#Chapter 109: Moonbinding

ELENA His lips brushed mine. And then— The kiss wasn't soft. It wasn't hesitant. It was heat and hunger and six years of ache collapsing into one breathless, impossible moment. He kissed me like he needed it to live. Like if he let go, the world would vanish around us. And I kissed him back. The moment our mouths met, the world blurred at the edges. The trees, the moonlight, the fireflies—all of it became a haze. There were alarm bells in my head, faint and flickering. But they were overpowered by the way Derek’s hands gripped my waist, pulling me flush against him. The way his mouth moved with mine, familiar and new all at once. The way the air itself felt charged—like the Moon Goddess was breathing over our shoulders, whispering yes, this. I felt it everywhere. In the earth under my feet. In the thrum of the waterfall. In the pull of the bond that hadn’t fully broken, even after I’d rejected him and severed it. We were no longer running from it. We were running