Eighth-Born Luna (Emily and Nathan) novel Chapter 147

Chapter 147

Emily’s POV

Nathan raised his hand, his fingers brushing my cheek while his eyes searched mine.

“I’ve wanted to tell you that for so long.”

A heavy ache filled my chest, but this time, it wasn’t from pain.

Nathan leaned down, resting his forehead against mine. “Back during the ceremony…” His voice dropped low. “I planned everything.”

I blinked, confused. “What?”

A faint smile touched his lips. “I was going to tease you a little first.”

“Nathan!”

Warmth rushed to my face.

“I wanted to wait until night,” his voice softened. “Until we were finally alone. Until you officially became my Luna.” Then, a flash of raw pain crossed his face. “But then you were taken from me.”

The air turned heavy.

“I love you, Emily.”

It wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t dramatic. It was certain. Like a vow.

“I think I started falling for you long before I even understood what was happening,” he murmured, a small smile crossing his lips. “You ruined my perfect, controlled life a little.”

I laughed weakly, a new tear escaping my eye. “Good.”

Nathan kissed me then. It was slow and careful, like he was memorizing my lips.

Inside, my mind was spinning, trying to process his words. He loves me.

After everything my ex, Ryan, did to me—after being rejected, discarded, and treated like trash—I had forced myself to accept a brutal truth: I would never have a man who actually loved me. I had given up on ever hearing those words. I just wanted the constant ache in my soul to stop.

And then came Nathan. My second chance mate. The terrifying Alpha who threw me into a dungeon, suspected me of being a rogue spy, and fought the bond with everything he had. He used to look at me and see someone weak, someone unworthy of being his Luna.

But now?

Now this fierce, powerful Alpha-King was looking at me like I was his entire world.

He wasn’t just my mate anymore; he was my life. The fact that he loved me back, that the bond was fully mutual, was bigger than anything I had ever dreamed of. He was the King, but right now, he belonged completely to me.

When he pulled back from the kiss, the lingering pain from my past finally began to fade. Nathan didn’t let me go.

Instead, he broke the kiss with a low growl, looking around my small bedroom.

Before I could ask what was wrong, he slipped his massive arms under my back and knees, lifting me into his chest as if I weighed nothing. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Nathan? Where are we going?”

“To my room,” he murmured, already carrying me out into the hallway. His grip on me tightened, his pace fast and determined. “Your bed is too small for us, Emily. We need my bed.”

A warm blush crept up my neck at the raw hunger in his voice.

He kicked his bedroom door open and carried me inside, heading straight for the massive, king-sized bed in the center of the room.

He laid me down gently against the silk sheets, but before I could even draw a breath, he shifted, pinning me beneath him on the mattress.

He wrapped his large, warm body around mine until I felt entirely covered by him.

Nyx stirred uneasily inside me. “We can’t let him have us.”

“I know.”

“If Declan gets your power…”

Nausea washed over me. No. I couldn’t let that happen. Even if it meant—

To.

I rolled onto my other side, the heavy blankets rustling as I tried to find a comfortable position. A soft, frustrated sigh escaped my lips.

Beside me, Nathan woke up. I froze, realizing my moving around had disturbed him. He shifted, tightening his big arm around my waist to pull me closer. His fingers moved against my hip.

“You’re thinking too loudly again,” he murmured sleepily, his voice deep and raspy in the dark.

I forced a weak smile, looking at his face in the dim light. “Sorry.”

Nathan opened one eye, looking down at me. “No, you’re not.”

It was true. We lay there in the quiet for a long moment.

“Nathan?”

“Mm?”

I hesitated. My pulse raced. “If something happened to me… would you be able to kill me?”

Nathan went completely still. The warmth in the bed vanished. “…What?”