Attachment 371
Chapter 371 Take Me Now
LUNA
The water was freezing, but I didn’t care.
He was all I could think about.
“Abel!” I screamed his name again, my voice cracking as I splashed forward.
I wasn’t good at swimming, but my body moved on instinct, desperate to reach him.
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My lungs burned. My arms flailed against the pull of the water. I couldn’t see clearly, and I wondered if I would die first before him at this rate.
But then, I felt strong, familiar arms wrap around my waist, tugging me upward. I gasped when we broke the surface, coughing, water dripping down my face.
“Are you insane?” Abel’s voice came out breathless and furious all at once. He pulled me closer, his wet hair plastered against his forehead. “What are you doing here?”
“You-“I could barely speak between the gasps. “You weren’t moving.”
He looked at me, brows furrowed, confusion flashing across his expression before softening into worry. He looked perfectly fine, appearing unaffected by the freezing water.
Without thinking, I smacked his chest with my palm, the sound sharp against the quiet of the night. “Don’t ever do that again!” I shouted, tears spilling freely now.
“Luna-‘
“No!” I hit him again, weaker this time. “Calm down? You said calm down? How can I calm down when you’re out here like this?”
“I was scared the entire day! And now you’re just floating in the middle of nowhere like you’re -like you’re ready to…”
My words broke. I couldn’t say it.
He stared at me for a long moment. “I wasn’t going to leave,” he said quietly, shaking his head.
“You weren’t moving,” I whispered. “You just floated there.”
He let out a soft, weary exhale and brushed the wet hair out of my face. “I can hold
my breath
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Chapter 371 Take Me Now
:
pretty long underwater,” he said softly. “I was just here to cool my head off.”
“You couldn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t think you’d wake up, he murmured.
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I pushed at his chest again. “You scared me,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “You scared me so much.”
“I’m sorry,” he said immediately. He leaned forward, his lips brushing against my wet forehead. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
He kissed the corner of my eyes.
“Why do you keep apologizing?” I asked, my throat tightening.
He didn’t answer right away, his thumb wiping away my tears even though the water around us made it pointless.
“I told you to be more confident,” I said, glaring weakly at him. “I hate this. I hate seeing you like this, Abel.”
He smiled faintly, and it wasn’t his usual smile. “You really shouldn’t have jumped in,” he murmured. “You’re freezing.”
“I don’t care,” I whispered.
“It’s supposed to be a good night,” I added quietly. “We were supposed to be happy. We were supposed to…” My voice faded as I looked up at the glowing moon above us. “…mate.”
In a broken whisper, he said, “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
I froze.
“What?” I breathed.
His gaze shifted toward the moon, and suddenly the distance between us felt wider than the lake itself.
I stared at him, searching his face, trying to see if there was even a hint of doubt in his words. But there wasn’t. Abel’s sincerity burned through his eyes. He looked as though he’d already imagined my death a hundred times, and each time, it tore him apart a little more.
So this was what it was about. The curse. The fear of losing me to fate itself.
Chapter 371 Take Me Now
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“I didn’t even think about it,” I whispered as I reached out to him. My fingertips brushed against his cheek, tracing the faint scar there. “You really think mating will kill me?”
“If we mate,” he said again, more softly this time, “I’ll lose you. I can’t-” He swallowed hard, eyes lowering to the dark water around us. “I can’t bear to lose you, Luna. That’s why I came here. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to try to change my mind.”
He pulled me into his arms then, his grip tight and desperate. I could feel his heart racing against my chest. “I don’t want to do it,” he murmured into my hair. “Not if it means losing you.”
“Then what will happen?” I asked softly.
He looked away. “Jaxon will take the title.”
“At this point,” Abel muttered, shaking his head, “I don’t care.”
“But I do,” I said, catching his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me. “And I know you do, too.”
He didn’t deny it. “And what if I lose you instead?” he whispered.
I hesitated, feeling the words crawl up my throat before I could stop them. “Is it certain?” I asked. “Is it really certain that you’re cursed?”
He was startled by my insinuation.
“Maybe you’re different,” I said quickly. “Maybe you’re not like the others who were bound by it. The world has changed, Abel.”
“We don’t know. We can’t just assume the worst.”
He shook his head, a humorless laugh escaping him. “You don’t understand. My father was the one who said so. He suffered the same fate.”
“Then maybe it ends with you,” I said softly.
He looked at me. “Luna-”
“I don’t know,” I said, interrupting him, “but I don’t want to live wondering. I don’t want to keep running away because of something we don’t even understand.”
The full moon was high now, blazing in the sky like a watchful eye.
“It’s not certain,” I said again, more firmly this time. I could hear my own heartbeat echoing in
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Chapter 371 Take Me Now
my ears. “You said it yourself. It’s not certain.”
He looked torn, his eyes glistening.
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“But I want to try,” I whispered. “I want to risk everything with you, Abel. Even if it hurts. Even if it kills me.”
He looked as if the world had stopped turning. His lips parted, his breath shaking, eyes filled with both disbelief and love.
I took a step closer, closing the space between us until our foreheads touched. “Do you trust me?” I breathed.
His eyes fluttered shut. “More than I should.”
“Then trust me now,” I said. “Take me here, Abel.”
Sara Lili
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.