Alle Kapitel von Born to shine: Kapitel 71 – Kapitel 77

🍃 Arria POV “But I did hurt you, and elves count deeds more than words.” She kept her solemn expression. My hands tightened around hers. “Okay then, may I choose?” She nodded. “Prove me wrong, Milena. That will be more than enough for me.” She did not look pleased. Somehow, it made my chest ache with concern. “It’s between them and me,” she said after a while. “I will do it for myself. Not for you.” Relief moved through me, and a smile rose on my face. “Then I accept your apology as a good deed toward me,” I told her. “And we’re all right.” She looked unconvinced. “You twisted it. You made words count as deeds,” she started. “But… I’ll accept it for now because I can’t think of anything I could do for you as an apology that I wouldn’t do anyway for my queen.” Not that again. “I’m not anyone’s queen.” I stood and resumed our walk. “And I won’t be.” She glanced up at me and shrugged. “As you say,” she said. “Now that we are okay, will you start calling me Lena again?”

🍃 Arria POV A shiver ran through Alaric’s body. I knew what was coming, so I took ten steps away and turned my back on him. A moment later, Fenrir’s voice came from behind me. “I’ll wait for you in the water.” I turned around only to see his bare back facing me. He was already moving toward the shore, dressed only in swim trunks. For a moment, I just watched him. Broad shoulders. Strong build. Well-defined without being overly muscled. The memory of his bare skin under my hand made warmth spread through me. But I did not dwell on it. Instead, I pulled my clothes off and followed him in. When I reached the water, he was already doing laps. His movements were precise and controlled, like everything he did. Perfect in every sense. He stopped not far from me, his head rising from the water. “You are not swimming,” he said, not even out of breath. “I changed my mind,” I told him. “I will just relax and watch you.” He studied me for a while. Then he dived and kept swim

🔥 Aron POV Fenrir summoned me on short notice. Something had happened, and I had to know what. I had orders. Too many. Usually mutually exclusive. But one thing was always common—Arria had to stay alive for as long as possible. That was what everyone wanted. Only the purposes were different. So I did what I had to and came. The moment I entered the room, her scent hit me. It was not safe.Still that arrogant bastard had brought her here anyway. Irritation and anger filled me. “You promised to protect her.” The growl slipped out before I could stop it. But I could not even look at her to check her condition. Vaerion could see her through my eyes later. I couldn't risk it. Not like I had when I sent her to Fenrir. Even though he was a monster in human disguise, as everyone who knew him could confirm, he was still nothing like the elf prince. But of course, he always pushed to prove me wrong. Even now. He had marked her. My wife. As if what he had done to me befor

🍃 Arria POV I lay awake in bed, staring into the darkness. The tension from the meeting with Aron had lessened, but it hadn't gone away. All the way home, I had fought to keep my mind blank. I didn't need any more what-ifs. And then Melanie had shattered the one that mattered most— Fenrir had not pushed her into danger. She would have gone anyway, and he had only turned her choice into a weapon. I kissed his neck. His hold on me didn't change. Once again, he was pretending to be asleep, giving me time to process what I needed to. But this time, it was different. I wouldn't dissect his actions beforehand just to brace myself for every possible bad outcome. I would ask. "How did you meet Aron?" The question slipped into the darkness between us. "In the palace," he replied. "Go on," I pressed. "I want to understand what happened today." He didn't answer right away. "He was seven," he eventually began. "Some boys were bullying him. I helped." That sounded right. Aro