Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 301

Chapter 301

“You!” Ashley said, shocked that the man with the woody scent was Sebastien.

For a moment, Sebastien forgot how to breathe. He had prepared himself for anger. He had prepared himself for fear, maybe even disgust, but nothing could have prepared him for the way that single word left her mouth. It was not just recognition. It was accusation. It was pain. It was the sound of a woman realising that fate had tied her to the same man who had put a blade into her body. He stood there in the doorway, his hand still near the door, his chest tight, his shame sitting heavily on his tongue. He wanted to speak, but no words came. Nothing he said would be enough. Nothing could make the first sight of him easier for her.

It was not the reaction any wolf hoped to get from his mate. Under normal circumstances, this moment should have been sacred

She should have felt him and known him. He should have crossed the room, wrapped his arms around her and accepted what the

Goddess had given him. He should have claimed her with joy and relief. She should have felt safe. Wanted. Chosen. But there, was

nothing normal about them. There was no softness waiting at the beginning of their bond. There was blood. There was betrayal.

There was Cynthia. There was Joseph. There was the war and the mission and all the wrong choices Sebastien had made in the name

of a cause that had already taken too much from him.

He had attacked her fiancé. He had taken Joseph’s pack. He had stabbed her in the process. Even worse, to Ashley, it must have

looked like he had stabbed her to save Cynthia’s life, and that was the ugliest part of it because it was not even the truth. He had

stabbed Ashley to save Ashley. He had seen the warriors mark her. He had seen the danger closing in on her while she fought like

she did not know how close death had come. If she had remained standing, she would have kept fighting, and those men would have

killed her. Sebastien had known that in one sharp second, and he had moved before he could think of what it would cost him.

His blunder was the knife. Goddess, the knife. He had meant to use the one on his left, but his right hand moved first. By the time

he realised what he had done, his heart was already in his mouth. He had stabbed his mate with the wrong knife. The wrong knife,

coated with poison, in the middle of a battle where everyone already thought him a monster. That was why he had stopped

reinforcement from coming. That was why he had pushed Joseph to sign the document quickly. Ashley had been on the ground, and

Sebastien could not allow the fight to drag on while her life slipped away.

He knew the document carried the wrong name. He knew it right away because he had done research before attacking Joseph. Ethan’s name was supposed to be on it, not Joseph’s. But he had said nothing. He had let it go because Ashley needed to be taken

away, and the longer the battle continued, the more danger she remained in. He never told the Alpha. He never corrected the

mistake. He would keep it that way because his mission was clear, and he was close to achieving it. Too close to break now, even if

the Goddess had decided to punish him by putting Ashley in front of him like this.

“What do you want?” Sebastien asked, trying to ignore her honey scent and keep his face hard.

“Do not piss her off,” Klein cautioned him.

Sebastien almost growled at his wolf. What else was he supposed to do? Fall to his knees and tell her everything? Beg her to believe

him? Ask forgiveness for a wound that had almost killed her? He already believed he had ruined any chance with her. The bond

might exist, but bonds did not erase memories. They did not pull blades out of flesh after the damage had been done. The best he

could do was prepare for her rejection and return to work. Work was easier. War was easier. Missions were easier than standing

before a wounded mate and knowing he deserved whatever she chose to do with him.

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Chapter 301

Ashley managed to rise from the bed. The movement was slow, and Sebastien saw how weak she still was. That alone made anger

rise against Boris again. She should not have been reduced to this. She should not have been starved, left thirsty and caged like nothing. She walked towards him, and Klein stirred with a rough, hungry sound inside him. Sebastien’s jaw tightened when he saw

the sheer gown Odette had given her. He knew Odette had probably used what was available, but it did nothing to help him control

himself or his wolf.

She looked ravishing in it. Too fragile and too beautiful. The fabric clung lightly to her body, making Klein restless in a way

Sebastien had no patience for. Even Cynthia, with all her tricks and years of history, had never made him feel what Ashley’s

presence did in that small room. Cynthia had always pulled him into chaos. Ashley pulled something older and deeper from him,

something he did not trust because it made him want to throw everything away. He did his best to control himself, but he did not

look away from her. He could not. Maybe that was another failure, but his eyes stayed on her like she had already claimed them

Ashley stopped in front of him and looked up at him. There was hurt in her eyes. Hurt and anger and a kind of stunned disbelief

that cut deeper than shouting would have. She was still weak. Her legs could barely hold her, and when he said nothing more, she

seemed to understand that he was not going to give her the explanation she was silently demanding. She returned to the foot of the

bed and sat down, as if standing before him had cost her too much. Still, her eyes remained on him.

She was waiting for him to explain, and Sebastien knew it.

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Underwater: The Silent Luna