Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 119

Chapter 119

Keith had also done something Ethan kept quietly appreciating.

༢ 96

At the entrance of the cabin, he had built a slope. Simple, practical, easy to miss if you did not understand what it meant. But Ethan

understood. It made getting in and out easier. It made movement smoother. It made him less dependent. Less of a liability. Ethan noticed

those things sharply. People always thought biggest humiliations came in dramatic forms. They did not. Sometimes they came in the

thousand tiny ways a man had to ask for help over and over until asking itself became a wound. The slope eased that. Keith probably

knew exactly what he was doing.

ՈՍԱ

Meadow and Ethan left the cabin and

and moved into the woods.

There was a clear path for Ethan, one Keith had ensured would be manageable. Ethan followed it steadily, his chair moving over the

prepared ground. The woods felt peaceful around them. Sunlight filtered through leaves in broken patches. The air smelled green and

clean and alive. Birds. Wet bark. Soil. Distant water. It felt like a different world from the mansion, from pack politics, from every room

where other people’s opinions pressed against the walls.

They reached a clearing, and Ethan stopped.

Meadow took another step before noticing he had halted, then she turned back toward him.

“Okay, Meadow, I want to meet Nightshade.”

The request made her suddenly shy.

That was almost funny considering everything they had already shared, but Ethan understood it. Asking for her wolf was different. Asking

to meet that part of her was more intimate than some people realised. He watched her closely, and as soon as he spoke Nightshade’s

name, Echo stirred again inside him. Sharp enough for him to notice. Strong enough for him to trust.

That was when he really began to think it.

Maybe his connection with Meadow was deeper than he had first believed.

Meadow began undressing slowly.

She kept her eyes on him the whole time. There was trust in the way she did it. No panic. No real embarrassment beyond that soft natural

shyness. It was only them in the woods. Only them in this small private clearing. She felt relaxed enough to let herself move without fear.

Fabric came away. Skin caught light. Then she shifted.

Nightshade stood where Meadow had been,

A beautiful white wolf with striking purple eyes.

Ethan stared.

1/3

12:01 Wed, Jun 17

Chapter 119

(

96

He was genuinely taken aback by her beauty. He knew Meadow was beautiful in human form. He knew that too well by now. But

Nightshade was something else. Elegant and lovely and far more striking than he had imagined. The white of her coat caught the light in

a way that made her seem almost unreal. The purple in her eyes only made it more arresting. Ethan could not quite believe this was his

mate’s wolf. A beta breed, yes, but beautiful in a way that seemed almost deliberate on the goddess’s part.

And then another thought came with it.

Now he understood better why Meadow was strong-willed and persevering.

TOE

She had never really been a pushover. Quiet, yes. Wounded, yes. Gentle too. But not weak. Never that.

Nightshade looked at him for a beat, then came forward and nuzzled him.

Ethan felt something inside him tighten and soften all at once. He looked into her eyes and ran his fingers gently through her fur. It was

softer than he expected. Warm too. Real. He did not treat her like a curiosity. He treated her like what she was. Meadow. Also Nightshade.

His.

There was a plea in Nightshade’s eyes.

He saw it clearly even if he could not understand all of it. Something in her was reaching for him, asking for something he could not yet

name.

Then Echo’s voice brushed through him again.

“Mine.”

This time Ethan did not freeze in fear of losing it. He welcomed it. Let it move through him. Let it settle. His fingers stayed in

Nightshade’s fur, and then suddenly he saw them change.

His claws grew out.

Shock ran through him. He looked down, then back at Nightshade, but he did not stop touching her. Could not. The sensation of her fur

beneath his hand was soothing in a way that steadied him even while his own body did things it had not done in years. Her scent filled

him. Wrapped around his senses. And the more it did, the more connected he felt to her. Not only as Meadow. Not only as his wife. As

Nightshade. As the wolf too.

He pulled her closer and rested his forehead against hers.

“I hope you will speak one day, darling,”

Then he kissed the top of her head.

Nightshade wanted to whimper.

2/3

12:01 Wed, Jun 17

Chapter 119

396

The urge rose in her, desperate and sad, but she could not let it out. Something inside her still held tight to her voice. To her mind too. Something old. Something ugly. The memory of the person who ruined her. It was never fully clear, only foggy and broken, but the pain of it remained. She nuzzled Ethan sadly, and Echo growled at once in response.

His wolf was trying.

Trying to surface. Trying to comfort her. Trying to come through stronger for his mate. But Ethan’s human body was still not ready. Not

ready for a full shift. Not ready to hold everything Echo wanted to do. The frustration of that moved through him like heat. Echo was

running out of patience. He wanted to claim her properly. Deeply. Fully. The wolf in him recognised her with increasing hunger and

certainty.

Since he could not do all of that yet, he did the best he could.

His claws marked her lightly.

Not a wound. Not harm. A scent marking, A way of placing himself on her as deeply as his body would currently allow. It was not enough

for Echo. Ethan could feel that. But it was something. It was theirs. Nightshade accepted it with gratitude, licking Ethan’s face softly in

return. She would settle for that for now. But somewhere inside her, she too hoped Echo would come through one day the way he wanted.

They stayed there in each other’s space, enthralled.

Eye to eye. Breath to breath. The woods holding still around them.

And then everything broke apart.

A huge brown wolf came out of nowhere.

Comments

Write Comments

SHARE

3/3

12:01 Wed, Jun 17

Underwater: The Silent Luna