MOONBOUND: THE HUMAN HEART

I woke to whispers. Not real whispers-not voices in my room. But I could feel them anyway, crawling under my door, seeping through the cracks in the walls, wrapping around my throat like invisible hands. She threw Freya across the arena. Her eyes were glowing. She's not human. She's not human. She's not human. I pressed my pillow over my face and screamed into it. The dining hall was worse than I imagined. The moment I walked through the doors, the noise stopped. Not gradually. Not like a wave receding. It stopped, mid-sentence, mid-bite, mid-laugh. Hundreds of heads turned toward me. Hundreds of eyes locked onto my face. I kept walking. Heads turned to follow me. Like sunflowers tracking the sun. Like predators tracking prey. Or like prey tracking a predator, a small voice whispered in my head. I wasn't sure which one I was anymore. I grabbed a tray. Piled food onto it without looking. Found an empty table in the corner-the farthest corner, the darkest corner, the corner no one else wanted. No one sat with me. No one sat near me. The girl with the nose ring-the one who'd sneered at me yesterday-crossed to the other side of the hall when I passed her table. A boy I'd never spoken to spit on the floor as I walked by. But they didn't laugh. They didn't whisper insults loud enough for me to hear. They just... watched. And that was worse. "Everyone's afraid of you now." Kai slid into the seat across from me without asking. He was carrying a tray loaded with food-enough for three people-and he started eating immediately, like he hadn't just said something devastating. "I don't want them to be afraid of me," I said. "I know." He chewed, swallowed, pointed his fork at me. "But fear is better than contempt. Trust me." "Is it?" He considered this. "Contempt gets you ignored. Fear gets you left alone. In this place, alone is safe." "I don't feel safe." "No," he agreed. "You feel like a monster. I know." I stared at him. "How do you know?" Kai put down his fork. His brown eyes-warm, gold-flecked, kind-met mine without flinching. "Because I've been where you are," he said quietly. "Not the throwing-people-across-rooms part. The other part. The part where everyone looks at you like you're something they don't understand, so they decide to hate you instead." I wanted to ask him what he meant. But before I could, a shadow fell over the table. Lukas. He was smiling. Of course he was smiling. He was always smiling, that beautiful, empty, infuriating smile. "Ela," he said, ignoring Kai completely. "I've been looking for you." "Found me." "Indeed." His green eyes swept over me, lingering on my face, my neck, my hands. "You caused quite a stir yesterday." "That wasn't my intention." "Intentions don't matter. Only results." He leaned down, bracing his hands on the edge of the table, bringing his face close to mine. "And the result is that you're the most interesting person in this school right now." Kai made a sound in his throat. Not quite a growl. Not quite a cough. Something in between. Lukas ignored him. "I'm having a private dinner tonight," he said. "In my quarters. Just a few close friends. I'd like you to come." A few close friends. Right. And I was born yesterday. "Why?" I asked. Lukas tilted his head. "Does there need to be a reason?" "Yes." He laughed-a real laugh, warm and surprising. "I like you, Ela. You don't pretend. You don't play games. It's refreshing." He straightened up. "Seven o'clock. I'll send someone to escort you." He walked away before I could refuse. Kai was watching me with an expression I couldn't read. "Don't go," he said. "Why not?" "Because Lukas doesn't do anything without a reason. And his reasons are never good." I looked down at my plate. The food had gone cold. "I'll think about it," I said. But we both knew I'd already decided. Nikolai caught me in the hallway outside the library. His hand closed around my wrist-firm, not painful-and pulled me into an alcove between two bookshelves. The sudden darkness swallowed us, made the world shrink to just the two of us, just our breathing, just the heat radiating off his body. "What are you-" "Don't go to his dinner." It wasn't a request. I pulled my wrist free. "Why does everyone keep telling me what to do?" "Because you're not listening." His ice-blue eyes burned in the dim light. "Lukas isn't inviting you because he likes you. He's inviting you because he wants something." "Everyone wants something." "Yes." He stepped closer. Close enough that I could smell him-pine and snow and something darker, something that made my pulse spike. "But Lukas wants you. And not in the way you think." I should have stepped back. Should have put distance between us. I didn't. "Then in what way?" I asked. Nikolai's jaw tightened. His hands-those large, scarred hands-opened and closed at his sides, like he was fighting the urge to reach for me. "He wants to claim you," he said. "Before anyone else can." My heart stopped. "Claim me," I repeated. "Like... like property?" "Like a mate." The word came out rough, torn. "Shifters can bond with humans. It's rare, but it's possible. And if Lukas bonds with you, your power becomes his. Your blood becomes his. You become his." I felt sick. "But I don't-I don't even know him. I don't want-" "It doesn't matter what you want." Nikolai's voice was flat. Cold. "To him, you're a prize. A weapon. Something to be won." "Then what do you want?" The question hung between us. Nikolai stared at me. His chest was rising and falling too fast. His hands were trembling-actually trembling. "I want you to stay away from him," he said finally. "That's not an answer." "It's the only one you're getting." He turned and walked out of the alcove, disappearing into the bright light of