Lahat ng Kabanata ng Between Two Moons: The Scent of a Stranger: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

Ivy POV“It’ll ease the pain,” Alex said slowly, still not quite meeting my eyes. “But it comes with... side effects.”“What kind of side effects?” I demanded, another wave of heat rolling through me hard enough to blur my vision at the edges. My skin felt like it was vibrating, my thoughts shattering under the next wave of fever. Every muscle locked up, I was desperate for something, anything to ease the pain.He didn’t answer right away. I watched him fight with himself, jaw working, like whatever he needed to say next was going to cost him something. His hands flexed at his sides, restless, uncertain, it was the first time I’d seen him look truly unsure. The silence stretched between us, thick and heavy. It was the kind that made you want to scream, or throw something, or both.“Oh, this should be good,” Lux murmured, entirely too delighted for someone who claimed to be on my side. Typical. She was never more talkative than when I most needed quiet.“Alex,” I gritted out. “Whatever

Ivy POV“Well,” Alex said, dropping onto the edge of the bed like this was any other lazy morning. “Now that we’re back to normal…”I moved the pillow away from my face just enough to glare at him properly. “You call this normal? I embarrassed myself. Re-peat-edly.”“You were cute,” he said, and I pulled a face so exaggerated it should have hurt. “My apologies you were adorable.”I threw the pillow at his face. He caught it mid-air, laughing, entirely too pleased with himself for someone who’d spent five days fending off my increasingly shameless advances with the patience of a saint.“Don’t make me smother you with this,” I warned, but the edge in my voice had no real bite. My cheeks still burned, half mortification, half something warmer that I refused to admit out loud.He grinned wider, not the slightest bit threatened. “You say that like it would be a hardship.”I flopped back against the mattress, staring up at the ceiling and cataloguing the damage. My stomach twisted just thin

Ivy POVThis time, I didn’t find it strange at all to be driving miles out of town toward some hidden home deep in the forest. A few weeks ago, this would have sent me into a full spiral, conspiracies, worst-case scenarios, the whole dramatic montage. Now it barely registered as unusual.I guess that’s what happens when your sense of normal gets upended by werewolves, assassins, and a mate with a jaw you apparently can’t stop talking about.While we drove, Alex and Milo gave me a crash course on werewolf basics, why packs kept themselves tucked away from human eyes, how territory worked, the general rules of this world I’d apparently belonged to my whole life without knowing it. They discussed the rules, hierarchy, ancient grudges, the works.I tried to memorize the essentials, but it all felt like being dropped into a show halfway through and told to catch up before the next commercial break.“So, you call your huge mansion-homes, packhouses,” I said. “But not dens?”Alex wrinkled hi

Ivy POVI had never in my life eaten so much fine-dining food in one sitting, or, more accurately, I’d never eaten food like this at all. Each plate was a small work of art: tiny, beautiful, and completely unlike anything I’d ever been served. Even the water tasted expensive. It didn’t come close to the pigeon I’d had a couple of weeks ago, an experience I was still quietly recovering from, both emotionally and gastronomically.I shifted in my chair, forcing a smile between bites, pretending I belonged. The waiters glided by like ghosts in pressed white shirts, not a smudge out of place.I caught my reflection in the back of a gleaming spoon, cheeks a little flushed, eyes too sharp. I wondered if anyone else was thinking I didn’t fit in, or if it was just me, gnawing on the inside of my cheek, counting down the courses as if each one was a tiny hurdle.After a seven-course meal, I decided to catch up with Nina. She’d looked deeply uncomfortable seated beside her father all evening, th

Ivy POV“Ivy, are you alright?” Alex asked, checking me over like I might have cracked somewhere he couldn’t see, hands hovering near my shoulders, my face, like he wasn’t quite sure where he was allowed to touch.Goddess, this was embarrassing. No one had ever fussed over me like this in my entire life not once, not even when I’d shown up to a foster placement with a broken wrist, nobody had bothered to notice for two days. It sat strange in my chest, warm and uncomfortable at the same time, like a sweater that fit but still itched somewhere I couldn’t reach.“You’re his mate,” Lux said, entirely too pleased with the situation. “He’s supposed to fuss over you. And you should fuss over him too, when it’s his turn.”“But—”“Your feelings will only intensify once you shift,” Lux went on. “And once you mark each other, it’ll be worse. Or better, depending on how you look at it.”“You’re scaring me.”Lux chuckled, low and warm in the back of my mind. “It’s not that bad. That’s just how it