Chapter 82: Chapter 82: It Has Always Been You
Selene’s POV ~
The second I heard him, it felt like something snapped inside me.
My mate.
My lungs forgot how to breathe.
My heart, the traitorous, cursed thing, slammed so violently against my ribs, I swore it would tear itself free and confess everything. I stood completely still, but inside, everything shook.
He was looking for me. He didn’t know. But he was looking.
And I—gods—was standing right in front of him.
A thousand thoughts collided in my head, none of them staying long enough for me to grab onto. I could feel the blood draining from my face, the edges of my vision flickering.
But I forced my expression to stay neutral. I’d had a year to prepare for this moment. And yet, I felt as though I were standing at the edge of that damn cliff again.
My voice—when it came—was barely a whisper, but it didn’t shake. I wouldn’t let it.
"What happened to her?" I asked, trying to be as emotionless as possible.
He didn’t answer at first.
His gaze had dropped, the cold mask on his face softening just enough to reveal something raw underneath.
"She fell," he said finally, his voice quieter than before. "From the cliff near our pack border."
My breath caught. That place. That memory. His scent in the air, the wind screaming around me, the bond tearing at me as I leapt to my death.
Or at least, that’s what they thought.
"We searched for days," he continued, his jaw tightening. "But we couldn’t find her. Not even her body. There was no trace left of her."
eyes now. But I had never seen Aeron like this, definitely not in the past, and how much change in a year, I
the storm
I said slowly, testing my own limits,
A moment of silence.
that’s why she never
a heartbeat, everything
Then he snapped.
"No."
nor a shout, but it
still alive," he said, like he was declaring law. "I
were locked somewhere far away now, as if he was speaking to himself. Not to me. It felt more like he was speaking to himself, like a chant. A truth he
And I—I couldn’t breathe.
thing he
ghost he
the mate he refused to
hearing his voice crack, watching his pain slip past the mask he wore so carefully—I didn’t know what to do with it. I had spent a year
of me ache to be
searching make something
viciously. Don’t
for me. Because they would have torn me apart for
I couldn’t think.
sweat sliding down my spine in slow, trembling rivers. Gods, I was suffocating, and it wasn’t from heat. It was from the weight of him. From the way his eyes clung to my
parting my lips as I
But then—
Boom.
exploded from the floor below us. I couldn’t react. There was a loud
Each one louder than the previous one, until the whole building seemed to
heart slammed into my
the doorframe like a serpent made of fog. One by one, like rhythmic death, bombs began to erupt through the building. I
And then—
Crash!
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
The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!