MOONBOUND Beauty under a curse

Distance

.

---

*CHAPTER FOUR: *

2am.

I shouldn’t be in the east wing.

Kings don’t check on tributes. Especially not at night.

_‘But she’s cold,’_ Lucas whined. _‘And alone. And it’s our job to protect.’_

"She has guards."

_‘Guards don’t bring soup.’_

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Damn wolf.

I stopped outside her door. Heard nothing. Good.

I turned to leave.

A sound. Small. Like a gasp.

Nightmare.

My hand was on the door before I could stop it.

She was thrashing on the bed. Not screaming. Just... small sounds.

Scared.

_‘Go to her,’_ Lucas urged.

"No."

She needed space. Not me hovering. Not a king she didn’t trust yet.

I stepped back. Closed the door softly.

"Double the guards," I told the men outside. Voice rough.

"If she makes one sound, you wake me."

I walked away. Jaw clenched.

_‘You’re an i***t,’_ Lucas said. _‘But I get it. Too fast = she runs.’_

Back in my room I stared at the ceiling.

Mate. Cursed. Orphan.

And I couldn’t even sit in the same room with her without wanting to claim everything.

Too soon.

She’d just been thrown away.

The last thing she needed was another man deciding her life for her.

So I’d give her distance.

For now.

Even if it killed me.

---

*End of Chapter 4

---