The forest beyond the ruined chapel was cloaked in fog and silence. Not the peaceful kind—but the kind that hangs heavy after secrets have cracked open like storm clouds. Ari trailed behind the others, each step sluggish, every breath strained. Her ribs ached, her shoulder throbbed, but none of it compared to the weight pressing against her chest.
Ronan hadn’t said a word since they left the chapel. His strides were rigid. His presence—once comforting, even electric—now felt volatile. She couldn’t blame him. Not after everything he’d learned.
Moonblooded.
Lies.
Power.
And she hadn’t even told him the worst of it: that she wasn’t a boy. That she was the girl promised to him in a political engagement he'd rejected without ever knowing her name. That the mate bond pulling at them was rea
