Accueil / Werewolf / TASTE OF THE CURSED LUNA / Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 40

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31

"Grant me another heartbeat of patience, Princess… I beg of you…""Very well…" I replied through the runic link, though my spirit was far from serene.Who could this shadow be? He held such weight in Lucas’s soul; they were clearly bound by a profound brotherhood. Perhaps his closest ally?Lucas Montgomery.No... it was a fragmented thought. Impossible. Lucas was a creature of ice and jagged edges. Whoever whispered to my soul via these messages possessed a warmth that could thaw the Tundra, a gentleness that made a girl feel like she was the only star in the night sky. Lucas knew only how to command through terror and presence. Yet... I recalled the stolen glimpses of his slate. He had images of me. Why would an Alpha heir hoard the likeness of a Hollowed girl?I searched for any logical explanation, but the only one that fit—that he was my Watcher—seemed the most absurd of all. For years, I had trailed after him like a lost pup, and he hadn't spared me a single glance. He had never

32

"Right, right, we're leaving. Just let us go!" the pathetic cur nearest me scrambled, his scent sour with cowardice. In a frantic, clumsy retreat, the drifters fled into the frost-locked shadows. Some were so paralyzed by Lucas’s "Essence-Aura" they could barely find their feet, practically crawling toward the exit.I stood there, breathless, reeling from how quickly the tide had turned. But a new, sharper anxiety pierced through the shock.Lucas was closing the distance, his eyes locked onto mine. His face was flushed with a terrifying heat, and his gaze—usually so distant—was flooded with raw fury and a pain that looked almost physical.I don't know what destiny has written for me in the stars, but having the Alpha heir of the Montgomerys as my savior was the last thing I expected.Then, the realization hit me like a plunge into a frozen lake. I wanted the earth to split open and swallow me. I was nearly exposed; the drifters had torn my protective layers away, leaving me shivering

33

The hearth-fire licked at the stones, casting flickering orange light over Lucas’s bare, corded back. He wasn't wearing a tunic, just his training leathers. There is a primal, unsettling beauty in a high-born Alpha performing a domestic task, his powerful muscles rippling as he tended the morning meal. Emily stood at the base of the stairs, her breath hitching in her throat."Is the view to your liking, Princess?"Emily nearly jumped out of her skin. Did the man have the heightened senses of a sentinel even when his back was turned?"I... I was just..." she stammered, heat rushing to her cheeks."How is your physical state this morning?" he asked, turning toward her.Emily’s gaze involuntarily dropped to the sheer, sculpted power of his torso—the "Essence-Aura" of a dominant male was almost suffocatingly attractive. She felt like a yearling caught in a predator's gaze."I... much improved," she managed to exhale."Good. I must cleanse the soot from my skin. There is fresh elk-milk in

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No, Princess… this isn't a shadow’s trick," Lucas whispered, his breath warm against my hair as he pressed a tender kiss to my crown. "This is the reality we’ve both hungered for. Our shared vision made flesh."He pulled back just enough to look at me, his golden eyes shimmering. "Do you truly have no inkling of how long I have been consumed by thoughts of you?"I stared at him, my mind spinning. Him? Consumed by me? It felt like a glitch in the Moonlight Law. The High Alpha heir, a creature of pure Essence-Aura, obsessed with a girl the Silver-Run Territories had discarded as Hollowed?"The first time I laid eyes on you was during a runic competition between our territories," he continued, his voice dropping to a low, melodic hum. "I was struck by the brilliance of your mind. Though my pack took the victory that day, I watched you fight with the tenacity of a lone wolf against an entire vanguard, even after your own team had surrendered to the frost. In that moment, I didn't fall for

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Do you prefer the roasted venison or the herb-infused bone broth?" Lucas asked as he detected the soft brush of her footsteps against the cedar planks, his back still turned to her."I... let me think," Emily replied, her voice still a quiet murmur in the thin mountain air."Great Mother!" Lucas exhaled, turning fully to face her. His golden eyes flared with a sudden, searing intensity as they swept over her."What is it?""You look like a vision of the Lunar Goddess herself..." he whispered, a rare, genuine smile breaking through his usual Alpha stoicism.Emily let out a small, breathless laugh, feeling the warmth of his praise more than the hearth-fire. Daniel, standing by the frosted window, offered a sharp nod of approval."It is a triumph to finally speak of your beauty to your face, rather than through a runic screen," Lucas murmured, his gaze lingering on the way the green wool clung to her frame."You truly must burn those oversized rags you used to wear, Emily," Daniel added

36

The morning feast came to an end under the heavy beams of the frost-locked lodge. Lucas turned to Daniel, his posture shifting with the natural authority of an Alpha heir, and instructed him to guide the packless female back toward the fringes of her family's territory."Do not let the frost settle in your spirit simply because we cannot walk side by side through the Academy gates," Lucas murmured, capturing her small hands within his broad palms and pressing them against the hard line of his chest. "You pledged your trust to the shadow before you ever saw the wolf behind it. Now that you know my face, let that conviction deepen. I will find cracks in the Moonlight Law to reach you. Our minds will tether through the runic slate as often as the moon permits. Swear to me you will not let the dark take you.""I give you my oath," Emily whispered, resting her brow against the thick fur of his jerkin. "I will remain steadfast. But my soul wishes to anchor itself within these walls permanen

37

“She is under my protection now, Carter,” Daniel flung the words back like a gauntlet, spinning on his heel to exit the stone fortress before the tension could fracture the walls.The Beta managed to put only a short stretch of pine forest between himself and the estate before pulling his mount to a halt under a ledge of heavy shale. His thoughts were a tangled mess of pack politics and sudden, volatile instincts. He buried his face in his hands, resting his forearms against the frost-rimed saddle pommel. Until the sun had crested the peaks today, a faint, foolish glimmer of hope had lingered within him; now, it withered like a mountain blossom caught in a sudden blizzard. He felt a deep satisfaction in having shielded her, certainly, but beneath the surface, his internal composure lay shattered into sharp, jagged shards that could never be pieced back together. Nor did he truly wish to mend them, for to alter the path would mean shifting the weight of this isolation onto someone else

38

A short interval elapsed before the heavy timber of the bathing chamber groaned again on its warped iron fittings.The elite youth had evidently concluded his purge of the spirit-fire.An unbidden thought crossed Emily’s mind—should she venture to the lower larder to draw an infusion of wild mint or frost-roots? The specific remedies for a warrior drowning in mountain spirits were entirely foreign to a Hollowed female who touched no wine.She remained motionless upon her sleeping furs for several heartbeats, balancing the peril of a confrontation against the persistent pull of her twin-tether.Ultimately, she broke her stasis and crossed the threshold, resigned to endure whatever volatile reaction her presence might provoke.The narrow corridor was faintly illuminated by a sliver of rune-glow spilling from his cracked portal. She advanced along the stone flags, ensuring her light boots made no impression on the quiet of the house.The heavy oak structure was slightly ajar."By what so

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"Quiet," the youth muttered, his heavy palm instantly flattening across her lips to stifle any morning utterance before she could fully rouse."What is the meaning of this intrusion?" Emily demanded the moment his hand retreated from her jaw.He appeared entirely re-fleshed and restored, the toxic cloud of the mountain spirits thoroughly purged from his system. He had bathed, bound his dark hair in the sharp style of the vanguard, and resumed the flawless, arrogant posture typical of Ryan Carter."We require an understanding," he stated, his cold gaze pinning her to the furs.The unshifted female remained flat upon her mattress. She levered herself into a sitting position against the stone wall, her mind sharpening to receive his terms."Listen well, Emily. The frontier spirits had clouded my senses last night, and my memory retains absolutely nothing of the ramblings I discharged," he said, following a calculated suspension of his breath. "I command you to withhold every syllable of

40

It was far more tactical to withhold the truth from the Alpha heir for the duration of this sun-turn.Emily loathed the necessity of harboring shadows, most notably from the warriors who had thrown their shields over her existence.She rouse before the dawn-light broke over the ridges, prepared a trench-meal of salted meats and mountain oats, and began her preparations for the tactical instruction. Her hands drifted toward the rare, dyed floral tunic Lucas had secured for her from the southern trading routes, but changing her standard garb for a vestment that refined would instantly draw the predatory focus of the high caste. Consequently, she re-doned her default camouflage: a thick homespun under-tunic, an oversized wool jerkin, and stiff riding leathers. Despite the limitations of her low-caste resources, she expended a rare effort to soften her features. In the seasons before the bond manifested, her external visage had been a matter of absolute indifference; now, she was forced t

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