Bound By The Moon's Curse

Chapter Four

Mate!!!

Arielle's POV

Sometimes, silence is the loudest scream.

I sat on the edge of my bed, knees pulled up to my chest, and stared at the thin cracks on the wall. The muffled sound of celebration drifted through the open window, teasing me with laughter and music I had no right to join. I could almost hear the glasses clinking, the voices mixing together in harmony as if the entire world had gathered for something joyous something I wasn’t part of.

I traced an invisible line on the sheets with my fingertip and let out a shaky breath. Aunt Liliana’s words still echoed in my head:

*"You are nothing but an eyesore. I don’t want to see you outside this room tonight."*

Nothing I ever did was good enough, and tonight was no different. Still, being ignored was better than the alternative another beating, another punishment. My ribs still ached from Laura and her friends earlier that day. I pressed a palm to my side and winced. The bruises would take weeks to heal, but I had long since learned how to breathe around pain.

The laughter outside grew louder, and I tried to block it out, shutting my eyes tightly.

I don’t know how long I stayed there, frozen in my little cocoon of loneliness, but then I heard it a soft knock on the door. A knock? No one knocked for me. No one ever came here unless they were dragging me somewhere to be punished.

I swallowed, my throat dry.

The knock came again, more insistent this time.

“Arielle,” a small, timid voice called out. A child definitely not a voice I knew.

My curiosity got the better of me, and I shuffled toward the door, opening it just a crack. My eyes fell on a little girl no older than six or seven. Her curly blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders, framing her round, doll-like face. She wore a pastel dress that shimmered under the soft light of the hall, and her big blue eyes met mine with an innocence that felt almost foreign to me.

She blinked up at me.

“Are you Arielle?” she asked, clutching the hem of her dress nervously.

“Yes,” I replied cautiously.

Her lips curved into a small smile. “I’m lost.”

I stared at her, confused. “Lost?”

She nodded, looking embarrassed. “I was trying to find the bathroom, but there are too many hallways, and now I don’t know where I am. Can you help me?”

I hesitated. She didn’t look at me like I was dirt under her shoe. She didn’t call me names or flinch away as though my very existence was poisonous. She just stood there, waiting for my answer with wide, hopeful eyes.

“Sure,” I said softly, stepping out into the hallway.

She immediately grabbed my hand, her small fingers curling around mine. I flinched at first I wasn’t used to being touched but I didn’t pull away. Her warmth seeped into me, and for the first time in forever, I felt... seen.

“I’m Lily,” she announced as we walked.

“Nice to meet you, Lily,” I murmured.

“Do you live here all the time?” she asked, swinging our hands gently back and forth.

The question caught me off guard. I opened my mouth to respond but realized I didn’t have an answer. Did I live here? Or was I simply... surviving?

“Sort of,” I finally said, avoiding her gaze.

We reached the restroom, and Lily smiled up at me. “Can you wait for me? I don’t want to get lost again.”

“Of course.”

I leaned against the wall while she went inside, rubbing my arms as the faint chill in the hallway began to settle over me. It wasn’t cold enough to shiver, but the loneliness crept back in, threading its way around my heart. I was about to start spiraling back into my thoughts when it happened.

A scent, that scent hit me.

It wasn’t subtle. It wasn’t gentle. It crashed into me like a tidal wave, sweeping every single one of my senses away.

Coconut.

Strawberries.

And something deeper, richer like melted chocolate on a warm summer night.

I stiffened, my body suddenly on high alert. The scent pulled me forward before I even realized I was moving. My feet carried me down the hallway, as though drawn by an invisible string. My pulse quickened with every step. My mind screamed for me to stop,what are you doing? but my body refused to listen.

The scent grew stronger, intoxicating.

When I turned the corner, I froze in place.

There he was.

A man stood near the entrance of the grand hall, his broad back facing me. He was tall, his shoulders strong and imposing. The suit he wore fit perfectly, tailored to his lean, powerful frame. And then, as if sensing me, he turned around.

My heart stopped.

He was beautiful.

Dark hair fell in soft waves over his forehead, framing a face that seemed almost sculpted by the gods. A strong jawline, high cheekbones, and lips that looked like they could command or soothe with equal power. But it was his eyes piercing, stormy gray that captured me entirely. They locked onto mine with an intensity that stole the breath from my lungs.

I stumbled back a step, my body trembling uncontrollably.

What is happening to me?

I clutched my chest, feeling a strange pull, an invisible force binding me to him. My heartbeat roared in my ears, and suddenly, a voice clear as day rang in my head.

"Mate."

I gasped, whipping my head around. Who said that?

But the voice wasn’t coming from someone else. It was... inside me.

Mate.

I blinked, my mind spinning, but when I looked up again, he was staring at me as though he had seen a ghost. His body tensed, and his jaw clenched, but his stormy gray eyes softened just for a moment as they scanned my face.

“You,” he said, his voice a low growl that rumbled through the space between us.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. Everything inside me screamed to run to him to close the distance but fear kept me rooted to the spot.

Mate.

The word echoed over and over in my head, growing louder each time.

“Who... who are you?” I choked out, my voice barely above a whisper.

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he stepped toward me, his movements slow and deliberate. I flinched instinctively, and something flashed in his eyes, something that looked like pain.

I wanted to say something, anything, but then a voice called out behind me.

“Arielle! Where

are you?!”

My aunt. Her voice thundered through the hallway like a whip, pulling me out of whatever trance I was in.