《Bound by the Moon》全部章節：第 31 章 - 第 38 章

One moment the night was still. Then a storm arrived without warning. The rain hit the windows, restless and violent. Shaking the roof and causing the doors to whistle.I was already awake. If it was hard to sleep before, it was almost impossible now.I lay in the dark but eventually the room felt too small and too scary to be in.I got up. With my mind on a cup of water or hot tea, I left my room.The sitting room was at the centre of the wing – the space between the alpha’s rooms and mine. A fireplace cracked against the storm.“Oh,” I yelped. “Sorry.”He was in the chair nearest the fire.Just sitting there, his forearms on his knees and his eyes on the fire. Like there were secrets he’d kept in those flames. He looked up. I stopped in the doorway.The rain hit the window behind him as we looked at each other across the sitting room—two people who seemed to decide what was going to happen next. The awkward silence didn’t seem to faze him but it almost made me squirm. “Couldn’t

There was a shift in the air the next morning. The alpha’s home came more alive. Every corridor drifted with a new urgency, servants carrying things from one room to another, guards rotating more frequently at each wing. Documents were being sealed and organised in the study. Travel arrangements discussed in voices just low enough to be official.It seemed the whole pack was preparing to be seen.And I was a part of the preparation that required the most work.Caia arrived at my quarters before I had finished breakfast.She came with two assistants and an armful of ceremonial garments. Her expression belonged to someone assigned a task beneath them.“We have two hours,” she began, setting the garments across the chair with precise hands. “The other Lunas will have been preparing for gatherings like this their entire lives. We don’t have the advantage of time so we’ll have to be efficient.”We?As though we were in this together, I thought. Annoyed. Then I set down my cup, stood, and

The journey back was quiet, at first. Just the dark road and the sound of the vehicle moving through it and the wind blowing against the wheels and windows. I leaned my head back against the seat and looked at the ceiling, allowing myself to be tired for the first time since morning.Outside, the trees swayed in the dark. The estate’s silver banners had disappeared behind us long ago. Silvercrest was still an hour away.The silence stretched. Heavy with the weight of everything the evening had asked of both of us.It made me wonder about the man sitting in front of me. Despite the distance he kept between us, he seemed to fill every corner of the car. He looked absolutely terrific in formal suits. His usually untamed hair had been pushed back neatly, exposing more of his blue eyes. There was something unearthly in them. It made me want to know what he was thinking. I tried to focus on the trees, but it was impossible to. Each second made the space between us smaller. If I focused

The morning felt steady for the first time in weeks. Birds chirping, wind howling softly against a sunny day. If I were a day old, I’d say this was a lovely day. But I wasn’t and every day I remained in Silvercrest was a day of survival and far from lovely.Reports and supply disputes and patrol schedules had Skylar across the table from me. A cup of tonic in her hand and a clipboard in the other. She delivered on the pack bureaucracy that made the endless paperwork almost bearable.“This enforcer,” she said, holding up a report without looking at me, “has filed a complaint about the eastern rotation for the fourth consecutive week.”“Is he wrong?”“He’s completely right. That’s what’s annoying about it.” She set it down. “Write the adjustment.”I wrote the adjustment.The morning continued just like this. And honestly, it was my favorite part of the day. Spending time with Skylar and being useful.I threw myself into it with the focused energy of someone using work to avoid thinki