The Luna Queen's Rebirth (Ellie and Dominic) novel Chapter 543

Chapter 543

But that was the thing, I realized with a start. They weren’t watching me.

I let my knees fold. Let myself sag into the shallow water like the fight had gone out of me, my dress soaking wet, one hand splayed on my belly and the other dropping down into the silver-veined leaves at the water’s edge.

I closed my fist and pulled.

The stems came away wet in my palm. I tucked them into the folds of my skirt before Split Lip had even noticed I’d gone down, and I shoved one into my mouth, chewing slowly.

“That’s enough,” he finally said. “We’re not supposed to kill anybody.”

“He walked into it.”

“He’s still an Alpha, genius.”

They stepped back. Dominic didn’t get up. He laid motionless, half in the water, his eyes rolling in his skull.

“Let me go to him, at least.” I used my tongue to stuff the leaf paste into my cheek. “Please. Let me go to him.”

The others looked at Split Lip, who shrugged, leaning against a nearby tree. I crawled over to Dominic on my hands and knees, playing the part of the terrified noblewoman who didn’t know a single damn thing about survival.

That was what these rogues or Monroe or Stephanie or so many others didn’t know about me.

Survival was kind of my whole thing.

Dominic was a mess. Split brow, split lip, blood in his teeth, one eye already swelling shut. His pupils had eaten every last bit of the color out of his eyes. But he was conscious. Just barely, but it was better than the alternative.

“Ellie,” he slurred. “You came back for me…”

“I never left.” I bent over him, shoulders shaking, and let them hear me sob while I brought one hand up to shield his mouth from view and spat the paste into his mouth. He made a sound that I quickly sealed with a kiss, using my tongue to shove the paste further down, eyes scrunched shut, until, finally, he swallowed it.

“Aww. So cute,” Split Lip said behind me. “True love.”

The plant worked within minutes, the book had said.

It was over so fast I barely had time to blink.

When it was over, three of them were running and two of them, Split Lip included, weren’t going anywhere.

My mate stood in the middle of the creek with his head down and his sides heaving, black fur soaked to the skin.

He turned. He came to me slowly, one careful step at a time, and lowered himself into the mud until his shoulder was level with my hip.

I climbed on, pregnant and barefoot and clumsy, one fist knotted in his fur and the other clamped around a bunch of half-crushed leaves.

He carried me up the slope like I weighed nothing.

A few minutes later, the trees thinned out and the lanterns came back into view. Laughter and wild music and shadows dancing across the grass filtered through the treeline.

Dominic stopped just beyond the trees, his wolf’s body letting out a big, heavy huff at the sight. Overturned tables, food scattered, someone standing on a chair playing conductor over a mishmash of people who had no business playing violins.

“Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us,” I muttered.