Page 32 of Marked By Moonlight
Ambrose’s head whips in my direction. His expression is emotionless as he drags his eyes over my naked body. Heat spreads through him, fueled by an unfulfilled desire for me.
My own desire mirrors his.
I want him, need him.
And yet, I can’t help but see the disappointment in his eyes. I survived the night. I ran. I followed his command. The weak human without the ability to shift, who needed the help of Emeric, Rowena, and him in order to keep myself alive. I’m useless to him. He won’t show me his feelings. He won’t act on them, not until I prove myself worthy. He won’t touch me until I shift and he sees the power within me.
“Come,” Ambrose says. It’s a command I can feel, even though he didn’t need to give it for me to come with him. He did command me anyway, which means he doesn’t trust me.
My mind doesn’t trust him either, but my bones say he’s my mate. I have no choice but to trust him completely and hope he’s not the death of me.
Chapter 12
Ambrose
“Is she really your mate?” Rowena asks as we all stare at Lumi, who has passed out in one of my guest bedrooms. I’m thankful to have a few minutes to gather my thoughts before I speak to her.
I don’t answer as I stare at the woman who seems so small and fragile. I don’t know how she’s managed to even survive this long in the world without so much as a scar marking her flawless, pale skin. Her snow-colored locks are splayed out on the pillow, and her chest rises and falls heavily beneath the blankets. Her deep breathing is the only indication that she’s unlikely to open her bright blue eyes anytime soon.
“Yes, she’s his mate,” Emeric says.
Rowena and I both turn to stare at him. Usually, I don’t like Emeric answering for me, even though, as my beta, he knows everything about me. And because of the curse we both share—he feels everything I feel. But right now, I’m not sure how I feel about finding my mate or about the prophecy I was destined to fulfill finally coming true.
“Unbelievable,” Rowena says, looking from me to Lumi in awe.
My jaw clenches as I stare at this woman lying on my guest bed. A woman I barely know. A woman who, by human standards, seems frail. A woman without a pack—an outcast, incapable of even shifting. The gods must be playing a cruel joke on me to give me her as a mate.
“I hate to say it, but you’re sure Nyx isn’t fucking with you?” Rowena can’t process her disbelief, and I don’t blame her. “You’re sure he didn’t convince a witch to put a spell on the two of you to make you think you are mates?”
My head snaps to Rowena. Most would cower when I look at them. They know the power inside me, but not Rowena. She’s fearless and unrelenting in her ability to put me in my place.
“I’m sure. There isn’t a witch powerful enough to put a spell like that on me,” I say.
“Cocky, arrogant fool,” Rowena says, rolling her eyes.
I growl, snapping in her direction. But she doesn’t even flinch, completely unbothered by my outburst.
“I don’t think it’s a spell either, Rowena. I’ve never felt anything like this. If it’s a witch doing this, then they’d be powerful enough to outright break the curse themselves,” Emeric says.
I nod, turning my attention back to the meek woman still passed out. Warm anger spreads through my body because even though I know Nyx didn’t do this, it does feel like a cruel joke. The gods above must have thought it’d be fascinating to pair me with the weakest woman they could find.What am I supposed to do with her? How is she supposed to survive as my mate?
“What pack is she from?” Emeric asks.
“I’m not sure. Somewhere north by the look of her hair. Silvercrest, maybe,” I reply. We don’t all carry physical markers of our pack, but I’ve only ever seen shifters with hair as white as snow come from packs that live in the far north.
He nods, sensing the anger in me. “She’s stronger than she looks. She wouldn’t be your mate if she wasn’t. She wouldn’t have survived tonight if she wasn’t.”
“Emeric’s right. She’s strong. I can feel it in her aura,” Rowena says.
I narrow my eyes at Lumi as her chest rises and falls in slow, shallow breaths. Even how she breathes makes her appear weak.
There has to be more than meets the eye. A reason she was chosen by the gods as my mate. A reason I’ve yet to unveil, but I will. Time is running out.
I look up and meet Rowena’s gaze. She knows how important it is for me to break the curse by the next full moon.
“Lumi’s the one. I know it. Together, the two of you will break the curse,” Emeric says, full of confidence as usual.
“I know,” I say, walking out of the bedroom without another word.
