Luna Everleigh's POV
***
I found Rhydian in the war chamber, his back to me as he studied a map spread across the long table. His broad shoulders tensed as I entered, as if he felt my presence before I even spoke.
"We need to talk." My voice was steady, but the storm inside me was anything but.
Rhydian turned slowly, his golden eyes unreadable. "I was wondering when you'd come."
Something about his tone made my pulse spike.
I stepped closer. "You knew."
A flicker of emotion crossed his face—too fast for me to catch. "Luna—"
"Don't," I cut him off, heat rising in my chest. "You knew there was something different about me. You knew what I was, or at least suspected, and yet you never said a word."
Rhydian exhaled sharply. "Because I wasn't sure. Because I couldn't be sure." His gaze darkened, full of conflict. "Do you think I would have kept this from you if I had all the answers?"
I clenched my fists. "But you had enough. You knew more than I did, and you let me stumble in the dark while everyone else was hunting for me like I was some kind of—"
"Because if they found out what you truly were, they'd either kill you or try to use you."
His voice was low, deadly.
I sucked in a breath, my anger colliding with the weight of his words.
Before I could respond, another voice cut through the tension.
"Well, well. Looks like things just got interesting."
I spun around.
Riven.
He leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, a smirk playing on his lips. But his eyes—dark and knowing—held something dangerous.
"If she is a Lunar Guardian," he mused, tilting his head, "then she might just be the key to everything. To salvation. Or destruction." His gaze flicked to Rhydian. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Rhydian's expression was like carved stone.
My pulse pounded. "What do you mean?"
Riven's smirk widened. "Guess we'll find out, won't we?"
Before I could demand more, a sudden rush of sensation flooded through me.
Not just an instinct. Not just a feeling.
A voice.
But this time, it wasn't a stranger's.
It was Rhydian's.
"Luna?"
I gasped, my breath hitching.
I could hear him. Inside my head.
His golden eyes widened slightly, realization dawning at the same time as mine.
This… this was something that only happened between fully bonded mates.
But we weren't bonded. Not yet.
So why—
The air between us crackled.
Something deeper, something older, had awakened between us.
And we had no idea what it meant.
***
(To be continued…)