บททั้งหมดของ The Blood Moon Prophecy : บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

Anara’s POV“Let’s get ready, Anara. Dinner is soon, and we need to make you look impeccable for it and to hear the test result,” Liora declares excitedly, already helping me stand and slip out of the dress. Her hands are quick and practiced, moving with the ease of someone who’s done this a thousand times. The fabric glides over my skin, and I feel a little shiver as I’m freed from its intricate folds.“I wish I could frame this magnificent work you and the other girls did on me today,” I say while Liora gently removes the makeup from my face with a sweetly scented cream that leaves my skin feeling incredibly soft. “The dress is incredible, but you all performed a miracle on me.”Liora makes a disapproving click with her tongue. “You need to learn to value yourself, Anara. You have impressive beauty. Of course, you could still use a bit more food and proper sleep, but we’ve already made good progress on that,” she replies seriously. Her words carry a weight that settles deep in my ch

Anara POVNyra moved through the garden with that careful, silent kind of grace that comes from years of being overlooked. I knew that walk all too well. I’d spent most of my life perfecting it myself.I sat with my hands resting quietly in my lap, my face relaxed and pleasant, the way I’d learned to look back in Nightveil when I didn’t want anyone to notice how closely I was paying attention. Smile at the right moments. Nod when spoken to. Pretend you’re completely absorbed in whatever harmless little thing is right in front of you. While the others around the table laughed and gossiped loudly about the results of the second trial, my eyes never left Nyra.Vexa leaned toward the girl next to her, lowering her voice just enough that it was clearly meant to carry. “I heard she used to have her own maids once. Can you believe how far she’s fallen? And now look at her.”A few of them snickered. I didn’t. I just watched as Nyra picked up the tea tray from the stone table by the garden wal

Anara POVI barely slept that night.After I spilled everything to Liora, she just sat there in the little armchair across from me, both hands clamped over her mouth, eyes wide as saucers. She didn’t interrupt once. When I got to the part where Selene admitted she’d put enough in my cup to keep me sick in bed for a whole week, Liora made this tiny choked sound in her throat and quickly swallowed it down.When I finally finished talking, the room went dead silent.“Ana,” she said after a long pause, her voice low and careful, like she was trying hard not to sound as scared as she really was. “You have to be so, so careful from now on. More careful than you’ve ever been in your life.”“I know,” I replied quietly.“I’m serious. Not just with Selene with everyone. You have no idea who else might be talking to her in this place.”“I know, Liora.”She leaned forward and grabbed both my hands, holding them tight. Her fingers were warm against mine. “Promise me you won’t do anything like t

Anara’s POVBy the time I snuck out of my room, the pack house had gone completely quiet. Not the restless kind of quiet from earlier, when doors still creaked open now and then and footsteps echoed faintly down the halls. This was the real thing deep, heavy silence, like the whole building had finally exhaled and settled into sleep.I’d changed into something simple and dark: plain trousers and a long-sleeved top that wouldn’t catch the light or make any noise when I moved. I’d learned that the hard way after following Selene to the barn.The path to the winter garden led through a short covered walkway that opened onto the grounds from the south side. I’d walked it twice in daylight, so I knew exactly where the path curved and where that sneaky stone step waited in the dark. I moved carefully, one hand brushing lightly along the wall until the covered part ended and the cool night air washed over me.The winter garden looked completely different at night.In the afternoon it felt li

Anara’s POV“You never told me your real name.”The words slipped out before I could stop them. The garden was quiet around us, his hand still resting over mine on the cold ground, and I felt him go completely still in a way that felt different from all his other silences.“No,” he said. “I didn’t.”“Are you going to?”He turned his head to look at me. The moonlight fell straight across his face, and for once I could see everything he usually kept hidden so carefully. The exhaustion from the pain that had just torn through him. Something older and heavier beneath that. And underneath it all, something I didn’t have a name for yet — something that made my breath catch unevenly in my chest.“Not tonight,” he said softly.“Then when?”“Soon.” He paused. “I promise, Anara. Soon.”I probably should have pushed harder. The part of me that had spent the last three days walking these corridors and asking questions knew I should have. But there was something in the way he said it the weight be