But deep down, she knew the truth: Yuwen Lian would always find her. His devotion was a compass point fixed solely on her soul, a tether that felt as much like a chain as it did a lifeline.
Her fate was a tangled web. On one side, Yuwen Lian, a man whose love felt like a cage. On the other hand, the looming obligations to Huo Tingxuan and the call of the moonbeast. Every path was fraught, every choice a potential ruin.
The night tore open like a wound.
Yueshuang had barely drifted into a restless half-sleep when a distant cry shattered the silence. Three desperate alarm bells hammered through the manor.
Her heart lurched. The moonbeast bond flared against her skin, a searing tug at her marrow that tasted of iron and primal fear.
