جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 4

ARABELLA POV Nine times, I had reached into the Moonbond box. Nine times, I had drawn a blank token.In three days, I would draw again—and if the Moon rejected me a tenth time, I would remain unmated forever. Perhaps, that's why tonight, I was riding Adrian in my bedroom-my hips rolling in a rhythm I’d perfected over nine years of practice-just as he liked it. Adrian’s hands gripped my waist-firm, possessive, but mechanical. Like a dancer who knew the steps by heart but had forgotten the music.I arched my back, letting my head fall forward so my hair cascaded around us like a curtain. His breath hitched, and I clung to that sound like a lifeline. There. He’s still here. He’s still with me.But his eyes-those storm-gray eyes I’d loved since I was eighteen years old-were fixed somewhere over my shoulder. At the ceiling. At the window. Anywhere but me."Adrian,” I breathed, slowing my pace. “Adrian, look at me.”He did. For a moment, the mask slipped, and I saw something flicker there

ARABELLA POV I hurried back to the Blue Moon Pack with nervous excitement fluttering inside my chest. For the first time in my life, I believed I had something valuable to offer Adrian. I was Arabella Cross—the surviving daughter of the Cross family, heiress to one of the strongest wolf packs in the region. I had blood, status, and a family powerful enough to stand beside the royal Lycans. Perhaps Austin would finally no longer hold back from marrying me. I imagined telling him everything. I imagined the surprise on his face when he discovered that I was not an orphan with no future. Perhaps he would realize that I was worthy of becoming his Luna after all. The thought made my heart beat faster. Nine years back, a group of rogues had infiltrated the Blue Moon Pack, slipping past the outer patrols and attacking anyone in their path. Adrian had been cornered near the southern border. By the time I found him, blood covered his clothes, and one of the rogues was about to tear out