Fifty-one

SebastianRowan doesn’t say anything else after that.Neither do I. We stand by the window for a while, watching the trees as they might blink first. Nothing happens. No movement. No sound that doesn’t belong.That doesn’t make it better.The feeling doesn’t go away when we step back from the glass. It settles instead, low and watchful, like the start of a headache you know is going to get worse later.“I’m hungry,” I say eventually.It’s half an excuse. Halfway to making the world smaller. Rowan nods once. “I’ll make something.”I move into the kitchen, mostly so I don’t keep standing there thinking about what he said. About what he didn’t.Older. Reactive. Choice.Those words don’t leave you alone once they get in. Rowan cooks like everything is measured even when he isn’t measuring. It’s one of the first things I noticed about him back when all he was to me was the guy who kept pushing my limits in the gym. Nothing wasted. Nothing rushed.I lean against the counter, watching him wi

Fifty-two

RowanFrom the outside, it looks like he’s just standing there. He had his hands in his jacket pockets. Breathe steady. Eyes closed against the cold.If I didn’t know what was under his skin now, I might have believed that.But the air around Sebastian isn’t still.It hasn’t been since we stepped off the porch.There’s a pressure to it, not heavy, not violent. Organized. Like invisible lines being drawn and redrawn, settling into new places. The bond hums faintly in my chest, responding to whatever is unfolding in his.I don’t interrupt. I’ve made that mistake before.I stay close enough to intervene if I have to, far enough not to intrude. The trees stand silent around us. The town is quiet in the way that only comes before the weather.Sebastian exhales slowly.The pressure shifts.Not outward.Down. I feel a subtle tightening along the wards I helped anchor when I first arrived in Duskpine—not breaking. Adjusting.That alone tells me more than I want to know.The wards were never d

Fifty-three

SebastianI don’t sleep right away.Not because I’m wired. Because my thoughts won’t settle into anything shapeless.“Anchor.” The word keeps circling back.Not a weapon. Not the door. Not a mistake. Something built to hold. I lie on my back, one arm thrown over my eyes, listening to the quiet movements of the cabin. Rowan is in the other room. The faint creak of the walls. Wind brushes the roof like fingers. The bond hums faintly, steady as a second pulse.It doesn’t tell me anything.It doesn’t need to. Rowan’s words don’t feel like a revelation. They feel like something being named that was already shaping me.I sit up, swing my legs over the edge of the bed, and stand. The cold floor grounds me. I move quietly through the cabin, stopping in the doorway of the small room Rowan uses. He’s at the desk, jacket off, sleeves rolled, a book open in front of him. He doesn’t look surprised when he senses me there.“You’re not asleep,” he says.“Neither are you.”“No.” I step inside and lea

All Chapters of Moon Bound With You: Chapter 51 - Chapter 53

Fifty-one

Fifty-two

Fifty-three