Eighth-Born Luna (Emily and Nathan) novel Chapter 132

Chapter 132

Emily’s POV

Footsteps. Coming closer Every step was slow and deliberate, like he already knew I was there.

“I can feel you,” Declan said softly.

My phantom wolf shook with fear. Then suddenly, his hand appeared around the edge of the column.

I jerked backward–and the world shattered instantly.

I slammed back into my own body, gasping hard in Nathan’s bed. My pulse thundered. Beside me, Nathan stirred lightly but didn’t wake.

I pressed trembling fingers against my chest. He had almost seen me.

The bedroom door suddenly burst open. I jumped.

Then I saw Nathan standing there, looking utterly wrecked as he silently shut the door behind him.

“I was so worried about you. You lost consciousness in front of Beatrice, so I brought you water and a cool ompress for your head; you had a fever.”

“It’s okay,” I reassured him. “It was one of my powers; I’m still learning how to control it.”

“I should’ve done it.” His voice sounded rough, like he’d been fighting himself for hours.

I sat up slowly. “…Done what?”

Nathan dragged a hand through his hair. “The mark.”

My chest went tight.

“I should’ve marked you the day you asked me to.”

Everything went completely still.

“If I hadn’t been afraid…” His voice cracked slightly. “He never would’ve touched you.”

Pain twisted through me. “Nathan–”

“No.” He finally looked at me, and damn it, the guilt in his eyes cut deep. “I rejected you,” he said quietly. “I left you unprotected.”

I shook my head immediately. “You didn’t know.”

“I should’ve.” His gaze dropped slowly toward my throat, landing on Declan’s mark. Nathan went entirely rigid, ike seeing it still hurt just as much. “Now his mark is on you because of me.”

I climbed slowly out of bed and walked toward him carefully, like approaching a wounded wolf. “That’s not true.”

Nathan Immediately.stepped back.“Don’t.” The word came out fractured. “I touch you and I feel him,” he admitted hoarsely. “And I know I let this happen.”

It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t disgust. It was something worse–pure self–hatred.

I moved closer anyway. “Look at me.”

Nathan resisted for a second, then finally lifted his eyes.

“I came back to you,” I whispered softly. “Not him.

His breathing turned uneven instantly.

“I chose you.”

The air in the room felt heavy.

“Even there…” My voice shook slightly. “Even when he was right beside me… all I wanted was you.”

Nathan closed his eyes hard, like something inside him finally snapped. Then suddenly, he pulled me against him

So fast I gasped, his arms locking around me almost painfully tight. Like he was terrified to let go.

“I hate myself for this,” he whispered into my hair.

Tears burned my eyes. “I know.”

“I should’ve protected you.”

“You’re protecting me now.”

Nathan went completely still. Slowly, he pulled back just enough to look at me again, and this time, his xpression shifted. It wasn’t just pain anymore. It was a decision.

His fingers brushed carefully against my cheek. “Then let me fix this.”

I didn’t pull away. “Then don’t hurt me.”

That hit him hard. I saw it instantly.

“I don’t want any more pain, Nathan.”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nodded. Barely.

When he kissed me this time, it felt different. It wasn’t desperate or consuming. It was careful. Controlled. Like he was genuinely afraid of breaking me.

lose beneath his shoulder. Nathan took my hand gently and placed it against his chest.

Steady heartbeats pulsed beneath my palm. Strong. Alive. Real.

We fell asleep tangled together like that. And through the entire night, he never let me go even once.

Morning sunlight hit my face first. Then came the knocking.

I groaned softly and buried myself deeper into the warmth beside me. I didn’t want to wake up yet, not when this was the first peaceful sleep I’d had in weeks.

The knocking came again. Annoying.

-Half asleep, I reached down lazily, searching for Nathan–and suddenly froze. My hand brushed against something…

“…What is that?”

I jerked back instantly.

Nathan’s deep laughter filled the room, warm and dangerously amused.

“Oh, Emily,” he laughed, getting out of bed. “You still have so much to learn.”

And somehow, his laughter sounded happier than anything I’d heard from him in a very long time.

For a second, I let myself be selfish. I wanted to stay in this bed forever. Just Nathan and me. No rogues, no war,

10 marks, and no godforsaken fate.

Then Nyx’s voice cut through my head. “He’s coming, Emily. You know he is.”

Every bit of warmth left my body.

“He won’t stop,” she whispered, her panic bleeding into my mind. “Not until you’re back in his cage.”

A cold, hard rage took over. I looked past Nathan’s shoulder, out the bedroom window where the morning light vas just starting to hit our pack lands. Past the borders. Straight toward the mountains where the rogues were riding.

Declan thought he still owned a piece of me. He thought this mark gave him the right to hunt me down.

He was wrong.

“Let him come,” my fingers slowly touched the mark on my throat. “I’ll kill him myself.”