apter 83
LUNA AQUAMARINE’S POV
There was this ringing in my ears that made my blood run cold.
What?
“My…. My old pack?”
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He stayed silent long enough that I almost ripped my hand back. Heat surged into my throat, hotter than the burn on my skin. He had taken them from me.
“You sent them to my old pack! Why would you do that? Even if you wanted her out of here you
shouldn’t have sent her back there, Alex,” I cried.
I caught the faintest flicker in his eyes. The kind that told me he had already anticipated my reaction. For a moment I thought he’d shut me down again. But instead, he dragged a chair closer, sat down and just stared at me.
“What I did,” he said at last, voice low and measured, “was for the best.”
“For the best?” I repeated, dumbfounded. “You sent Kath back to the same wolves who threw us away. The same ones who treated me like an abomination since the day I was born.” My chest seized, nails digging into my palm. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? What they would do to her? Because of me? Of you?”
His hand moved from my wrist to my thigh, grounding, but I shoved at it, the burn of betrayal drowning out everything else.
“You took her away from me,” I spat. “You didn’t even tell me.”
He said, calmer now. “Kath doesn’t belong locked in these walls, waiting for you to get bored and
seek her out. She has potential and she has her own role to play here.”
“Don’t make it sound like I’m caging her,” I spat. “She’s better here than there!”
He let out a slow breath.
“Aquamarine,” he said my name like it was meant to steady me, though it only made me tremble harder, “your old pack is no longer what it was. It’s ours, remember? We own it. My men have already taken it. Every leader who once ruled there is gone, Kath isn’t there as a slave. She’s the Luna’s sister and she will thrive there, not rot in this castle.”
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Chapter 83
I froze. True but….
“She’s not-” my voice cracked, “-she’s not just something to be sent away.”
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His expression didn’t soften, but the weight of his words did. “She didn’t mind going. She chose it. She knows she’s useful, and she wants to stand where she matters. And Juliet went with her for support. If I didn’t need her for this assignment, I wouldn’t have sent her there.”
I shook
my head, hating the way my throat tightened, hating even more the way I believed him.
I didn’t want relief. I wanted to be furious.
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“You should have told me, you should have at least waited for me to wake up,” I whispered, staring at
the floorboards so I didn’t have to see the calm control in his face. “You should have let me decide.”
“You would’ve said no.”
“Of course I would’ve said no!”
“Exactly.” His tone was flat, brutal in its simplicity.
I stared at him, words caught in my throat. He didn’t even look guilty. Just certain.
“You think this is your right,” I whispered. “To move the pieces however you want, as if people are just… pawns.”
“They are pieces,” he said, leaning forward, his voice low enough to make my chest tighten. “Pieces on a board that I keep standing. Kath isn’t a pawn–I placed both of them there for a reason. I trust Juliet. I trust Kath. That should mean something to you.”
The name twisted in my chest, Juliet. Does Levi know about this too? Didn’t he refuse?
Alexander leaned back, arms folding. “Most importantly, you would have clung to them even though you’ve already proven you don’t need them. Why? Because Fiona is here now.”
My head snapped up, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
His eyes sharpened, the wolf in him flaring beneath the surface. “You handled Gaia. You handled Esmeralda. You even faced Terran on your own, without calling for me, without calling for anyone. Nobody even knew what you were going through during those times.”
I looked up sharply. “That’s different. Fiona is different. She’s manipulative, smart and sneaky.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s not. You’re stronger and smarter than you let yourself believe. You made everyone believe that….. thing was the Core Fang and you tricked a witch by giving false
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Chapter 83
relics. You fooled me too.”
I scoffed and almost smiled as I twiddled my fingers. But at the end of the day, he didn’t even appreciate what I did. Or apologise for what he did.
“Can Fiona do that? Take that risk?” he asked. “You freaking took a blood pack because of a scroll and a pendant. You fought a king, queen and a shapeshifter- did you forget that?”
He never spoke that way, not unless he meant it. It always made me feel… different. Happy? Proud.
His words were like a combination of praises and scolding. Like a compliment and an insult.
“You are not fragile,” he said, every word clipped. “You’ve survived every test thrown at you without waiting for someone to shield you. So don’t sit here and act as if their absence leaves you powerless. You are not powerless, Aquamarine. You never were.”
The silence that followed was heavy, filling the air like smoke.
But beneath the sting of his words, some part of me wanted to believe him. Wanted to believe I was strong enough, that I wasn’t just a girl clinging to scraps of safety.
“Stop twisting this,” I whispered. “You didn’t do it for me. You did it for you.”
He tilted his head and smiled the type of smile that stripped me raw. “Maybe. Or maybe I did it because I know what’s coming, and I’d rather you focus on your role as Luna. As a leader.”
A Leader. Me.
He leaned forward, one hand gripping my chin and tilting it up until I had no choice but to meet his
gaze.
“You don’t see yourself clearly yet, and sometimes it makes me want to just tie you up and squeeze your stupid head,” he said, with a sigh. “But you will. And when you do, you’ll stop looking at me like I’m your cage and enemy.”
I wanted to push him away. Instead I just sat there, watching his hand come up and brushing a strand of hair from my face. “You hate me for not telling you. Fine. You hate me for bringing Fiona here. Fine. But don’t think I’m not doing what’s best for you.”
I just stared at him as he carefully lifted me and laid me on the bed. “I still hate you for a lot of things and I can’t wait to leave you.”
His lips curved in the faintest, dangerous smile. “Whether you like it or not, I can’t wait to see you try.”
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