Luna Everleigh's POV
***
I pushed off the tree and ran.
The forest blurred around me as I sprinted through the undergrowth, my breath coming in sharp gasps. Twigs snapped under my feet, the cold wind biting at my skin, but I didn't stop.
I couldn't stop.
I didn't care that I had no idea where I was going. I didn't care that my body ached from exhaustion.
I just needed to get away.
But then—
He was there.
One moment, I was running, my pulse pounding in my ears. The next, a figure materialized in front of me, blocking my path as effortlessly as if he had always been there.
I barely had time to register what was happening before I skidded to a stop, nearly colliding into him.
Rhydian.
He hadn't chased me. He hadn't even run.
He had simply appeared.
My breath hitched. "How—?"
His expression was unreadable, but there was something possessive in his gaze, something unshakable.
"You can't run from me, Luna," he said, his voice calm, almost gentle. "You won't."
I stumbled back, my heart racing. "This is insane. I don't even know you!"
A muscle in his jaw twitched, but he didn't move closer.
"No," he agreed. "Not yet."
His silver eyes burned into mine.
"But I know you."
Something about the way he said it—so certain, so absolute—sent a bolt of fear and something else through me.
Something I refused to name.
"This is a mistake," I whispered. "You have the wrong person."
Rhydian exhaled slowly, like he was trying to be patient.
"I would never mistake my mate."
The word sent ice through my veins.
Mate.
No.
No, no, no.
Damian was my mate. He had rejected me, cast me aside—but he had been the only one. The only one I was supposed to have.
This couldn't be real.
This couldn't be happening.
I shook my head violently. "You're lying."
His gaze softened slightly, but his resolve did not.
"I never lie."
I turned away, every nerve screaming for me to run again, but before I could take a single step, his voice stopped me cold.
"I won't let you go."
It wasn't a threat.
It wasn't a plea.
It was a vow.
And as I stood there, my pulse hammering, I knew—deep down—that he meant every single word.
—
(To be continued…)