جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 60

INDY Rome did not touch her?The words echoed in my head, louder than the owls hooting in the forest. I pressed my hand against my chest to stop myself from making any sound, however faint that might be. Archibald sighed dramatically, like this was nothing more than a mild inconvenience. “That man is immovable,” he said. “He has someone so beautiful in front of him, but he wouldn’t even budge. If it were me, I would have devoured you already.” Genevieve scoffed softly. “It doesn’t matter. You’re going to have your heat soon, right?”Clara didn’t hesitate when she answered, “Yes. It should be coming tomorrow night based on my calculations.” “Good,” Genevieve said. “We can strike at that time. Make him get you pregnant. An Alpha would not be able to resist an Omega in heat after all.”I felt nauseated, having the urge to puke. So that was their plan. It wasn’t just to make him fall for her and replace me. They wanted to trap him. They wanted to force a bond, a future, a child.My f

INDY I held myself back.That was the wrong question to ask. The wrong thing to want and hope for. “Sorry,” I said quickly, forcing my body to move away from him even though I wanted to stay. However, before I could put some distance between us, his hand came up, firm but not rough, fingers sliding under my chin. The touch sent a jolt straight through me. “Rome—” I started.He didn’t let me finish. He kissed me.It was hungry, desperate, like he had been holding himself back for far too long. His lips crashed into mine with a force that stole the breath right out of my lungs. My hands flew up automatically, gripping the front of his shirt just to steady myself.I couldn’t keep up with the intensity. I felt so many emotions in that kiss. Confusion. Frustration. Want. Anger. Longing. It was all there, tangled together, overwhelming my senses. My mind told me to stop, but my body didn’t listen.I tried to match him, but I was clumsy and breathless. My heart was pounding so hard I

INDY The forest swallowed me whole the moment I crossed beyond the last boundary marker of the palace lands. Algard, being the capital of Algard—creative, I know—was the biggest in landmass and most developed out of all the cities. Going through the city was a journey all alone.Now, it felt like I was running through the same scenery for hours. Bellarium.I knew where I was going even though I had never set foot there in this life. My body remembered directions the way migratory birds remembered seasons. North by the slope of the hills. West by the way the river bent like a broken wrist. Three days if I kept running. Two if I pushed beyond exhaustion.I pushed myself to my limits. The burn in my lungs was good. The ache in my muscles was better. It gave my mind something else to cling to besides the memory of Rome. My wolf made the journey more difficult, though. She still tugged on our mate, the one we already left behind. However, I forced her forward even though it made the

ROME The letters of the words stared back at me.I could see them clearly. I could trace each curve of her handwriting, each stroke of the pen.However, I could not believe they were there.“This must be a joke,” I muttered under my breath, though the room was empty and no one was there to hear me.My eyes moved over the lines again, absorbing words I did not want to absorb. It had the answers to every possible question I could think of. However, it did not answer the question of why—why was there a goodbye at the last part of the letter?My fingers tightened around the paper until it crumpled slightly in my grasp.“No,” I said, this time louder.I turned toward the door of my chamber and looked down the corridor toward her room.It was closed.That meant nothing.She could still be inside.I walked there quickly. I pushed the door open without knocking.The room was empty, and the bed was made. The wardrobe doors were slightly ajar, and I immediately noticed that some of her cloth

INDY The photographs were laid out carefully on the wooden table in front of me, their corners held down by smooth river stones so they would not fly from the chilly winds. The afternoon light filtered through the open window, illuminating the face of a woman I had never truly known.At first, I did not understand what felt so unsettling. Then it struck me. It was like looking at myself.Not the me who was a part of this world and was meant to ruin the main love story. There was ink smudged faintly on her fingers in one photograph, and in another, she was holding a bundle of papers to her chest as though they were sacred.For a dizzying moment, it felt as though I were staring at myself before I had ever been placed inside this story. I reached out and touched the edge of the nearest photograph. The paper was worn and delicate beneath my fingers.“You have her eyes,” the elderly woman said softly.I lifted my gaze to her. She stood at the other side of the table, hands clasped nea