I had spent the night with Frost–not in his bed, but on a small cot he’d arranged in his spare room. When I woke, the scent of fresh coffee drew me to his kitchen, where I found him cooking breakfast. moved to help him, falling into an easy rhythm as we
prepared the meal together.
‘I could get used to this,” he commented as I set the table, the domesticity of the scene both comforting and bittersweet.
“I just wanted to keep busy.” I paused, hope rising again. “So… you got it?”
“Of course,” From his pocket, he produced a small bag containing several silver–blonde hairs.
“Wow… that was fast.” I reached for the bag instinctively.
“You can’t touch it though.” He pulled it away gently.
“You are good at this.” I couldn’t help but admire his efficiency.
“When are we going for the test?” He placed the bag carefully on the table.
“Could we go now… I mean, if it’s okay with you?” I barely dared to breathe, afraid he’d say we should wait.
“Yes, the healer is waiting; I had to speak to her personally.”
“Of course I am ready now; let’s go.” I abandoned breakfast, all thought of food forgotten in my urgency.
The healers‘ wing was quiet this early in the morning. Frost led me to a private room where an older woman in white robes waited, her expression carefully neutral when she saw us.
Without preamble, Frost handed her the bag of Kaius’s hair. She accepted it with a nod, placing it in a sealed container before
turning to me.
“We need your sample too, Luna,” she said. “Your oral fluid would be preferable.”
I followed her instructions, providing the sample she needed. My hands trembled slightly, the enormity of what we were doing hitting me fully.
“So when do we get the results?” I asked as she sealed my sample.
“Twenty–four hours.”
“Oh. Can’t we receive the results earlier than that?” The thought of waiting even a day seemed unbearable.
“Usually it takes weeks; twenty–four hours is as quick as it gets,” she replied firmly.
As we left the healers‘ wing, Frost’s hand found mine, squeezing gently in reassurance. “Whatever the results, we’ll face it together.”
I nodded, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. In twenty–four hours, I would know the truth–either Ka making our love forbidden by the most fundamental of laws, or… he wasn’t, and I had lost him for nothing.
Either way, nothing would ever be the same again.
s my brother,
1/3
Chapter 133
Four hours had passed since we’d left the healer’s wing. Four endless excruciating hours of trying not to think about what might happen in twenty more. I paced Frost’s apartment, checking the clock on his wall for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Is it twenty–four hours yet?” I asked, flopping onto his sofa.
Frost looked up from the book he was attempting to read. “There is ill twenty hours to go.”
I drummed my fingers against the armrest, stood, walked to the window, then turned back. “Hey… what about now?”
“It is still twenty hours to go, maybe minus twenty seconds. Elowen, you have to calm down.” His voice remained patient, though ! could see the slight tension in his jaw.
“Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down?” I snapped, then immediately regretted it. “You know what? I’m sorry… I know I could get very irritating, but these four hours feel like a whole day already.”
He set his book aside, watching me with those steady ice–blue eyes. “Maybe because we are practically sitting down and waiting for twenty–four hours to pass by.”
I sank back onto the sofa, defeated. “You have any ideas to pass time
A thoughtful expression crossed his face. “Have you ever used a gun before?”
“That’s a random question. No, I just held it a few times.” I thought briefly of the silver gun Kaius had given me in the underground chamber, the one I’d nearly used on Dorian.
“Well then this would be fun… put on some pants, we got to go.” He rose from his chair, already heading for the door.
I glanced down at the oversized t–shirt I was wearing–one of Frost’s that he’d lent me to sleep in. “Well, my clean clothes are back in Kaius’s room, and I am not going back there.”
“I could find something that is a bit smaller for me,” he offered, moving to his wardrobe. After a moment of digging, he pulled out a pair of black training pants. “You are really small.”
“Maybe you are just too big.” The retort came automatically, drawing a genuine smile from him.
“Come on, maybe we could find one small enough for you.”
After some searching, we found pants that would stay up with a belt cinched to its tightest notch, and a t–shirt that hung to mid- thigh. I rolled up the pant legs and sleeves, looking like a child playing dress–up in adult clothes.
“It’s only for a few hours,” I reminded myself, checking my reflection in Frost’s bathroom mirror. “Then I’ll go… somewhere.” I pushed away the thought of where exactly I would go if the test confirmed my mother’s story. Surely not back to Kaius’s chambers, and not to my mother’s either.
We headed out of his room, hand in hand. Pack members we passed gave us curious looks, but no one dared comment on the Queen Luna’s strange attire or her presence with the Beta instead of the King. News of my move to Frost’s quarters had apparently spread, but I couldn’t bring myself to care about gossip–not with so much more at stake.
