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- Silver Lies–II
Ara’s POV
I was taken aback for a moment. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt if they knew I was a Vaelcrest. They would find out either way! I smiled at Sailas as I finally spoke carefully, “you are right
How wrong was
Sailas‘ eyes widened in the very next second, as they remained fixated at the tab, “wait–Ara Vaelcrest of the Blue Moon Pack?”
My fork clattered against the plate
“Oh gods, you are!” He turned the screen toward us. “It says right here. You are their Luna. You are married to the alpha for five years. There’s even a photo of you.”
The room spun. It took him only a fraction of seconds before finding out the truth. But why did it still say 1 was the luna? It didn’t matter. I controlled my breaths.
“Do you see a mark on my neck?” My voice was ice. I pushed off my hurt, pain, guilt and fear all together a kept a calm face.
Sailas blinked as he mumbled, “Uh. no?”
Aurelia’s hand clamped on Sailas’s wrist. “You are an absolute idiot.”
“What? I’m just stating facts!” Sailas replied.
Damon’s growl shook the table. “Enough.”
I stood up, my chair scraping back. “I don’t have much appetite. Please excuse me.”
I didn’t wait for a response. The hallway blurred as I walked, my chest too tight.
Hurt. Fear. Anger.
Lucian hadn’t erased my name. Hadn’t bothered. Why would he? To him, I was probably already as good as dead
As I walked away, I heard Sailas’s faint voice, “do you want me to dig deeper? Something is fishy”
My legs stopped for a second. That was it!
Thanks to Sailas, Damon would dig. He would find the truth.
Rejected. Wolfless. Dying.
“No need. I trust her, Damon’s voice came soon after and I froze!
Did he really mean it? It was even worse then. I was lying to a mate who trusted me!
All my emotions were replaced by one- guilt! I reached my room, slamming the door behind me.
Time was running out.
I had been just lucky tonight that my name wasn’t tagged under the rogue list. Maybe Lucian forgot? I thanked him in my head.
16 Silver Lies I
But luck never lasted, especially in my case.
I laid on the bed that smelled like him.
Mint and sage, and something darker, something that made my skin prickle with awareness even when he
wasn’t there.
I curled into the sheets, letting the scent wrap around me like an embrace.
Pathetic, Ara. Since when did I find comfort in the presence of a man who could destroy everything I had left?
Footsteps echoed outside the door. Heavy. Assured. It was him.
My body knew before my mind did. Tensed and alert, yet thrumming with something dangerously close to
want.
The door creaked open.
I didn’t turn. Didn’t need to. My skin already burned where his gaze landed.
Damon moved silently, circling the bed before settling beside me. The mattress dipped under his weight, his
heat seeping into the space between us.
I finally looked up.
Moonlight caught the sharp angles of his face, his grey eyes like liquid silver in the dark.
“I brought you food” He said gently.
A plate of pasta rested in his hands, steam curling lazily from it. His voice was softer than I’d ever heard it-
almost concerned.
“I’m not hungry,” I lied.
“Look at me.” It was a command, not a request.
Our eyes locked, and the world narrowed to that single point of contact. His gaze dropped to my lips, then lower–to the hollow of my throat, the too–sharp jut of my collarbones.
“You are too thin and pale,” he murmured. “The last thing you ate was ice cream. Eat.”
I sat up, grudgingly, and he held the plate out. The scent of garlic and herbs hit me, and my traitorous stomach growled.
“Were you following me?” I accused him.
His lips quirked. “I prefer keeping an eye on my mate.”
And those damn dimples appeared. Before I could stop myself, my fingers lifted, brushing the faint indents
in his cheeks. The sparks erupted where skin met skin.
Damon caught my wrist, his grip firm but gentle. He pressed a slow, deliberate kiss to my knuckles, his lips.
warm against my pulse.
“Do you like them?” he murmured.
1- Imumbled.
Reality crashed back.
I jerked my hand away, heart hammering. What was I doing? This bond was a trap. A beautiful, intoxicating.
O
16 Silver Lies–II
cage.
Damon’s thumb traced my lower lip, his eyes darkening. “You can touch all you want, little wolf. After all, fm all yours.”
The words sent a shiver down my spine.
“Here. Eat,” he repeated, offering the fork.
My
stomach betrayed me with another loud growl.
I took a reluctant bite, the flavors bursting on my tongue. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
His expression tightened. “Damon. For you, it’s Damon.” He lifted my hand again, kissing each knuckle. “Say
The command thrummed between us, the air thick with something unspoken. Why was he so demanding yet gentle at the same time?
I swallowed before I whispered, “Damon.”
His smile was slow, satisfied. “Good.”
I took another bite of the food and he leaned closer as if it was normal. He tucked a hair behind my ears as he asked, “Do your parents live in your pack?”
The fork stilled in my hand. Why was he asking?
“Not anymore,” I said quietly.
No one had asked about them in years. Because everyone knew about them. They were heroes who died on
the border.
Damon didn’t press. Just nodded, his thumb stroking idle circles on my wrist. “Were you visiting them?”
The question caught me off guard.
A laugh bubbled up, bitter and broken. “No. But maybe soon.”
Soon, when I’m dead. When the cancer finally wins..
“I can take you to them,” he offered casually.
I choked on my next bite. His expression was deadly serious. No jest. No ulterior motive. Just… an offer.
don’t want you to visit them any sooner,” I whispered. Why would I wish for anyone to meet the makers so
soon?
“Why not?” His eyes narrowed.
Because they’re gone. Because I don’t want you to follow their path any time soon!
But the words lodged in my throat. Those were my wounds and mine alone.
I looked at the plate, burying down my hurt. But why wasn’t he asking the real questions? Why dance around the truth when it was right there, bleeding between us?
Ask me about Lucian. Ask me why I have no mark. Ask me why I ran.
But he didn’t.
Why? Didn’t he care enough to know? It was maddening.
Is it because I’m the unfavored prince?” Damon’s voice dropped to a growl. “Are you ashamed of me?”
“I never meant that! It’s just…” the words caught in my throat. I inhaled changing the topic. “Why aren’t you
asking me about my marriage?”
His eyebrows lifted. A flicker of surprise, then something softer. “I thought you would tell me when you were.
ready. I won’t force you.”
The sincerity in his voice unraveled something in my chest. He meant it. This man, this prince who could command armies with a glance, was giving me the one thing no one else ever had.
Time.
I
He was patient with me! His eyes looked filled with something different, that I couldn’t name. My heart raced. Did he really care?
Before I could respond, his eyes glowed faintly. A mindlink.
“I have to go,” he said, standing.
Then, he pressed a kiss to my forehead so softly I almost missed it.
“Rest, Ara.”
And just like that, he was gone.
I stared at the empty doorway, my fingers pressed to the spot his lips had touched.
This bond was a disaster.
I
Because with every passing second, I was forgetting why I needed to resist him.
And that was more dangerous than any hunt.
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