From Rejected Luna To Lycan Queen (Eloise and Edward) novel Chapter 363

Chapter 363 Shadow

Chapter 363 Shadow

ZARA.

He sat back on his haunches, tail curled neatly around his feet, gaze steady on me.

I stared at him.

“Wow. Okay. Judgmental.”

When he still didn’t touch it, I sighed and grabbed my own fork, climbing onto the couch.

“Fine. Don’t eat it. More for me.”

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I took a bite, suddenly aware of how hungry I actually was. Halfway through the plate, I glanced over and found him still watching me, eyes half–lidded now, like he was more interested in me than the food.

“What?” I mumbled around a mouthful. “You’re the one who turned it down.”

He blinked slowly.

I rolled my eyes. “Great. Now I feel weird eating in front of you.”

He eventually hopped back up onto the couch behind me, circling once before settling along the backrest, close enough that his tail brushed my shoulder. The warmth of him seeped through my thin shirt, and I leaned back just a little, not enough to make it obvious..

I finished eating and set the plate on the coffee table. The apartment was quiet except for the faint hum of the fridge and the distant city noise outside. A dull ache had settled into my bones from the cold.

“I should shower. Hot water sounds amazing right now.”

I glanced toward the bathroom and imagined stepping out into the freezing apartment with wet hair and instantly grimaced.

“Yeah… no. Not happening. I’m not going to bed with wet hair, and I am way too tired to blow dry it.” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Guess I’m just gross tonight.”

The fox made a soft sound behind me, almost like a huff.

I glanced over my shoulder. “Don’t judge me. You lick yourself clean.”

He tilted his head.

“You know what,” I said, pushing to my feet. “You need a name if you’re going to be my roommate for the night.”

He watched me as I crossed to the bed and pulled back the blankets. His black fur practically glowed in the dim light.

Shadow.” I said after a second. “You look like my little shadow. Pale, quiet, and dark showing up out of

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Chapter 363 Shadow

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nowhere to haunt me.”

His ears twitched.

“Shadow. That fits.”

I crawled into bed, the sheets icy at first, and hissed

“Jesus, this place is a freezer. I’m going to complain to Robert again tomorrow.”

Shadow didn’t hesitate. He jumped lightly onto the mattress and walked in a small circle before settling along my pillow. Then he shifted closer, curling between my shoulder and my ear like he’d done it a hundred times before.

I froze for half a second… then slowly relaxed. His body was so warm. I turned my face into his fur, breathing in the clean, wild scent of him. My arm came up automatically, hand resting along his side.

“Thanks for not leaving. My voice was thick with sleep.

Shadow let out a soft, steady breath against my cheek. For a moment, I felt safe.

I should have known better than to trust that feeling.

My bare feet slapped against the pavement as I ran past neat rows of identical houses, the kind of cookie cutter neighborhood where nothing bad ever happened. The suburbs were meant to be safe. A place where we could live the ‘American dream.

The word echoed in my subconscious.

That’s right. This was a dream. This wasn’t actually happening. I had escaped them.

My lungs still burned like I hadn’t. The realization always came too late in this nightmare. By the time my brain caught up, my body was already panicking, already running, my chest tight and my breath tearing in and out like I’d been running for hours.

I pushed myself harder as I rounded the bend, dread sinking deeper when recognition curled through me.

I knew this street.

The mailbox with the crooked flag. The driveway with faded hopscotch. The house with a skateboard left abandoned in the yard. I had run past these houses a hundred times in my sleep.

Reliving that first time I tried to fight back four years ago.

I stumbled to a stop, bending over with my hands braced on my knees as my lungs clawed for air. Every breath burned like I’d swallowed glass, but I forced myself upright anyway, panic shoving me forward on legs that already felt like they might give out.

Decision made, I lurched up the nearest driveway and pounded my fists against the front door hard

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Chapter 363 Shadow

enough to rattle the frame.

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“Help,” I gasped, the word tearing out of me thin and ragged in the quiet. My voice sounded wrong to my own ears, like the younger, dumber version of me who still believed someone would open the door if she yelled loud enough.

Spoiler alert.

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