EMILIA’S POV
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
Maximus was staring at me like he was seeing the moon rise for the very first time—slow, stunned, disbelieving. My heart hammered so loudly I could barely hear anything else. His eyes were still slightly unfocused from shifting back, still raw from whatever storm had torn through him moments ago… but when they settled on me, it felt like the whole world narrowed into a single breath.
A single truth neither of us knew how to swallow.
His gaze kept flicking between my eyes, my mouth, my neck—back and forth like he was afraid he was imagining me.
“Maximus…” My voice came out broken, barely a whisper. “How… how is this possible? I thought Raina was your mate.”
His jaw tensed, but his eyes softened—slowly, painfully—as he lifted his hand
