Chapter 10

Chloe’s pov Nash tore into his steak like a man who hadn't eaten in days, and I couldn't stop watching his mouth. We sat at opposite ends of a table long enough to seat twelve, candlelight throwing shadows across the space between us, close enough to talk and far enough that neither of us had to pretend this was anything but obligation. Every time he finished a bite he dragged his tongue along his bottom lip to catch what he'd missed, like he had no idea what that small, careless motion did to the room. I told myself it meant nothing. I told myself that twice more before I gave up and just watched, my own fork forgotten halfway to my mouth, my appetite for the meal in front of me quietly losing to a different one I didn't have a name for yet. "I heard you don't have a wolf." He said it between bites, not looking up. Heat crawled up my neck, and I set my fork down harder than I meant to. "I can't show my wolf side. That's different from not having one. I can feel her. She's there." He glanced up at that, his face giving nothing away for a beat before he went back to his plate. He didn't argue. He didn't laugh at me the way half of Twilight had my whole life. He just let out a low, quiet chuckle, like the claim amused him more than it convinced him. "Can't I be your Luna without a wolf?" I leaned forward, testing the edges of the arrangement we'd both agreed to at the ball. "If that's a problem for you, I'll admit right now I don't have one." He wiped his mouth with the corner of his napkin, unhurried, and I watched the movement longer than I should have, my eyes catching on his mouth again before I made myself look away. "Whether you have a wolf or not doesn't change whether you're my Luna. Twilight and Red Moon have married into each other for three generations. You and I both have to honor that, wolf or no wolf." "So it's tradition, to you." I turned my glass slowly on the table. "It's tradition to me too. We just have to play the parts well. Alpha and Luna. That's all this is." "That's right." He said it flat, like there was nothing more to it, and a strange calm settled into my chest at how easily he agreed, one I refused to look at too closely. I should have left it there. I didn't. "There's one thing I should tell you, since we're being honest about what this is." I made myself hold his eyes, my pulse climbing despite the flat, businesslike tone I was aiming for. "I have a mate. A real one. I met him once, and then he was gone before I even learned his name properly." Nash went still, his fork resting against the plate. "Gone." "Vanished. I don't know how else to explain it." I traced the rim of my glass, not trusting myself to look at him while I said the rest. "If I find him again, someday, could I leave Red Moon?" He studied me for a long moment, long enough that I felt it crawl across my skin like a physical thing. "I could consider it. Provided you play your part well enough in the meantime and it doesn't become a scandal Red Moon has to answer for." "I will." I meant it, and I hated how much that answer disappointed some small, traitorous part of me. He didn't move on. He set his fork down instead, leaning back in his chair, his attention sharpening on me in a way that made my skin prickle. "This mate of yours. When did you meet him?" "A few weeks ago." I hadn't expected the question, and it caught me off guard enough that I answered before I thought better of it. "And he marked you?" "Why does that matter?" "It doesn't." He held my eyes, and for a second I could have sworn a calculating gleam moved behind his, like he was lining up pieces of a puzzle he hadn't shown me yet. "Humor me." I opened my mouth to answer, and the door swung open before I got a single word out. "Nash." Wylie's voice cut across the room, low and urgent, her eyes flicking briefly to me before landing back on him. "We need to go. Now." He held my gaze one beat longer, like he was reluctant to let the question go unanswered, before he stood, wiped his mouth, and tossed his napkin down beside his plate without another glance in my direction. "We'll finish this conversation later." He was already moving toward the door. "Enjoy the rest of your meal."