**He Knows the Door to My Soul and Who Forgot to Novel 75**
**Natalia**
Everything was a whirlwind of chaos.
The walls seemed to sway, the floor undulated beneath my feet, and the ceiling above felt like it was closing in. David’s face, though mere inches away, was nothing more than a distorted blur, as he guided me through the dimly lit hallway.
“This way,” he whispered, his arm curled protectively around my waist. I struggled to maintain my balance, each step feeling like a precarious dance on a tightrope. Something was terribly amiss. Very wrong.
I hadn’t consumed that much alcohol, yet my head throbbed violently, as if it might detach from my body and float away into the ether. Had someone slipped something into my drink?
“Where are we going?” I managed to slur, my tongue feeling oversized and cumbersome, as though I had swallowed a heavy stone.
“The room you mentioned,” David replied, steering us down another dim corridor. “You said it was a place where we could be alone.”
Alone. With him. Did I genuinely say that? What had possessed me to invite this?
The thought should have sent alarm bells ringing in my mind, but my thoughts were slippery, unable to cling to any emotion for more than a fleeting moment. My anxiety slipped through my fingers like grains of sand, quickly replaced by confusion, followed by an odd, detached amusement as I noticed the chandeliers overhead casting shimmering trails of light as we moved beneath them.
These hallways felt familiar. I knew them well. I had traversed them countless times, back when this place had been my sanctuary. Back when I had been Andrei’s Luna.
Andrei.
His image flickered in my mind. All I could focus on were those piercing green eyes that had once regarded me with frigid disdain, yet had recently shown a different glimmer. A spark that quickened my heartbeat, even as I fought against it.
“How long until you finally reveal the truth to everyone—who you truly are? Natalia, not Mira,” his words from our dance echoed hauntingly in my thoughts.
Liar. I was a liar.
Then, Damon’s face surfaced in my memory. Gentle, kind Damon. My friend. My protector. The man who loved me unconditionally, even though I couldn’t reciprocate his feelings in the same way.
“Mira,” he had called me. “It’s okay to be Mira. Mira is who keeps you safe.”
These two brothers tugged at me from opposite ends—one pulling me back to the past, and the other anchoring me to the present. One beckoned me toward my true self, while the other represented the facade I had constructed to shield my children. One made my wolf howl with longing, while the other numbed her completely.
I found myself caught in a tempest of indecision. Should I follow my wolf, my heart, Natalia, Andrei… or should I cling to my safety, Mira of Ashmoor, my children, Damon?
Finally, David opened a door, ushering me into a small sitting room that I recognized instantly. It was a cozy nook I had often retreated to for quiet moments of reading during my time here. A sanctuary away from the world. The moonlight filtered through the sheer curtains, casting a soft glow that I had always found comforting.
“Sit,” David instructed, guiding me to the sofa. I sank into its embrace, grateful for the respite from the spinning room.
David vanished for a moment, only to return with two glasses of champagne. “Drink this,” he insisted, pressing one into my hand. “It’ll help you relax.”
I stared at the effervescent bubbles rising in the glass. More alcohol was the last thing I needed right now. Somehow, even in my foggy state, I realized that.
“I don’t think I should,” I mumbled, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Just a sip,” David urged, settling beside me, our thighs brushing against each other. He turned toward me, his hands beginning to knead my shoulders. “You seemed stressed at the banquet. This will help.”
I accepted the glass but made no move to drink. David, however, seemed oblivious, too engrossed in his own thoughts as his fingers worked their magic on my shoulders.
“…always thought you were beautiful…”
“…the letters you sent me…”
“…wearing my dress…”
Letters? His dress? Nothing he said resonated with me. I hadn’t sent him any letters, and the dress I wore had mysteriously appeared in my room. I had assumed it was a gift from Damon.
David’s face inched closer to mine, his gaze dropping to my lips.

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