Bound By The Moon: The Eternal Bond - Chapter 28: Chapter 28

Julia walked back toward the grand ballroom, her steps brisk but uneven, brows furrowed in deep thought. The cold air clung to her skin, but it wasn’t the chill that unsettled her—it was the memory. The way the shadow had twisted, the way her pendant had... reacted. It still lingered at the back of her mind, gnawing at her consciousness.
Her fingers curled tightly around the pendant at her neck, almost as if the gesture would ground her. The cool metal of the pendant was strangely reassuring, but it did nothing to calm the unsettling feeling growing in her chest. Did something really happen? She couldn’t shake the vividness of the moment, the feeling of something ancient and powerful stirring in her. She shook her head, trying to brush it off. Probably just nerves... or an illusion. Nothing more.
Inside the ballroom, the atmosphere remained deceptively light. Laughter mingled with soft music, and the sounds of clinking glasses and hushed conversations created an air of normalcy. Nobles continued to mill about, their masked faces pretending that everything was fine, that the undercurrents of unease and tension didn’t exist. Julia’s gaze swept the room, trying to regain her composure. It was so easy to pretend everything was fine in a crowd like this.
Her eyes landed on a familiar face across the room. The luna of the west was watching her intently, their gazes locking in a way that made Julia uncomfortable. The woman’s eyes were sharp, calculating. Julia felt a strange tug, almost as if there was something more beneath that gaze than mere curiosity. Before she could analyze it further, the elegant woman started to make her way through the crowd, her steps smooth and graceful as she approached.
"Hello, Julia," the luna greeted her, her voice light and pleasant. "I’m Samantha, Luna of the Western Pack."
Julia returned the greeting with a polite smile, though her discomfort still lingered. "I’ve always wanted to meet you. You’re even more intriguing in person," she added, trying her best to mask her unease with a friendly tone.
Just then, Valen’s wolf stirred within him, its possessive instincts flaring at the scent of his mate. The air around Julia seemed to thicken, and she could feel a shift in the energy of the room. Valen’s sharp gaze swept the ballroom, landing on Julia the moment he noticed the woman near her. His brows furrowed, and a low, warning growl escaped his chest, barely restrained.
He pushed past Alpha Victor, who had been chatting endlessly with another noble, and strode towards Julia and Samantha. Samantha, sensing the shift in the air, quickly excused herself and scurried away, retreating to the other side of the room. Valen didn’t even spare her a second glance before turning his full attention to Julia. His voice was dark with frustration, almost a growl. "What did I say about talking to strangers, huh?"
Julia raised an eyebrow, her posture unbothered. She was used to his overprotectiveness. "She was just saying hi?" she said, though there was a touch of amusement in her voice, knowing exactly how Valen would react.
"Hi? You better stay away from her. Understood?" Valen’s tone remained sharp, his dark eyes never leaving Julia’s face. Despite his harsh words, there was a subtle softness in the way he looked at her, something protective. His towering figure loomed over her, and Julia couldn’t help but notice the tension in his shoulders as he leaned down, his voice lowering as he whispered in her ear, "And I’ll have to punish you for that when we get home," he added, his lips curling into a teasing smirk.
Julia’s eyes widened in disbelief, but she didn’t back down. Instead, she poked him playfully in the ribs, causing him to let out a rumbling laugh, his expression lightening. "By the way, what happened with Lily?" he asked, his tone turning serious again, the playful atmosphere evaporating as quickly as it had come.
"Just an argument," Julia replied, brushing it off with a half-hearted smile. "Lily being... Lily."
Valen didn’t return her smile. His gaze hardened, a shadow crossing his features. "Are you sure? No tricks? No threats?" His voice was low, almost dangerous, and Julia could sense the weight of his concern.
Julia hesitated, her mind flashing to the earlier confrontation with Lily, the words exchanged, the underlying tension. She hadn’t been entirely truthful, but it wasn’t as if she had any desire to divulge everything. "Not directly," she admitted softly.
Valen’s eyes narrowed, though his expression softened ever so slightly. Before he could press further, another thought seemed to strike him. His voice dropped lower, and the shift in his demeanor was palpable. "You said you could hear thoughts. That’s... quiet abnormal for a human. Tell me. What are you?" His tone had a dangerous edge now, the curiosity in his voice mingled with something darker, something that made Julia uneasy.
Julia looked away, uncomfortable under the weight of his gaze. " I'm Human, of course," she said quickly, her voice softening with a hint of uncertainty. "It just happens sometimes. Not always. It’s like... voices just pass through when I’m not trying." She shrugged lightly, trying to dismiss the matter.
Valen’s frown deepened, his eyes still locked onto hers as if searching for something he couldn’t quite find. "That’s not normal, Julia," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I know," she admitted softly, her voice tinged with regret. "But I can’t just hear them whenever I want. It’s like... it happens when I’m not focused, like they slip through without warning. It's unusual of me."
Julia looked around then leaned closer to Valen, " you know, I was thinking, now that we are in Alpha king's place we should get a chance to look for evidences of his evil deeds"
Valen sighed, his posture stiffening as the air between them thickened with unspoken words. "This place is filled with dark energy. Only I can sense it , from the moment we got here."
Julia's eyes widened in confusion not understanding what he was trying to say.
"Not now, little mate," he said finally, his tone returning to its usual commanding presence. "Ryker’s on it. I’ll tell you when we get back home."
Julia glanced around, her gaze searching for the Beta, but she couldn’t find him. She realized he wasn't around for a long time. "Don’t worry. He’s good at it. No one will notice," Valen added, trying to reassure her, though there was no softening in his tone. He didn’t want to say it out loud, but she knew there was more to this situation than either of them could fully grasp just yet.
Without realizing, her hand drifted back to the pendant at her neck, feeling the warmth radiating from it, almost as if it were alive in its own right. Her brows furrowed in thought. "This pendant... does it have any kind of... power?" she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Valen blinked, his attention momentarily flickering to the pendant. "That? It was my mother’s. I never noticed anything special about it." His voice held a note of indifference, but Julia could see the hesitation in his eyes.
Julia nodded slowly, her fingers tracing the outline of the pendant, still unsure of what to make of it. "Right. Just curious," she said, though doubt stirred in her mind. Maybe I imagined it. Just hallucinating. She hoped that was the case.
The silence stretched between them, both of them caught in their own thoughts. Then, to break the tension, Julia asked, "Is your mother still alive?"
The question lingered in the space between them, and for a moment, Valen’s eyes shifted, avoiding the direct answer. The change in his demeanor was subtle, but Julia noticed. Before she could push for more, his eyes changed—black bleeding into glowing gold in an instant.