Chapter 218

Chapter 218
Nolan POV
“I meant what I said before, I love you. I know that I don’t deserve it, but… I hope that one day you’ll gue me another chance to prove it.”
The words came out before I could stop them. The feeling of her in my arms, the warmth of the bond, it was enough to override my logical mind. I let the words tumble out in a stream and waited for Ellie to react.
She didn’t say a word, just melted into my hold. We swayed to the music, not really dancing anymore, but using the excuse to stay pressed together. I could feel her hands grip the back of my shirt and hold tight like she might float away if she let me go.
I held on just as tightly.
This feeling was almost too intense, but I didn’t want to give it up. I don’t know how much time passed before she lifted her head and looked up at me. Her expression was hard to read: confusion, suspicion, maybe even hope.
I was too afraid to ask. I just looked back at her, my eyes locked to hers. I saw the moment her eyes welled up. The memories must have been too much, I told myself. I tried to stave off my panic at the thought that she might be struggling against this moment.
Her head tilted, moving a bit closer, and I moved with her.
My lips brushed against hers, our breath mingled. I didn’t kiss her, though every instinct was telling me to close the distance and let the bond, let my instincts, guidé us. I resisted.
I let her make the choice. Our lips brushed softly as she moved deliberately forward.
It wasn’t even enough to really be considered a kiss, but it sent a shiver down my spine.
Ellie pulled back slowly, her eyes searching mine for something that I hoped she would find. We stared at each other for a long, tense moment. Then Ellie turned away, and I felt something in my chest break.
She owed me nothing, I kept telling myself that. Her reactions were justified, her caution was natural. But it made my wolf howl with anguish to watch her walk away from me again.
I swallowed it all down. The disappointment, the fear that I’d somehow messed it up again, all of it. I held it back as I watched her go. I don’t know how long I stood there watching as she vanished back into the crowd, leaving me alone with my thoughts and my aching heart.
The music had faded, but Ellie’s scent still lingered in the air – faintly sweet, threaded with the warmth of moonlight and memory.
I stood at the edge of the courtyard long after she’d gone, watching as the crowd swallowed her up.
I knew he should have let her go sooner.
But the moment she’d turned toward me, eyes bright with unshed tears, every part
of me had remembered. The ache of missing her. The way her voice softened when she said my name.
The way she looked at me before everything fell apart.
I’d almost ruined it again almost reached for her, almost begged
But this time, I hadn’t.
I’d stood there, hands trembling but steady at my sides, and let her walk away.
It wasn’t easy. Holding her in my arms had felt so terribly right. Like it was everything I was ever supposed to do
Chap 28
+25 Bonus
in life. Feeling her pulse beat with mine, feeling her breath against my shoulder. It nearly broke me.
Now the firelight was dimming, and laughter carried faintly through the open doors
of the Moonstone packhouse. The celebration was still alive around me, but I couldn’t feel any of it.
I’d meant what I said. I loved her.
That truth was simple, even when everything else between us was not.
I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand through my hair before heading toward the terrace. The air was cooler there, cleaner. Away from the noise, I could think.
For the first time in my life, I didn’t want control – I wanted clarity.
The path ahead of me wasn’t about claiming Ellie or convincing her to return. It was about becoming someone she could stand beside without fear. Someone the boys could depend on.
I wasn’t that man yet. But I wanted to be.
“Rough night?”
Lance’s voice came from behind me. I turned to find my brother leaning against the stone railing, two glasses of whiskey in hand. He offered one wordlessly.
I took it with a faint huff of laughter. “You could say that.”
Lance clinked his glass against mine. “I’m guessing the dance didn’t end with a happy ever after.”
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