Damien leaned against the edge of the bed, knees drawn up, fists clenched, the weight of what he was thinking bearing down on him, a burning thing in his chest that squeezed his lungs. No matter how much he tried to push it aside, the truth stuck—Nadia was his mate. The Moon Goddess had chosen her out for him and yet he was forbidden to claim her.
He'd struggled back to consciousness through most of the night on the hungering craving for Nadia and seething venom of anger for Elara's lies. He'd looked up into the stars she was his, reason in his hard-headed brain sobbing he'd be the more manly option. But heart didn't have mercy on releasing them. Each look put her in remembrance and aching wet like some ripped-open wound ripped as wide open once again.
To be vulnerable to her? No chance.
