The Luna’s Choice Chapter 03
After ten years as mates, Julian had finally bothered to check in with me, but he did it through a disposable account, as if I were a hidden mistress.
The corner of my mouth twitched.
I did not reply.
A minute later, another text arrived.
[It’s Julian.]
I lowered my eyes and blocked the number.
I went back to the apartment my mother and I used to rent.
Then, another notification flared.
It was Julian.
[That number was mine. Why didn’t you answer?]
He had taken me off his blacklist.
Only then did I see that he had changed his profile picture.
It was the side profile of a girl.
She stood in front of a villa, smiling like a flower in sunlight.
That place was also where I had lived for eighteen years.
I blocked him again.
Then I curled up in my mother’s small bed andenjoyed a rare, peaceful sleep.
Early the next morning, a loud pounding on the door shattered my rest.
When I opened it, Julian stood there with a grim face.
He thrust a massive bouquet of flowers toward me.
“Why didn’t you answer my messages?”
“If you didn’t want to move, you could’ve just said so. There was no need to run away from home.”
After that, he held out the flowers as if he were granting me a favor.
I did not take them. I looked coldly into his eyes. “We’ve been together for ten years, and you still don’t know I’m allergic to pollen?”
For a second, he looked stunned.
Then his expression turned ugly.
Humiliated, he threw the flowers aside.
“Bella, that’s enough. I played around with a little actress. So what? It’s not like this is the first time. Do you really need to make such a big deal out of it?”
His eyes swept over my swollen belly, his voice dripping with disdain.
“Don’t tell me you thought getting pregnant meant you could control me.”
Then, ignoring my wishes, he dragged me into the car.
“Fine. If you don’t want to move, am I going to force you? Come home.”
I stayed silent and lowered my head to look at my phone.
Kaven had posted another story.
She sat inside a heart made of red roses, holding a property deed.
The caption read:
[I said I didn’t want someone else’s leftovers, so Alpha gave me a riverfront penthouse.]
[This silly Alpha knew I was allergic to pollen, so he spent half the night cutting the stamens out of nine hundred ninety-nine roses.]
A dull ache still pulsed through the mate bond.
I did not care much anymore, but the pup inside me seemed to be stirred by it. Restless kicks struck my abdomen relentlessly.
Julian scented my sudden agony and slowed the car. “What’s wrong?”
I panted, breath ragged. “My stomach hurts.”
Julian immediately turned the car around. “I’m taking you to the hospital.”
On the way, his phone rang.
A soft, tearful voice came through the line.
“Julian, cramps are killing me. It hurts so bad… can you come over?”
He slammed on the brakes.
The tires screeched sharply against the road.
The seat belt tightened across my belly, and the sudden pressure wrenched a cold sweat from my skin.
The next second, Julian unbuckled my seat belt.
His voice was urgent. “It’s not far now. Get an Uber yourself.”
Clutching my stomach, I gritted out, “Take me first. It won’t take long.”
Before I could finish, Julian had already pushed me out of the car.
He said impatiently, “Young girls can’t handle pain. Not like you…”
The car sped away, so close it nearly brushed my body. A gust of wind whistled past, drowning out whatever he said next.
With great effort, I pulled out my phone and called 911.
I had barely managed to give them my location before the pain knocked me unconscious.
When I woke again, it was already midnight.
The healer’s face was grave.
“If you’d arrived any later, we would’ve lost both you and the pup.”
“The pup is in the wrong position. We need to do a C-section. Where’s your family? We need someone to sign.”
I was about to call Julian.
Then he suddenly burst into the room.
I had rarely seen such urgency on his face.
He yanked me off the hospital bed, and the force of his Alpha command made it impossible for me to resist.
“I need your help with something.”
The IV needle was ripped out of my hand.
Blood sprayed out.
Julian did not notice.
I struggled through the pain, but Julian shoved me toward his warriors.
“You’ll ride in the other car. Kaven is in mine. She doesn’t like your scent.”
The cars tore down the road, passed the Blackwood packhouse, and stopped in unfamiliar pack territory.
When I was dragged into the building, everyone inside looked at me with thin, mocking smiles.
Then I lifted my head and met the dark, glowing red eyes of the man seated in the main chair.
My body shook instinctively.
My wolf paced wildly inside me.
“It’s him! Alpha Noah. That vicious gray wolf.”
Instinctively, I tried to hide behind Julian.
But he pushed me straight forward instead.
He gripped my arm and spoke in a voice only the two of us could hear.
“Kaven has a movie deal being held up by Alpha Noah. He specifically asked for you to keep him company.”
“Bella, land this deal for her, and I promise I’m done with outside distractions.”
The pain deep in the bond felt as if it would tear my soul apart.
My eyes burned.
I dug my nails into my palms, forcing down the emotions surging through me.
“Did you forget that he almost forced a mark on me back then?”
