CALEB.
I left the room with a heaviness in my chest I couldn't shake off, a sour weight pressing down on my ribs with every step I took. Regret bled into me slowly, stubbornly, like poison seeping into veins.
Why… Why was I feeling like this?
Nothing about this situation made sense.
We—Cypril, Cain, and I—wanted Amelia. We chose her, we agreed she was the one, even before the whole engagement.
And yet the bond inside me, ancient, stubborn, relentless, seemed to scream something entirely different. Every time Melissa looked broken, something twisted inside my ribcage. Every time her voice cracked, something in me cracked too.
I hated it.
I hated that the Moon Goddess had this much power over me. Over us. I really didn't want to feel this way.
I leaned against the door, as I stepped
