Zephyrine

Just like that, I forgot everything I am, what I am, in the arms of a powerful king,

Finished

His mouth crashed against mine, stealing the air from my lungs until we were both breathless. When we finally broke apart. we stood there, panting, our gazes locked,

We held each other’s eyes for a moment before, almost at the same time, we smiled as bthough /bour very energy had bsynced/b.

I caught the rare softness in his expression, bthat /bsmile.. and the effect it had on me was dangerous.

My arms were looped around his neck, his grip warm at my waist, and for that fleeting binstant/b. I felt at the very top of the world.

But when he noticed me staring too long, his gaze dropped, and the smile faded. bSilence /bslid between us, smothering the moment, until the dull thud of something falling broke it.

Zephyr

I turned sharply, slipping down from Lycannar’s body to stand on my own feet.

Moon and his father stood there, arms full of supplies for the night’s meal.

The air turned heavy when my eyes met Moon’s. For a fraction of a second, I could swear I saw pain in his face… before he looked down and bent to retrieve the onion he had dropped. I crouched to help, avoiding his eyes as I ced it into his

hands.

Nathan, Moon’s father, remained still, his gaze pinned on the king before him.

Lycannar didn’t meet his eyes. I already knew why. He didn’t want to look at the man and see the day and time he will die.

Instead, his attention never left me. Under that relentless gaze, there was little I could do but breathe.

“Your Majesty.” bMoon /band his father greeted in unison.

Lycannar said nothing. Only when I nudged him lightly did he arch a bbrow /bat me.

“You should respond when you’re greeted,” bI /bmurmured.

He tilted his head, almost innocently.

“How should p?”

He bwasn’t /bjoking. The clueless sincerity in his voice almost made meugh.

“You can say thank you,”

He turned toward them, eyes on the floorb, /band nodded.

“Thank you.”

bNathan /bstudied him for a bmoment/b, then turned to me with a faint bsmile/b.

“You both shoulde in. The bking /bshould eat before he leaves”

“But…” Moon began, but Nathan had already gone inside.

Istood frozen for a heartbeat after they left, bwondering /bif Lycannar would ept.

Slowly. I looked up to find him staring at me like I was his next meal. His bhand /bslid to my waist before I could bstop /bhim, but 1 gave him a light punch to the shoulder.

Finished

“We’re ate, Excan”

“I don’t vary,” he murmured against my lips before his hose furrowed slightly. “Is that your father?”

The question made me stiften.

But he’s like a father to bme /b

Where are your parents? bIn /bthis pack?”

Ishook my head.

They’re dead”

Silence fell. His grip on my waist cased, not in withdrawal, but in tenderness,

“Where are they buried?” he asked quietly.

“Why do you want to know?”

So I can pay my respects,” he said, voice low, “At least they should know bwho /bwill be iming their daughter now.”

A im made in broad night sky. I went cold at his audacity but my chest swelled at bthe /bthought. Nyroth, for all the years I had given him, never once thought to honor my parents.

Emotions tangled in my throat. I pulled back from him, my breathing harder.

Why would the Moon Goddess give me a man so imperfect and yet so perfectly willing to do what others would not?

When I met his eyes again, their heat melted my thoughts. I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around his neck, and kissed him softly. bMy /bown silent im. His brow creased faintly when I pulled away.

“Come in. Let’s bhave /bdinner.” Without waiting for his answer, I took his wrist.

He walked beside me, formidable yet almost gentle, his fingers sliding between mine.

Guards and pack members stiffened as we passed; I could feel their stares on our linked hands.

At the Dusk family’s doorstep, I opened the door and stepped inside. He followed but then suddenly stopped, letting go of my hand.

“Lycannar?”

He stood in the doorway, shoulders btense/b, a faint frown on his face.

“There’s something here. I don’t like it.” He pointed toward the far corner of the

TOOM

There sat the small, sacred bstatue /bof the bMoon /bGoddess. My own brow furrowed. He hadn’t looked at it, but he knew it was there. He could feel it.

“I’ll take it away,” I said quietly, moving to hide it in a drawer.

When I turned bback/b, his shoulders were still tight. His eyes shed, just for an instant.

Now I got confused. The Moon Goddess was the great–grandmother of Lycan–kind but this Lycan king before me did not carry the favor of her blessing

He was cursed. Weakened by her presence.

Surely the Moon Goddess I had served all my life would not bwant /bme bound to such a bman/b.

Would she?

The Rogue is A Female Alphafnc52f Newest update provided by /fnc52f