Isabella Pov.

"Do you hear me, Isabella? Never!"

I honestly couldn't process his words or understand what he was trying to tell me. His facial expressions were completely indescribable and unlike anything I had ever seen before, but the first thought that came into my mind was that maybe he wanted to keep me around somewhat like a hostage or prisoner.

"Maybe he wants to use me as leverage against my father," I thought desperately. "Maybe this is all just some kind of strategic move."

I found myself stuttering nervously as I tried to respond, "Nathan, if you want to send me back to my father to help stop the ongoing war and try to end all this hatred between our families, then I don't mind doing that. I'll go willingly if it means peace for everyone."

Without any warning, he suddenly reached out and squeezed my jaw, though not roughly or painfully, and gritted his teeth while staring intensely into my eyes.

"Isabella, do you really think that I would surrender that easily?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous. "Do you honestly believe I would just give up and let you walk out of my life? I already told you -- I would never let you go, and I meant every word of that!"

I was completely fed up with his puzzling responses and cryptic statements, and I honestly had no idea what terrible things I must have done in my past life to deserve all of these complicated and painful situations.

"Why does everything have to be so difficult?" I thought frantically. I couldn't understand what he actually wanted from me, and his mixed signals were driving me absolutely crazy with confusion and frustration.

I sped up with my questioning, my brow furrowed deeply with confusion and exasperation.

"Nathan, what do you want from me then?" I demanded, my voice rising slightly. "I need you to be clear with me because I can't keep guessing what's going on in your head!"

"You!" he said immediately, without any hesitation whatsoever.

"I want you, Isabella!" he repeated, his voice filled with passion and conviction.

Then he blurted out something that completely shocked me to my core: "Be my secret mate! Stay with me as my secret mate!"

My eyes practically popped out of my head, and I found myself stammering like a complete fool.

"W-what did you just say?" I managed to get out, my voice barely working. "Are you being serious right now? Then you don't actually hate me after all?"

He slowly leaned into my face, getting so close that I could feel his warm breath on my skin, and gently brushed his nose against mine while speaking in the most lovely, tender whispering tone I had ever heard from him.

"Hate you?" he said softly, his voice filled with warmth and affection. "Isabella, I would have to be completely insane to let you go. I love you more than anything in this world, and if loving you means I have to face another war, then--"

He deliberately left his words hanging in the air between us, creating a moment of suspense that made my heart race even faster.

Then, without any warning, he leaned in and kissed my lips so softly and tenderly that it felt like a dream.

When he pulled back, he had the most incredible smile on his face, showing off those amazing dimples that I absolutely adored.

"Then I'm ready to go into a hundred wars if that's what it takes to keep you in my life forever," he continued. "You're mine, Isabella, and you're my mate, and you always will be, no matter what anyone else says or does."

The relief and joy that flooded through me was so overwhelming that I honestly couldn't contain myself.

I immediately jumped up and hugged him as tightly as I possibly could, letting my tears fall freely like heavy rain after a long drought.

"Oh my god, Nathan, I love you so much!" I cried, my voice muffled against his chest. "I love you more than words can express! Thank you for not giving up on us, thank you for fighting for this!"

He gently patted my head in the most comforting way, his touch so tender and loving that it made me want to cry even more.

Then he took my hand and led me slowly toward the bed, where he carefully knelt down at my feet.

With the utmost care and attention, he began to take off my shoes, then slowly and methodically helped me remove each piece of my clothing.

He didn't say a single word during this entire process, but he never stopped looking at me with those intense eyes, as if he was genuinely afraid to waste even a second without gazing at me and memorizing every detail of this moment.

After several minutes of intimate silence filled with nothing but pure love and connection that seemed to completely fill every corner of the room, he gently placed me on my back on the soft bed and slowly crawled on top of me.

He began showering every inch of my body -- from my face to my neck to my arms and all the way down to my toes -- with his warm, loving kisses that made me feel like the most cherished person in the entire world.

Then, quite suddenly, he spoke again, his voice serious and filled with determination.

"Isabella, let's make you pregnant," he said, looking directly into my eyes. "We need something concrete to strengthen our mating bond, especially in case your father decides to come back and try to take you away from me. A child would make our connection unbreakable."

I felt myself clutch tightly to his strong arms, feeling startled by his suggestion, but when I looked into his eyes, all I could see was worry and concern reflected back at me.

"He's just as scared as I am," I realized. He was genuinely panicked about the possibility of losing me, maybe even more than I was afraid of losing him.

But deep down, I knew he was absolutely right about this -- we really didn't have much time to waste. "He's thinking strategically," I thought. "This makes sense."

And even if my father didn't eventually come back for me, I knew that I would definitely have to go and meet with him at some point. My dear, beloved father who had been desperately waiting to see his baby girl for so many long, hopeless years.

I let out a deep sigh and nodded my head, completely agreeing with Nathan's reasoning. "Yes, let's do it," I said firmly. "But Nathan, what exactly did you mean when you said 'secret mate'? I need to understand what that involves."

He quickly took off his shirt, then his pants, revealing his perfectly sculpted body that never failed to take my breath away.

Then he carefully adjusted his position so that his body was perfectly positioned between my legs, and he began speaking while slowly and gently thrusting into me.

"What I mean, my love, is that you will stay here with me in our private room in the castle, and we won't tell anyone about your true identity until we decide the time is right for that revelation," he explained, his voice slightly breathless.

"But make no mistake about it -- you are my mate, you belong to me completely, and you should know that you will be my luna very soon."

I opened my mouth because I had so many questions about what this would mean for our future, particularly about his current situation.

But before I could get a single word out, he silenced me with another passionate kiss and answered as if he had somehow heard exactly what was circulating through my mind about his current luna situation.

"Isabella, I need you to understand something very important," he said, his voice firm and decisive. "Lily is not my real luna, and she never has been. I'm going to get rid of her very soon, and I'm going to kick out Ethan too. They've both betrayed my trust, and I won't tolerate that anymore."

And finally, at long last, we had a solid plan -- a normal, reasonable one that actually made sense for our situation.

At least now I knew with absolute certainty that I wasn't going to be just his mistress anymore, but rather his future Luna, and I would finally be able to carry his child and build a real life with him.

He made passionate, intense love to me what felt like ten times or maybe even more throughout that incredible night and the days that followed.

We fell into this perfect rhythm where we would wake up together, eat breakfast in bed, take long, luxurious showers together, and then immediately go back to bed to lose ourselves in each other again.

Honestly, we had absolutely no idea how many days we stayed locked away in that bedroom, completely lost in our own little world.

But we both knew that this perfect bubble of happiness couldn't possibly last forever, because one evening, we suddenly heard the doorbell ring loudly and persistently.

Nathan walked to the door to see who could possibly be visiting us at this hour, and I could tell from his body language that he wasn't expecting anyone.

With our eyes half-sealed from exhaustion and sleep, we were both profoundly tired and completely worn out from our days of passion and intensity.

When he came back into the room, he was carrying a beautiful wicker basket in his hands, and his expression was troubled and suspicious.

He handed me the gorgeous flowers and the expensive bottle of whiskey that were inside, then asked me with intense concern and growing anger, "Isabella, what the hell is this gift? Who sent this to us?"

I immediately knew exactly who the sender was, but I couldn't bring myself to tell Nathan the truth about it. "It's Ethan," I thought, my stomach dropping with dread. "He's still trying to claim me."