Chapter 66
Liana’s POV
My jaw dropped.
I couldn’t move.
The air left my lungs all at once as Alaric stood there–naked, dusted in sweat and dirt and blood. The wind whispered around us, but everything felt still.
He had shifted. In broad daylight.
Amira was frozen beside me, her face twisted in disbelief. “What the hell…” she whispered.
But I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
My hands trembled as I slipped off the mare, landing on shaky legs. The grass felt too soft beneath my boots, the moment too real, too heavy.
He stepped forward.
“Liana,” he said again, softer this time.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
His chest was rising and falling hard–his body still recovering from the shift, his jaw clenched tight. But his eyes…
His eyes looked like pain.
And then, without another word, he reached for me.
! flinched.
Just a little.
But it was enough for something in his expression to crack.
Still, he moved.
He wrapped his arms around me. Warm, solid, rough from the shift–but careful. So, so careful. His hand cupped the back of my head, and he pulled me into his chest like he didn’t care who was watching.
Like he needed this.
I didn’t know what to do.
Didn’t know how to breathe,
And then he leaned down, his mouth brushing my ear, and he whispered, “I never got to say goodbye.”
My heart twisted.
“I couldn’t let you go,” he said, his voice raw now. “Not like that. Not on a cold note. Not when I…”
He stopped Swallowed hard. His arms tightened slightly.
“Hust couldn’t,” he breathed. “You deserved more than silence.”
My eyes stung I hated that they stung
I was angry
I was confused
And yet here he was Alaric in the middle of the woods. Shirdess. Covered in cuts and diet and aching silence, Saying goodbye,
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5:07 PM
Chapter 66
That shut her up for a moment. Her lips twitched, as if she wanted to say something else, but she didn’t. Instead, she climbed onto her own horse and nudged it forward with a sharp flick of her heel, her posture stiff and too perfect. Everything about her always had to be composed.
We rode in silence for a while, the guards trailing behind at a respectable distance. The forest was quieter than usual, the wind threading through the trees like whispers we weren’t meant to hear. Every few minutes, I glanced behind us, half expecting Alaric to appear again -but the path remained empty.
The further we got from the castle, the heavier my chest felt.
Knox had warned me before we left that the journey would be rough. That Amira would try to chip away at me, that the landscape itself would test our patience. But no one had warned me how hard it would be to ride away from someone you weren’t ready to leave.
Alaric had said goodbye.
So simply. So softly.
But I wasn’t sure how to accept it.
It wasn’t just the parting. It was the way his eyes had softened, the way his hand had trembled slightly against my back, like there was something else he wanted to say but wouldn’t let himself.
And now he was gone.
And I was here, with her.
We passed a clearing, the sun filtering down through the canopy above us. I exhaled slowly, trying to calm the mess in my head. Alaric wasn’t the kind of man who made declarations. He wasn’t someone who chased after feelings. But still, he’d come for me. Even just for a goodbye.
“Pathetic,” Amira said suddenly, not even looking at me.
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“That little scene. The hug, The whispering. You think he meant it?”
I gritted my teeth, choosing not to respond. She didn’t deserve a reaction. But of course, that only fueled her.
“You think he actually cares about you?” she pressed, her tone almost mocking. “You’re a piece on a board, Liana. A convenient one. A Luna for a cursed king. A warm body to stand beside him until the final petal falls.”
I jerked my reins, forcing the mare to stop.
She stopped beside me, her brows raised. “Did I hit a nerve?”
I looked at her for a long moment, my voice low. “You hate that someone might actually care about me.”
She snorted. “Please.”
“You do,” I said. “Because if someone sees value in me, then what does that make you? Are you pissed that your can’t steal him just the way you stole Max?”
Amira’s jaw ticked. Her fingers clenched around the reins before she turned forward again, refusing to answer. That was all I needed.
We continued on.
But I didn’t miss the slight tremble in her hands.
Or the way she didn’t speak for the rest of the day.
Let her think whatever she wanted. Let her throw her barbs and wear her smirks. Alaric might have said goodbye, but his voice still echoed in my mind.
It made me smile.
Amira caught it, of course. “You’re grinning now? she scoffed, steering her horse slightly ahead of mine. “We’re barely an hour out and you’re already thinking about your precious king.”
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5:07 PM d
Chapter 66
“I’m thinking about how peaceful it would be if you lost your voice.”
She laughed. “Still sharp. Good. You’ll need that where we’re going.”
I ignored her after that, choosing instead to watch the path ahead. The forest roads were winding and dense, the sun peeking through the trees in soft flickers. Bi
rds chirped somewhere above. A squirrel darted past the trail.
But the silence didn’t last.
“I’m surprised he let you go, honestly,” Amira said. “He looked like a kicked puppy back there.”
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