The Luna’s Choice Chapter 04
Julian remained utterly indifferent. “It’s not like he actually succeeded back then.”
With that, he shoved me straight into Noah’s arms.
Noah’s large hand closed around my waist, and he pulled me down onto his lap.
Julian did not even lift his eyes.
He walked right back to the couch where Kaven was sitting and settled beside her, close to the armrest.
Noah’s gaze crawled over me, aggressive and hungry. Even the pup inside me sensed the danger and began kicking anxiously again.
He casually picked up a glass of champagne and pressed it to my lips. “Since you’re already here, have a drink.”
I turned my face away. “I can’t.”
Just as I struggled to stand, Julian sent a warning through the mind-link.
His Alpha pressure slammed into my mind, forcing a low whimper out of my wolf.
“Well, if Bella doesn’t want to help me, I guess I’ll do it myself.”
Kaven stood , swirling her champagne flute as she put on her usual helpless act.
Julian immediately took the glass from her. “No. You’re too young to drink.”
Then his cold gaze landed on me. “I asked the pack healer. Before birth, you can eat and drink almost anything. It’s just one glass. Stop making excuses.”
In that instant, the face that had once made my heart race countless times suddenly became hideous to me.
The year I mated with him, I had been just as young as Kaven.
For the pack’s growth, and sometimes just to smooth over his scandals, I drank until my body broke down.
He had never shown me that same tenderness.
While I stood there in a daze, Noah had already shoved the bottle against my mouth and forced me to drink gulp after gulp.
And Julian kept his attention on Kaven the entire time, hand-feeding her delicacies.
Every instinct in my wolf wanted to fight.
Finally,
I caught Noah’s hand as it tried to slide somewhere it should never have touched, I let my claws flash out and slapped him across the face with all my strength.
The room fell dead silent.
Noah pressed his tongue against his cheek and stared coldly at me as I stood firmly on the floor.
He let out a soft laugh. “It seems Miss Voss has rejected this partnership.”
Kaven gasped. “No, Julian. If I lose this opportunity, I’ll be a joke in the entire werewolf acting circle!”
“Bella,” Julian ordered expressionlessly, “apologize to Alpha Noah.”
Without looking sideways, I walked away from the main seat and headed for the packhouse door.
Julian only lifted one hand.
The warriors he had brought immediately grabbed me from both sides.
I bared my teeth and roared, “Let me go!”
Julian commanded coldly, “Have the Luna get down on her knees and beg.”
I looked at Julian with the last shred of hope I had left.
“Julian, I’m carrying your pup. Please let me go.”
Maybe he saw the grief in my eyes, because for a moment, he forgot to react.
I broke free from the warriors and walked toward the door step by step. At some point, blood had stained my legs red.
But just as I opened the door, Kaven suddenly poured a mouthful of wine down her own throat and started coughing violently.
“Alpha Noah, please don’t be angry. I’ll drink with you.”
Julian furiously snatched the glass away from her. “I said no drinking!”
Behind me, his voice turned ice-cold.
“Stop. Who said you could leave?”
He took out my mother’s moonstone necklace and opened his palm in front of me.
“Get Kaven this role. Otherwise…”
That moonstone was the last thing my mother had left me before she died.
I stared at him with empty eyes and let out a hollow, broken laugh.
Then forcing my stiff back into a posture of absolute submission, I forced the words past my lips. “I’m sorry, Alpha Noah. I was out of line. Please be generous and let this go. Give Kaven the role she wants.”
Noah came over and poured an entire bottle of red wine over my head.
I did not even blink.
He gripped my chin. “Whether she gets what she wants depends entirely on how well you behave.”
I could see the naked possession and predatory hunger in his eyes.
I turned my head and looked at Julian, who was still holding Kaven as if she were the most precious thing in the world.
Without hesitation, I slipped the Moon Goddess ring from the finger where it had sat for ten years.
The ring hit the floor with a sharp clatter and rolled all the way to Julian’s feet.
The pressure around him suddenly turned colder.
Calmly, I said, “I, Bella Voss, reject Alpha Julian Blackwood of the Blackwood Pack as my mate. I am no longer his Luna.”
Julian’s pupils trembled.
But under Kaven’s urging voice, his lips parted.
“I, Julian Blackwood, Alpha of the Blackwood Pack, reject you, Bella Voss, as my mate. You are no longer my Luna.”
The moment the rejection took effect, pain slammed through me as if my entire body were being torn in half.
Julian felt the same agony.
He collapsed into Kaven’s arms, while I, weakened by the severing of the mate bond, was lifted by Alpha Noah.
No one stopped him as he carried me all the way to his Alpha suite.
He threw me onto the bed, and the next second, his weight pressed down over me.
His mouth brushed my ear, his laugh low and satisfied.
“Smart girl. You knew to reject your mate first, so I wouldn’t have to take a woman who belonged to another Alpha. You little bitch. If Alpha Julian hadn’t protected you back then, you would’ve been mine years ago.”
“Now that he’s tired of you, aren’t you still going to end up belonging to me?”
Just as my wolf and I used the last of our strength to shove Noah away, the sickening sound of snapping bones echoed. Noah choked out a bloody gasp, his heavy body going limp right on top of me.
The person who had arrived threw Noah aside like a rag and pulled me into his arms.
“I’m sorry. I’m late.”
…
The next day, someone kicked open the door to Julian’s hotel room.
Margaret walked in with a baby in her arms, her face dark with rage.
She slapped Julian across the face several times.
Julian, jolted awake, was about to lose his temper. When he saw it was Margaret, he frowned helplessly. “Mom, what’s going on?”
Margaret pushed the tiny, bruised, lifeless baby into his arms. “Before the cremation, take a look at your child.”
Beside him, Kaven screamed at the sight.
Julian stared blankly at the baby. As if something had finally occurred to him, nameless panic swept over his heart.
At that moment, the once-exiled Alpha heir of the Blackwood Pack returned in force as the Alpha King.
He publicly declared his intention to absorb the Blackwood Pack and announced that he would soon complete the mating ceremony with his mate.
When Julian saw the familiar name on the pack announcement, his eyes nearly split with rage.
He rushed out almost instantly.