the hallway. I stood there in the darkness, my hand pressed to my chest, feeling my heart race. He wants to claim you. Like a mate. I didn't know what that meant. Didn't know what I was, what I could do, what anyone wanted from me. But I knew one thing. I was going to that dinner. Not because I trusted Lukas. Because I needed to know the truth. And Nikolai wasn't going to give it to me. Lukas's quarters were in the east wing of the main building. They were nothing like my tiny room in Moonshadow Hall. A massive sitting room with floor-to-ceiling windows, a fireplace big enough to stand in, furniture upholstered in dark velvet. Paintings hung on the walls-not reproductions, originals, some of them centuries old. A table was set for two. Not a few close friends. Two. I should have turned around and walked out. Instead, I sat down. Lukas emerged from a side door, carrying a bottle of wine. He'd changed out of his uniform into a simple black shirt and dark trousers. His hair was still damp, like he'd just showered. "You came," he said, sounding genuinely pleased. "You said dinner." "I did." He poured wine into two glasses-deep red, almost black-and slid one toward me. "Do you drink?" "Not usually." "Tonight's not usual." I picked up the glass but didn't drink. Lukas sat across from me, his green eyes catching the firelight. "You're cautious," he observed. "I respect that." "I'm not cautious. I'm terrified." "Of me?" "Of everything." He smiled. Not the empty smile from before. Something softer. Almost real. "Good," he said. "Fear keeps you alive." The food was incredible. Course after course-roasted meats, fresh vegetables, bread still warm from the oven, a dessert that tasted like honey and cream. I ate more than I had in days, and Lukas watched me the whole time, barely touching his own plate. "You're not eating," I said. "I'm watching." "That's creepy." "I know." He leaned back in his chair, cradling his wine glass. "But I can't help it. You're fascinating, Ela." "I'm really not." "You threw a girl across a room with your mind. Your eyes glowed gold. You're sitting in the quarters of an alpha heir, eating his food, and you're not even slightly intimidated." He tilted his head. "That's not nothing." I put down my fork. "What do you want from me, Lukas?" He was quiet for a moment. The fire crackled. Somewhere outside, a wolf howled. "I want to help you," he said finally. "Help me how?" "Understand what you are. Control what you can do. Survive this place." He leaned forward, his elbows on the table. "You're not like the others, Ela. You're not like anyone. And that makes you a target." "So you want to protect me?" "Yes." "Just like that? Out of the goodness of your heart?" Lukas laughed. "There's no goodness in my heart. But there is... curiosity. And maybe something else." His voice dropped. "Something I haven't felt in a long time." I should have left. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to stand up, walk out, never look back. But I didn't. Because his eyes-those green, hungry eyes-were looking at me like I mattered. Like I was more than the punchline of a joke. Like I was seen. And after a lifetime of being invisible, that was impossible to walk away from. The table was cleared. The candles had burned low. Lukas stood up and walked around the table to my side. He knelt beside my chair, bringing his face level with mine. "I'm going to ask you something," he said quietly. "And I want you to think before you answer." My throat was dry. "Okay." He took my hand. His fingers were warm, his palm calloused, his touch surprisingly gentle. He turned my hand over, traced the lines on my palm with his thumb. "I want you to consider something," he said. "A partnership. A bond. Something that would protect you from everyone who wants to hurt you." "Protect me how?" "By making you mine." The words hit me like a physical blow. "Lukas-" "I'm not talking about ownership." His voice was urgent now, intense. "I'm talking about belonging. To someone who can keep you safe. To someone who won't let them tear you apart." "You don't even know me." "I know enough." He lifted my hand to his lips. Pressed a kiss to my knuckles. "I know you're brave. I know you're scared. I know you've been alone your whole life, and you're tired of it." I couldn't breathe. "Ela." His green eyes burned into mine. "I want you to mate with me." The room tilted. "Not now," he continued quickly. "Not tonight. But soon. Before the others figure out what you are. Before they try to take you for themselves." "Others?" "The alphas." His jaw tightened. "Nikolai. Kai. Thorne. They all want you. They just haven't admitted it yet. Not even to themselves." I pulled my hand back. Stood up. Stumbled away from the table. Lukas rose slowly, watching me with those hungry eyes. "I need to go," I said. "Think about what I said." "I-I will." I was lying. I wasn't going to think about it. I was going to run back to my room, lock the door, and pretend this conversation had never happened. But as I reached the door, Lukas's voice stopped me. "One more thing, Ela." I turned. He was standing in the middle of the room, the firelight casting half his face in shadow. He looked like something out of a painting. Beautiful. Terrible. Ancient. "Nikolai," he said. "He told you not to trust me, didn't he?" I said nothing. "He's right not to trust me. But you shouldn't trust him either." Lukas's smile returned-that empty, beautiful, terrifying smile. "Because he wants the same thing I do. He just doesn't have the courage to admit it." I opened the door. "Ela." I looked back one last time. Lukas's green eyes caught the firelight. "Mate with me," he said softly, "and I'll give you the world. Refuse... and I'll watch it burn you alive."