Chapter 102: Only One Reason
Lorelai didn’t even realize she was holding her breath. Only when her chest began to ache, her heart tightening painfully, did she finally exhale and inhale sharply.
Perhaps it was the shock, but her mind felt utterly blank, like a slate wiped clean of all thought.
Mate.
She had read about it before in her studies of the beasts, but only as a detached, academic concept—never something that might touch her own life.
Unlike pure-blooded beasts, who had no control over their instincts and were bound to accept the mate their nature chose for them, half-bloods lived with far greater freedom. They could suppress their primal urges and instead follow the pull of genuine affection, selecting a mate who truly drew their heart.
Yet, even with that freedom, fate sometimes played cruel games. It wasn’t unheard of for even the most noble, pure-blooded lycans to find themselves irresistibly drawn to someone wholly unsuitable in the eyes of their kind.
Humans.
But Rhaegar wasn’t a pure-blooded lycan. His feelings weren’t governed by fate or instinct.
’Then...’ Lorelai chewed nervously on her lower lip, biting it until it was red and tender. ’Does this mean his feelings are genuine? That he wants me as his mate because he chose me, not because of some inescapable instinct?’