Chapter 82. Everything

CADE

I woke up before her.

The sun hadn’t fully risen yet; only a soft silver light poured in from the window, touching her skin like it worshipped her.

She lay against me, her hair sprawled across the pillow, her lashes dark against her cheeks.

Arden.

I didn’t know what I had done in this life to deserve waking up beside her, but I knew one thing for certain: I never wanted to lose this.

I brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, careful not to disturb her. Her breathing was soft and steady, and her bare shoulder rose gently with each inhale.

She wasn’t mine by bond. We didn’t glow under the Moon Goddess’ seal or feel the pull that defined fate.

But it didn’t matter.

Because everything within me told me she was mine.

I’d never met my mate, and I probably never would.

And if the Moon Goddess was listening—if she ever paid attention to people like me—then I prayed she would make Arden my mate too.

Because asi