Semua Bab Fat Can't Be Crowned Luna : Bab 1 - Bab 4

Annabel's POV The bond hit me like a fist to the chest. One second I was standing in the back of the ceremony hall trying not to be noticed, the next there was something warm and golden wrapping itself around my ribs, squeezing — not painful, just present — and my eyes found him before my brain caught up with what was happening. Aldric. Alpha Aldric walked through the main doors and the room shifted the way it always did when he entered, three hundred wolves rearranging themselves unconsciously around his gravity. Broad-shouldered, dark-haired, jaw set like he'd been carved specifically to intimidate. The bond pulled taut between us and my breath caught. For one stupid, humiliating second, I smiled. I actually smiled. And trust me, I still hate myself for the smile. His eyes swept the room — and stopped on me. The change in his face happened fast. Too fast to hide. His chin pulled back, shoulders stiffening, the way you'd react if you reached into your pocket and foun

Annabel's POV Three months. My knees knew it better than my mind did — a permanent ache ground into the bone from marble floors and cold stone and the particular punishment of scrubbing surfaces that were just going to be dirty again tomorrow. I'd cleaned three hallways, two staircases, and a sitting room that hadn't seen actual use since Aldric's father was alive. Now I was on the fourth hallway, bucket beside me, brush moving in the same circular pattern I could do half-asleep. Which was useful, because I usually was. I heard the heels before I saw her. That specific click — sharp, deliberate, the rhythm of someone who wanted you to know they were coming and wanted you to have time to dread it. I didn't look up. I'd learned that. Keep your head down, keep your hands moving, give them nothing to work with. The heels stopped directly behind me. I kept scrubbing. "You missed a spot." I closed my eyes for exactly one second. Then I opened them and kept working. "I'm