The Alpha King And His Chosen Luna novel Chapter 113

She chose it

(Caius)

She’d set three rules and looked at me like she was daring me to argue with any of them. I hadn’t. Not because I couldn’t find the words, but because she was right and we both knew it, and arguing with something true wasn’t something I did when I could help it. Vorak had gone unusually quiet after the third rule, the kind of quiet that meant he was thinking rather than pushing, which was different enough from his usual behavior that I noticed it immediately. That alone told me more about where we were than anything else had.

I pulled the chair from beside the table and sat down across from her, not crowding her, not retreating either. She’d given me permission to kiss her back if she started it, which meant she’d already decided something that she hadn’t put into full words yet. I wasn’t going to reach past what she’d offered. I’d learned enough about Isla to understand that what she offered freely was worth infinitely more than anything I could take, and I wasn’t interested in anything that wasn’t freely given.

She watched me sit down with that particular attention she had. “You’re not going to say anything about the rules,” she said. It wasn’t a question, it was a check, the same way she checked most things, looking for the gap between what I said and what I intended.

“No,” I said. “They’re fair.” She held that for a moment and then looked away toward the window, which had gone dark with the night outside Ashcrest. The territory was quieter now than it had been during the day, the particular quiet of a place that understood something had ended and hadn’t yet worked out what came next.

Vorak moved beneath my skin again, slower this time. ‘She’s decided something.‘ I didn’t answer him right away because I’d noticed the same thing and hadn’t worked out what it was

yet.

She was sitting across from me with her hands loose in her lap and her face more open than it had been all evening. It wasn’t the openness of someone who’d stopped bracing.

It was the openness of someone who’d made a decision and put the weight down.

I understood then why Vorak had gone quiet.

Not because he was calmer.

Because he felt the difference in her too.

Isla looked toward the fire for a moment before her attention returned to me again. “I have

something else I want to discuss with you.”

She chose it

I kept my attention on her quietly afterward. “What is it?”

A small silence followed before she answered.

“I don’t want to keep sleeping in a different room.”

That pulled my full attention toward her immediately.

+25 Points

Isla held my gaze this time instead of looking away after saying it. There was no uncertainty

in her expression either. She looked like someone who’d already made the decision before bringing it to me.

Vorak stirred beneath my skin at once.

‘Yes.’

“You’re sure?” I asked quietly.

“Yes.”

The answer came without hesitation.

Isla’s fingers rested loosely together in her lap while she continued looking directly at me.

“I’m not saying it because of the bond.” Her voice stayed calm. “And I’m not saying it because

Vaela wants it.”

I stayed quiet and let her continue.

“It’s just that I want to know what it feels like to sleep beside my mate.”

That settled heavily inside my chest.

Not because she sounded nervous.

Because she didn’t.

She sounded certain.

Open.

Like she’d finally stopped denying herself things she wanted simply because she was afraid

of them.

Vorak noticed it too.

‘She chose us.‘

2/4

She chose it

+25 Points

I leaned back slightly in the chair afterward while keeping my eyes on her. “You realize that’s a dangerous thing to say to someone already struggling with control around you.”

A softer reaction crossed her face briefly before disappearing again.

“I know.”

The honesty in that answer nearly destroyed what little restraint I still had left.

The room quieted afterward while the fire burned steadily beside us.

Then Isla spoke again.

“I’m not afraid of sleeping beside you, Caius.”

Something about hearing her say it that plainly affected me more than the kisses earlier ever

had.

Because she meant it.

Completely.

I looked at her for a long moment before I answered. Not because I needed time to decide. Because she deserved a response that matched what she’d just said and I wasn’t going to

rush it.

“Alright,” I said.

Something shifted in her expression. Not surprise exactly. The particular look of someone who had prepared for resistance and didn’t get it.

“You should know,” I said, “that the bond doesn’t care about which side of the bed either of us

starts on.”

She looked at me steadily. “I know.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify