The Luna Queen's Rebirth (Ellie and Dominic) novel Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Ellie POV

If I couldn’t study at home, I would study at the one plce my mind couldn’t wonder.

The library.

But after another full day of reading, I had reached the point of delirium where the words on my page no longer behaved like words. Again.

My notes looked like a crime scene. My handwriting, which was normally neat and borderline obsessive, had deteriorated into cryptic symbols I was pretty sure weren’t English anymore. I blinked hard, willing the paragraph on healing classifications to stop wiggling.

The library was empty except for me and the ghost of my academic will to live. Even the study lamps hummed in a way that felt personal, like they were judging me for not taking a break for a snack or even

dinner.

I was halfway through rewriting a chart I no longer fully understood when a voice cut across the aisle.

“Ellie?”

My whole body seized. Fantastic. The last voice I wanted to hear, the last person I wanted seeing me.

I looked up, and instantly regretted it.

Dominic stood there like a model he had no business looking like. Strong jaw, hair still damp, dark curls sticking to his forehead. Shirt clinging to shoulder, muscles wet like stone. Clearly he had just left practice.

He was walking straight toward me with that confident stride.

I sank lower in my chair. “Nope.”

He stopped beside my table. “Nope what?”

“Nope to whatever you’re about to say. Nope to your presence. Nope to your face. Just… nope.”

He blinked at me like he’d never heard the word before.

“Okay. Ignored. Counter point, you look exhausted,” he said quietly.

That threw me. That’s what he opened with? No sorry? Not another lecture? Not a “hey, Ellie, why’d you run away from me after I marked another girl in public?”

“I’m fine,” I lied, despite the fact I was 98% certain I hadn’t blinked in five minutes and my blood was 40% caffeine.

“You’re not.” He pulled out the chair across from me and sat.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Didn’t ask you to sit.”

“Wasn’t askng permission.”

My head hit the table with a groan. “Dominic, what do you want?”

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“To know I’ve been seeing you here every night till midnight for the past few days” He leaned forward, forearms resting on the table “Why you’re pushing yourself this hard. Have you left this room? Have you eaten? Slept?”

“Dominic, go away-‘

“If you lift your arms, I bet you stink.”

I shot up, lifting my arms. “I do not! It’s lavander! Lavender deodorant unlike you and your stinky practice jersey! You could use some!”

He leaned back with a smirk. “You got cute pits.”

My head nearly smack the tabel again when he seemed to lean back in, loosing that teasign tone. His eyes- those stupid, dark gold rings-watched me too closely.

“Seriously,” He muttered. “Where’s the fire?”

“You wouldn’t get it,” I muttered, flipping a page I absolutely did not comprehend. “Just go away.”

He did not, in fact, go away.

Instead, he tilted his head, that smile returning.

“Ellie, I’m gonna say this one more time. You’ve basically been living in the library.”

“So?”

“So,” he said slowly, “that’s usually a sign someone is going a bit crazy. You’re notes look like crazy man sigils who’s convinced he’s seen an alien.”

I stared at him. I almost laughed. Almost. “Sorry-am I not allowed to go through something without filing a formal notice with the future Alpha?”

His jaw tightened. “Couldn’t hurt.”

“Why don’t you go mark Vivian again?” I hissed before I could stop myself. I’m not sure why I said it, maybe I was just tired. Done. “Seems like your preferred extracurricular.”

His brows snapped together. “Okay, topic switch. Jealous much?”

My book slammed shut. “Not jealous. Annoyed your here. Talking to me.”

“For your information,” He scoffed. “She asked, and I owed her after the dance. And you wore Lucas’s mark for a week. So we’re even.”

I felt my jaw drop. “That’s-“I jabbed a finger toward him. “Not. How. That. Works.”

His mouth twitched. Not a smile. “It does when I claim you, and you reject me. Again. I left your sister hanging. Don’t you care about her? She talks about you all the time.”

My eyed rolled, hard. “I’m sure she does.”

His chin met his palm. “What’s up with you two? It’s like I don’t recognize either of you.

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“Because you really got to know me, remember?”

Silence stretched between us. It was tense, fragile. His eyes flicked to my notes, then to my shaking hands, then to the dark circles under my eyes.

When he spoke again, his voice was rougher.

“Why this test?” he asked with a harden sigh. “Why the Healer Academy? Why are you trying so hard? You can… tell me, you know.”

I snorted. “Right. Because we’re just so great at talking.”

“I’m trying,” he shot back, sounding almost offended.

“Oh good,” I said dryly. “Add that to your list of electives-Communication for Alpha Males 101 next to marking my sister.’

He raked a hand through his hair. “Ellie, just answer the question.”

“No.”

“Why?”

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