshade.

She knew about Declan and me, and was the one who helped me get to Drakenfall. She told me it would be easier to start my life afresh there, and that our secret would be safe with her.

I believed her and never thought she would be the one sleeping with Declan one day. Let alone be engaged to him.

He took a small step back so that she could slot naturally into our circle, and when she reached him, he placed one hand at the small of her back.

Sloane's eyes found me half a second later.

The smile on her face flickered, but not enough for anyone to notice. "Nymeria," she muttered.

"Sloane." I smiled. "It's good to see you."

"You're engaged to my sister's best friend?" Chris chortled as he leaned toward Declan and grabbed his hand. "You must tell me everything that happened while you were away."

They walked toward the refreshment table, laughing.

Petra chuckled as she tilted her head toward Millie. "Lily, do you want cake?"

Millie nodded excitedly. She liked sugar and I couldn't deny it to her. I smiled and let her go inside the house with Petra.

Petra was such a lovely woman, and my brother was the lucky man. I was happy that he had found his happily ever after.

"I never expected to see you here, Sloane," I muttered as she leaned toward me.

"And I never thought I would see you in Hollowshade again," she scoffed. "I thought you were gone for good. But it seems like you didn't only come back, but you brought your daughter along."

"Millie is his daughter, and you know that."

"I know that, but I am marrying him," she answered, her voice low. "Declan will be my husband in a month, and it would be best for you to return to Drakenfall."

"Do you think he will carry on with the wedding if he finds out I had his daughter?"

"And do you think your brother will forgive you for sleeping with his best friend and cousin?" she huffed. "Christopher will hate you all his life and will make you and your little brat disappear. You will lose everything in your useless name."

I swallowed.

Christopher was my stepbrother. My mother married his father when I was five and he was ten years old at the time, and Declan, his cousin, used to visit us almost every weekend.

They were the same age. And I had no business developing feelings for a boy who was supposed to be my family as well, but I did.

I loved Declan until I was old enough to understand that I loved him more than just as an extended cousin.

I dreamt of him almost every night, fucking me until I couldn't remember my name. And I knew if Christopher found out, I would lose him. Just as I had lost everyone else.

"So, if I were you—" Sloane continued, leaning toward my ear. "I would leave this place and never return." With that said, she stepped back, smiled, and walked away.