CHAPTER 128: BELONGED TO SOMEONE ELSE

Whispers rippled through the square like wind cutting across a still lake.

"What’s happening?"

"Why is the Alpha getting in the square?"

"Oh no, is he looking for a mate?!"

"Can you believe this?"

The crowd stirred with disbelief. Gasps, murmurs, half-suppressed laughter, it all melted into one rising wave of confusion and awe.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

"A–Alpha, are you..." The Elder facilitating the dance stammered, voice trembling with uncertainty.

"I just want to join the dance. I suppose that’s not forbidden?"

The Elder blinked, then broke into nervous laughter.

"Of course not! Of course!" He clapped his hands, eager to please. "The Alpha is joining the dance! Continue, everyone!"

He’s only joining the dance, not the Mating Hunt. That’s what it meant... right?

Why would he take a mate from the women here, when he was planning to awaken the Celestial Wolf and claim her instead?

Still, the thought left an uncomfortable knot in my chest.

The dance reformed around him. Pairs turned and switched as before, and Rion without a mask, unlike every other man in the square, was impossible not to notice. His presence commanded the space, sharp and consuming, the crowd orbiting him like he was the moon they couldn’t turn away from.

I tried not to look. I failed miserably.

Every few turns, my eyes drifted in his direction. Sometimes he was laughing faintly at something his partner said, other times silent, expression unreadable. The women who danced with him looked dazed, uncertain whether to be thrilled or intimidated.

And when I wasn’t looking at him... I could feel him looking at me.

That invisible thread tugging at my awareness, that steady pull in the air. Even with my back turned, my skin tingled as though his gaze brushed down my spine.

"Are you alright?" my current partner asked, his brow creasing. "You’re... missing a few steps."

I blinked, realizing I’d turned the wrong way.

I nodded, trying to convey my apologies with my eyes.

The music quickened, and I forced myself to move with the rhythm again but my heart wasn’t in it. My pulse was too loud, my thoughts too tangled.

Then, in the middle of the next transition, a familiar hand extended toward me.

I froze.

The dancers had shifted again. Rion’s hand waited, palm open, in front of me. For a heartbeat, I just stared at it. The world around us seemed to blur until only that hand remained in my vision.

Reluctantly, I reached out and placed mine in his.

His fingers closed around mine. Too warm. The touch sent a spark through my skin, startling enough that I almost pulled back. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

He drew me forward, and before I could prepare myself, his other hand found the small of my waist. My breath hitched.

The dance hadn’t even started, yet he pulled me closer. Closer than the pattern required.

"You didn’t answer my question," he murmured, his voice low, meant for me alone.

I stared up at him, caught between irritation and the pounding in my chest. Of course I remembered what he meant.

Why do you want a mate? That was the smug question he’d thrown into my mind earlier.

I couldn’t reply even if I wanted to. The mask’s enchantment still sealed my voice away.

I glared at him, then pointed sharply at my mouth, at the mask.

He smirked, the corner of his lips lifting slightly. "Right. You can’t speak. My bad."

The orchestra struck a note and the crowd resumed its rhythm. Rion stepped forward, leading me into motion with ease.

Our bodies moved together as if drawn by some invisible force.

It reminded me of the first night of the Moon Festival. The masquerade dance under starlight lanterns.

The same rhythm, the same magnetic pull. Back then, I’d told myself it was the magic in the air, not him.

But standing here again, with his hand pressing lightly against the curve of my waist and his eyes locked on mine, I wasn’t sure I still believed that.

"You were having so much fun earlier," Rion murmured, his breath brushing my ear as he turned me in his arm. "But now that you’re dancing with me, you look grumpy. What could that mean?"

I glared at him. If looks could kill, he’d have been a smudge of ash by now. He only smiled, infuriatingly unbothered, as though the crowd, the music, the eyes watching us didn’t exist.

He leaned a little closer, voice dropping low enough that it curled around my skin. "Was it fun dancing with those men?"

His tone dripped with something bitter... like poison.

When his thumb brushed the fabric at my waist, stroking just once, my breath caught before I could stop it. My heartbeat jumped out of rhythm, the music suddenly too loud, the air too thin.

I told myself it was nothing. Just heat. Just nerves. Nothing more.

And yet... when he pulled me a little closer, our bodies aligned too easily. The faint friction of his skin against my mine, the steady rhythm of his breathing... it all burned into me, refusing to be ignored.

I hated that I noticed. I hated that part of me liked it.

A few seconds passed in silence, our steps perfectly timed, the world shrinking to the space between his heartbeat and mine.

"You look beautiful, by the way. I assume you dressed extra special for today... hoping to find yourself a dashing mate?"

His words might’ve sounded teasing to anyone else, but there was something dangerous behind them. The narrowing of his eyes, the faint tightening of his jaw.

Did he come here just to corner me with these questions? What a ridiculous waste of his time. Of my time.

I kept my chin up, refusing to let him see how much he was getting to me. But the longer we danced, the harder it became to focus on the music.

The song drew to its final refrain, a low, sweeping melody that sent skirts flaring and feet gliding across the stone.

I could almost taste freedom, one last spin, one last step, and then this strange, tense dance would be over.

The final note faded, the crowd erupted in polite applause, and I started to pull away. But Rion didn’t let go.

Before I could take a breath, the shadows coiled around us.

My stomach lurched. The square vanished.

When the darkness cleared, we were standing atop the clock tower in the Central District. The wind howled around us, cold and biting, carrying faint traces of laughter and music from far below.

I stumbled back a step, heart pounding, my gown whipping around my legs. "What the—"

A hand caught the edge of my mask. In one swift motion, Rion pulled it away. The fabric fluttered between his fingers before the wind snatched it, sending it sailing into the night.

He looked at me then, eyes glowing faintly red beneath the moonlight.

"Why don’t you answer me now?"

My temper finally snapped. "Why do you even care so much?"

I was grateful he’d dragged me away from that ridiculous mating ritual but cornering me like this wasn’t any better.

He was demanding answers like I owed him every thought in my head. But what for? What did he want to know so badly?

"If I want to find a mate, why do you care?" I continued, crossing my arms. "Is it because you think it’ll mess up your grand little plan? The whole ’using me as a key to free the Celestial Wolf’ thing?"

His eyes darkened, but I didn’t stop. "Relax. Whatever I do, I make sure it won’t jeopardize your precious plans. After all, I’m tied to you by blood bargain. I can’t undo that, remember? If I ever want to free myself from you, I have to finish what we started."

Rion’s expression shifted, something sharp flashing behind his eyes. "Free yourself from me?" he said quietly. "You want that so bad?"

"Why shouldn’t I?" I shot back. "From the beginning, I didn’t even want this bargain. You said once it’s done, you’d let me go. Isn’t that the deal?"

He nodded slowly, his gaze flicking over my face. For a second, something almost emotional crossed his expression. Then it was gone.

"Yeah, right," he muttered, voice flat, unreadable.

My chest tightened painfully, my throat dry.

I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Maybe it was the wind, or the lingering heat of his touch, or maybe I was just too stubborn to admit it... that deep down, something about this man terrified and pulled me in all at once.

I hated that I felt anything at all.

Because this feeling wasn’t right. It could never be right. Not when the future he was chasing... belonged to someone else.