Chapter 22
Ethan’s POV
The full moon hung like a silver medallion in the velvet sky as I watched Aria disappear through the balcony doors. My wolf, Felix, paced restlessly beneath my skin, urging me to follow. The familiar ache of confusion and desire that seemed to surface whenever she was near pulled at me like an invisible tide.
I found her at the far end of the balcony, her silver dress catching moonlight like liquid starlight. The sight of her made my breath catch – the elegant line of her spine, the way the dress hugged her warrior’s frame, the subtle strength in her bare shoulders. She stood with one hand resting on the stone balustrade, her profile etched in moonlight and shadow.
“Why did you follow me?” Her voice carried equal measures of steel and weariness. She didn’t turn to face me, but I saw the slight tension in her shoulders, the way her fingers tightened on the stone railing.
Instead of answering, I moved closer, drawn by some force I couldn’t name. Felix surged forward, pushing against my control with an intensity that startled me. The curious void where her wolf scent should be seemed to pull at something deep in my chest, awakening echoes of a night I could only half–remember.
“You never answered my question,” I said, my voice rougher than intended. “About what really happened six years ago.”
She turned then, and the sight of her face in the moonlight made my heart stutter. Shadows played across her features, softening the warrior’s edges I’d grown accustomed to seeing during training. Her amber eyes held a wariness that made my wolf whine in distress.
“Would you believe me if I told you?” Her laugh held no humor. “The great Shadow Fang heir, so quick to believe Emma’s tears? Why should my truth matter more than her carefully crafted lies?
I moved closer, until she was caught between my body and the stone column. The space between us crackled with tension, heavy with things unsaid. This close, I could see the slight tremor in her hands, the rapid pulse at the base of her throat. Her scent – or rather, the curious absence of it – wrapped around me like an invisible caress.
“Because something about you…” I struggled to find the words, to explain the way Felix responded to her presence, the familiar pull I couldn’t understand. “Something about you feels…”
“Don’t.” She pressed her palms against my chest, trying to push me back. The contact sent electricity racing through my blood, making Felix growl with need. “Whatever game you’re playing, I’m not interested.”
But her breathing had quickened, and I could hear the slight catch in her voice. My hands found her waist of their own accord, the silk of her dress cool beneath my palms. The contact made us both freeze, caught in a moment of shared recognition that defied explanation.
“This isn’t a game.” I leaned closer, breathing in the enigmatic emptiness where her wolf scent should be. The sensation made my head spin with déjà vu. “Why do you feel so familiar? Why does my wolf react to you like…”
“Like what?” Her voice had dropped to a whisper, but her chin lifted in that defiant tilt that made Felix pace with wanting.
“Like he knows you.” The words came out rough with honesty. “Like you’re something I’ve lost without knowing what I’m missing.”
Her eyes widened slightly, a flash of something – recognition? fear? – crossing her face before she masked it. “You should go back inside. She pushed against my chest again, but the movement lacked conviction. ‘Emma’s waiting for you.”
The mention of Emma’s name made Felix growl in protest, surprising us both. I should step back, should return to the woman who wore my pendant and claimed my past. Instead, I found myself leaning closer, drawn by the mysterious pull of her presence.
“Tell me what happened that night,” I said softly, watching the play of emotions across her face. ‘Help me understand why Emma’s tears feel false but your anger feels…” I paused, searching for the right word. ‘Real. Raw. Like something earned through pain rather than practiced in mirrors.”
She went very still, her hands still pressed against my chest. I could feel her heartbeat racing beneath my palms where they gripped her waist, could see the internal war playing out behind her amber eyes.
Her voice trembled slightly. The moonlight caught the curve of her throat as she swallowed. “Some memories are better left buried. Some wounds shouldn’t be reopened.”
I found myself leaning closer, drawn by some inexplicable force. Her lips parted slightly, and my gaze fixed on them. Felix surged forward with an intensity that made my hands tighten on her waist. The silk of her dress whispered beneath my fingers as I pulled her closer.
Our faces were inches apart now. I could feel her shortened breaths mixing with mine, could see the flecks of gold in her amber eyes. The urge to close that final distance, to capture her lips with mine, was almost overwhelming. Felix whined with need, pushing me forward.
But just before our lips met, Aria turned her face away. “Go back to your girlfriend, Ethan,‘ she whispered, her voice rough with emotion. “Leave the past where it belongs.”
She slipped from my grasp like moonlight through fingers, the silver dress swirling around her legs as she fled into the ballroom. The sudden absence of her warmth left me cold, my hands still tingling where they’d held her.
Felix paced anxiously, pushing against my control with growing insistence. Something about tonight – about Aria in that moonlight dress, about how right it had felt to hold her – had shaken loose pieces of memory I couldn’t quite grasp. The phantom sensation of her body against mine, the way she’d fit perfectly in my arms, felt hauntingly familiar.
I touched my lips, still burning from the near–kiss.The ghost of Aria’s warmth still lingering on my skin, nothing felt certain anymore.
The only thing knew for sure was that my wolf had never lied to me before, And Felix’s reaction to Aria tonight had been stronger than anything I’d ever felt – even with the woman who supposedly shared my most profound connection.
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Chapter 22
The moon hung full and bright above me, offering no answers to the storm of questions in my mind. I watched the spot where Aria had disappeared, feeling like I’d just lost something precious without fully understanding what it was. My lips still tingling with the ghost of a kiss that never happened.
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