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Unless I can get some fucking answers. I just need some time. Just a little bit of time.

A soft whimper from Idril’s sleeping form yanks me out of my spiral. My gaze drops to her, but my vision’s blurry. I have to blink twice before I realize tears are obscuring my vision.

Tears, for Fate’s sake. I haven’t cried in centuries. I never imagined I’d cry when I found my Mate. I certainly never thought that if I did, they’d be tears of frustration and helplessness.

I swallow around the lump of emotion lodged in my throat. Like Idril can feel my pain, she frowns, whimpering in distress. I lean closer, curling my hands into fists so I don’t reach out and pull her into my arms.

Fates…she’s so stunning. Hauntingly perfect in her beauty. I’ve replayed the memory of seeing her a few nights hundreds of times, but it’s nothing compared to being near her like this.

She turns her head and her hair falls to the side, giving me a perfect view of her face.

My heart kicks.

Just like that, I’m instantly, achingly hard.

The faint light filtering through the window makes her look kissed by stars and shadow both. Her skin glows in a way that doesn’t seem real. It’s strangely luminescent, the kiss of moonlight enhancing the effect.

Long lashes create shadows across high cheekbones. Long white hair fans across the dark mattress, eerily reminiscent of liquid silver.

Dangerous, yet I wouldn’t hesitate to wrap the silver strands around my fist and willingly burn.

I swallow my growl, afraid of waking her. I’m toeing the line of feral, and I know it. I’m a hair trigger away from snapping.

But gods, even asleep she doesn’t look like she belongs in this world.

Maybe she’s not from this world. Maybe she’s a goddess, made to be worshiped.

I know I don’t deserve to be here, staring at her without her knowledge or consent, dying to touch her. But the world could be burning, and I wouldn’t notice until I saw the flames reflected in her eyes.

She’s the only thing I see. The only thing that matters.

Her breath hitches again. Her lashes flutter.

I know I should move. Leave. Do something.

I don’t. My body won’t obey. The silver pool in my chest stills, like it’s holding its breath in anticipation. As if it knows something I don’t.

Her eyes open.

And my world fractures.

Everything tilts and spins and splinters apart, and all I can see… is blue.

Blue eyes, so impossibly bright I forget how to breathe. Her eyes lock on mine with an intensity that feels like Fate. She should be terrified. Screaming, crying out, crawling away, anything except looking at me like⁠—

Like she knows me.

Recognition flares in those startlingly blue irises, blooming across her face like a watercolor.

Where there should be fear, there is only relief. Like she’s been waiting for this moment her entire life. Like she’s pleased to find me here.

And strangely, that same joy and relief extends between us to wash over me. With it comes an undeniable certainty that I’m meant to be here. On this night. In this house. With this Omega.

Everything I’ve done or experienced over the centuries pales in comparison to the importance of this moment. Every heartache, every joyful moment, every mission, every injury, every relationship—it all flashes before my eyes like threads of a tapestry. Each moment woven with delicate precision into a map I didn’t know I was following.

One that always led me to her.

Destiny.