Chapter 69 Almost
Rain slammed against the windows like impatient fingers.
Tiara jerked awake as thunder cracked overhead, the sound rattling the stone walls of the pack house. For a moment, she didn’t know where she was, only that the bond hummed low and restless, tugging her chest toward something familiar.
She swung her legs off the bed and padded toward the door just as another roll of thunder shook the night. The corridor beyond was dim, lit by flickering wall torches. Rainwater had begun to seep in through an open archway at the far end, pooling on the floor.
And there standing beneath the arch, soaked to the skin was Damien.
His hair was plastered to his forehead, rain dripping from his lashes, his shirt clinging to his body as if the storm itself had sculpted him. He looked up when he sensed her, surprise flashing briefly across his face before something softer replaced it.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked quietly.
Tiara shook her head. “Neither could you.”
Lightning flashed, illuminating the space between them. The bond pulsed tentative, aching, fragile.
Without another word, Damien stepped inside, pushing the heavy doors shut behind him. The rain became a distant roar, muffled but constant, like a heartbeat.
They stood there, inches apart, both uncertain who had crossed the line first.
“You remember,” Damien said suddenly, voice low, “the night it rained like this before your first trial?”
Tiara blinked, then laughed softly despite herself. “You hid under the council stairs because you were convinced the thunder was an omen.”
“I was twelve,” he protested.
“And dramatic,” she teased, the tension easing just a fraction.
A smile tugged at his mouth. “You brought me bread you’d stolen from the kitchens. Said if the Moon Goddess wanted to strike me down, she’d have to do it on a full stomach.”
Her laugh this time was quieter, warmer. “I was braver then.”
“You still are,” Damien said, too quickly, too honestly.
Silence settled heavily with everything they hadn’t said in weeks.
Rain dripped from his sleeve onto the floor. Tiara noticed the faint tremor in his hands.
“You’re freezing,” she murmured.
Before he could argue, she reached for him.
Her fingers brushed his wrist.
The bond flared.
Both of them inhaled sharply.
It wasn’t dominance. It wasn’t Alpha power. It was memory and longing and the echo of nights when being together felt simple.
Damien didn’t pull away.
Instead, he stepped closer, heat radiating from him, his hand lifting and hesitating before settling at her waist as if asking permission.
She nodded.
That was all it took.
He kissed her slowly, carefully, like she might disappear if he moved too fast. The world narrowed to warmth and rain and the quiet sound she made when she leaned into him.
Tiara’s hands slid up his chest, fingers curling into the damp fabric of his shirt. His scent filled with rain, smoke, and something unmistakably wrapped around her, grounding her in a way nothing else had lately.
They stumbled backward, laughing softly when they bumped into the wall.
“I missed you,” Damien breathed against her cheek.
She closed her eyes. “I’m right here.”
“I know,” he said. “That’s the problem.”
His honesty hit harder than any accusation.
She pulled back just enough to look at him. “Then don’t run.”
“I’m not running,” he said hoarsely. “I’m afraid of standing too close and watching you disappear.”
Her chest tightened.
“I didn’t choose this power,” she whispered. “But I choose you. Every day.”
Damien searched her face like he was memorizing it, like he feared forgetting. His thumb brushed under her eye, gentle.
“And what if choosing me costs you everything else?”
“Then it costs me,” she said simply.
Thunder boomed again, closer this time. The lights flickered.
Damien kissed her again, deeper now, needing threading through restraint. Tiara responded without hesitation, her body remembering him long before her mind caught up.
His hands slid to her back, drawing her closer until there was no space left for doubt. Her breath hitched as his lips traced her jaw, her throat.
“Tiara,” he murmured, warning and wanting to get tangled together.
She pulled him toward the bed.
Rain pounded harder, the night pressing in around them, intimate and wild. They lay back together, still kissing, still laughing softly between breaths, like stolen moments from a life that no longer existed.
His forehead rested against hers.
“This feels like stealing time,” he said.
“Then steal it,” she replied.
He kissed her again, slower now, reverent. His hand slid along her side, warm and sure, sending sparks through her nerves. Her fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer and then it happened.
The air changed.
Not thunder. Not rain.
Presence.
Tiara’s body went rigid.
The bond screamed with desire and warning.
Her eyes flew open.
The shadows in the room stretched unnaturally, moonlight bleeding through the narrow window in a pale, silver glow that didn’t belong to the stormy night outside.
Damien felt it too. “Tiara?” he whispered.
Her wolf recoiled, hackles raised, instincts screaming danger, not from him, but from above.
From beyond.
From watching.
The Moon Goddess.
Tiara’s breath came shallow as the weight of that ancient gaze pressed down on her chest. It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t approved.
It was an expectation.
She shoved herself upright, heart pounding. Damien reached for her instinctively, confusion etched across his face.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, backing away as if the moonlight itself could burn her. “I—I can’t.”
“Tiara—”
“She’s here,” Tiara whispered, voice shaking. “She’s watching.”
The room felt colder. Smaller. The silver light lingered like a silent witness.
Damien swallowed, understanding dawning too late. He let his hand fall.
“Of course,” he said quietly.
Guilt flashed through his eyes.
Tiara wrapped her arms around herself, torn between wanting to collapse into him and needing to protect him.
“I’m sorry,” she said, tears burning behind her eyes. “I wanted to.”
“I know,” he interrupted gently. “So did I.”
Outside, the rain began to ease.
Inside, the distance returned wider now because they had almost crossed it.
They almost chose each other without consequence.
The moonlight sl
owly faded.
But the sense of being watched did not.
And Tiara knew deep in her bones that the Moon Goddess had seen everything.
And she was not done with them yet.