Beneath the Alpha's Moon

Eldur POV

She said, "Please leave me alone."

It was quiet. Gentle. Like a whisper begging to be believed.

But it felt like a blade to the chest. A slow one, too. The kind that doesn’t kill—just carves out something important and leaves the rest of you behind to wonder why it still hurts.

I walked out.

Not because I wanted to but because she asked me to.

The bell chimed overhead, mockingly cheerful as I left the bookshop. I didn’t turn back. I didn’t beg. I didn’t stay.

Because I’d done that before.

With Mai.

I’d clung too hard. I’d held on like my life depended on it. And I nearly destroyed her for it.

I wouldn’t make the same mistake with Nova.