บททั้งหมดของ Rejected and Banished; The kids are his.: บทที่ 101 - บทที่ 110

Eva's POV.I didn’t move.Couldn’t.His footsteps had vanished into the thick woods.Red, his eyes turned red.What the hell does that mean?My mind tried to rationalize, to explain it away, some side effect of shifting? Stress? Some bloodline thing I’d never learned? But no… I’d seen shifts my whole life. I’d watched every member of my pack change under a dozen full moons. I’d never seen eyes do that.Tonight too when everyone else was shifting, there was no trace of color change in their eyes. If there was, I could have concluded it to be a pack trait. But it wasn't.And Nicklaus, he was scared. At least he looked so.That terrified me more than anything.I stood up, almost on instinct. My legs still shaky, my heart trying to punch its way through my ribs. I stared at the woods, hoping, stupidly that he might come back. That maybe he’d realize I deserved answers. That I needed them.But all I got was silence.After what felt like eternity, it was finally the early hours of the morni

The woods had always been a place for thinking.Nicklaus didn’t come to the forest for peace, he came for space. Although the quietness presently wasn’t comforting, not exactly. It was too alive, too watchful. Every creak of tree trunks, felt like he was been observed, but he pushed the thoughts away and and continued walking. His thought was centered on Eva.She wasn’t the same girl he had first met, willing to run away from her pack to avoid their mockeries. There was so much fear and uncertainty in her eyes back then. She looked too naive. Too weak, bruised. But she’d changed, bit by bit, hardened and honed.He had seen the changes in her, more clearly than she saw it in herself. The quiet strength building behind her words. The way she didn't flinched when he told her his story... everything, no half truths, no softening, she had just listened, no fright. No tears, just a long, thoughtful silence and that same soft steady gaze she showered him with.He hadn’t told her how muc

Eva's POV.I’d been awake for a while.Not wide eyed and alert, just… existing. Eyes half open, staring at the carvings in the ceiling, following the curves of the wood like they might reveal some answer to the question still crawling under my skin.Nuela.I hated how her name sat in my mind like a splinter. Not even a sharp one. Just dull and persistent.Who was she really to Nicklaus? Could she truly be just the past? A closed chapter, no bookmarks left behind?Or was she a pause in a sentence waiting to finish?The thought alone made my stomach turn.And yet, here I was, still laid across the bed, pretending like I wasn’t still playing every moment from the garden over and over in my head.The way she had looked at him, and the way she absolutely didn't spare me a second glance. A knock suddenly snapped me out of it.“My lady?” came a gentle voice, Elsin, one of the quarter maids. “His highness requests your presence in the dining room. Breakfast is served.”My heart gave a traito

Eva's POV.I thought I had prepared myself.I had given permission, after all. I’d told myself that it was just a dance. That it meant nothing. That I wasn’t going to be the jealous wife standing in the corner, fuming while her husband danced with another woman. No. That wasn’t me. I wasn’t going to let Nuela get under my skin.But as I stood there, watching her lead him to the center of the floor, my stomach churned with a rage that I couldn’t even begin to explain.The way she smiled at him, the way she placed her hand on his arm as if she owned him, God, I could feel the heat in my chest rise. Her fingers brushed against his skin, and I nearly choked on the knot forming in my throat. And that smile, so smug, so full of knowing.I had allowed it.No, I let it happen. But I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that I had been played, that I was just a pawn in some ridiculous game. She was using me.Her eyes flicked over her shoulder at me as they reached the dance floor, that same victori

Eva's POV.The morning sun streamed in through the curtains, but all I felt was cold, the space in the bed beside me was empty. I didn’t even have to open my eyes to know that. I had felt it all night, the emptiness, the absence that grew heavier with every passing hour.I turned my head anyway, as if somehow, by some miracle, I might see him there. But no. The sheets on his side were untouched.He hadn’t come back.I stared at the ceiling, my chest tight, my heart heavy in my ribs. I’d waited. God, I’d waited all night, listening for the soft sound of the door opening, for the weight of him slipping beneath the covers. But the room had remained silent, the door unopened and the bed cold.Nicklaus was angry. I knew that, he’d been angry before, but never like this, and this time, it was my fault.I let out a shaky breath and sat up, my hands clutching the blanket as if it could offer me some comfort. My reflection in the mirror across the room was pale, my hair ruffled from tossing an