The Name I Should Have Called Chapter 09
Sloan stormed in, her heels clicking rapidly of the stone.
Her crimson dress swayed with each step, and her face was twisted with rage.
“You’re just an omega from some backwater territory. Do you really think your can be Luna?”
She raised her hand to strike me. Darian caught her wrist in midair.
He pushed her back and stepped between us.
“Miss Sloan. Do you really want to start a fight with my pack?”
Sloan stumbled backward, then spun on Kieran.
He was already on his feet.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded.
“I came to find you! You ran off like a madman, and I was worried.”
*
“You lied.” Kieran’s voice shook slightly. “You said Elena was waiting for me in the capital. You said she left
alone.”
“You’ve been lying this whole time. And that night. What did you put in the honey wine?”
Sloan’s face went pale.
But then she lifted her chin, a cold smile curling her lips.
“So what if I lied? You think I actually wanted you? My father sent me to take over your family’s pasture. If it weren’t for those thousands of cattle, I wouldn’t have given you a second look.”
Her voice rose as she pointed at him, her eyes finally reddening.
“But you. Every word out of your mouth was Elena. I followed you for two weeks, and you
at me.”
She finally burst into tears, dark streaks of eyeliner running down her cheeks.
Kieran looked at her for a long time.
Then he spoke, his voice low, but it brought the entire garden to a dead silence.
“You’re nothing but a bastard. So what do you have to be so proud of?”
Sloan’s sobs cut off abruptly.
never even looked
She stared at him as if neing a stranger.
Then she turned and ran, disappearing through the gate.
Kieran stood there and looked at me one last time.
It was a long, deep look, as if he was putting all the goodbyes of a lifetime inte it. He picked up the cloak, brushed off the dust, and draped it over a nearby chair.
“For you. In your size. Keep it or not. It’s up to you.”
Then he turned and walked away. The gate clanged shut behind him.
The officiant cleared his throat. “Alpha, shall we continue?”
Darian turned to me. “Continue.”
I reached out my hand and placed it in his palm.
The string music started again. We walked a few more steps, to the end of the red carpet.
Grandmother sobbed into her hands. Darian’s mother smiled so wide it looked like her face might split.
The winter sun in the north was especially soft, like a mother’s hand stroking her child’s hair.
Mother, this time, I was lucky.
