Luna's POVShe gives me what looks like a hearty smile, but as I study her expression more carefully, I can tell something is off. I can't tell if she's faking her happy expression or if she's just uncomfortable seeing Cassie, who is standing beside me looking evidently angry about what just happened in the ice cream shop."Luna," Lily says, her voice warm but with an undertone I can't quite place. "How have you been? I heard about what happened at practice.""I'm doing much better now, thank you," I reply, trying to gauge her mood. "What about you? What brings you here?"Lily's expression shifts slightly, and there's something almost predatory in her eyes now. "Oh, I was just keeping an eye out for a snake," she says casually, but the way she says the word 'snake' makes my skin crawl.I wait for her to explain what she means, but she doesn't go into any detail. Instead, she just stands there looking at me with that savage look on her face. The way she's staring at me, combined with h
Luna's POV"Just ignore them," I whisper to Cassie, hoping we can avoid any confrontation.But Maya isn't done. She walks closer to our table, her teammates following behind her like a pack of wolves. "I heard you've been having some trouble lately, Luna. Getting yourself hurt and causing problems for everyone around you.""We're not looking for any trouble," I say quietly, trying to keep my voice steady.Sarah steps forward, gripping her hockey stick tighter. "You should have thought about that before you betrayed your team and joined the rival.""She didn't betray anyone! She had every right to switch teams!" Cassie yells."Oh, the little guard dog wants to bark," Maya laughs, and her teammates join in. "How sweet that you have someone to fight your battles for you, Luna."I can see this situation is escalating quickly, and memories of what happened at the field start flooding back. The fight between Cassie and Jack, the way everything spiraled out of control, the blood on the groun
Luna's POVI glance at Cassie, who's still staring at the picture with fascination. I can't tell them the real reason. I can't explain about the mysterious letter, or about Alex's warnings about Coach Margret, or about my desperate need to understand what happened to my parents."I… I don't know," I lie. "I just acted without thinking."The security guard studies my face for a long moment. I can tell he doesn't completely believe me, but after a while, he sighs."Look, I could report this to the library administration," he says. "But I can see you're genuinely sorry. I'm going to let this slide this one time, but only because I brought you to this private corner so we wouldn't cause a scene in front of all the other students."Relief floods through me so powerfully that I almost start crying. "Thank you so much. I promise it won't happen again.""It better not," he says sternly. "If I catch you taking anything else from the library, I won't be so understanding next time."I nod quickl
Luna's POVI stare at the picture in my hands, feeling surprised for a moment. But then I remember that Rachel was a hockey player, and Coach Margret was also one back in his day. That gives a reasonable explanation for why they're in the picture together—they probably played hockey around the same time or knew each other through the sport.The only person I don't recognize is the man in the picture. There's a name written on the back that says "David," but I have no idea who he is. I don't want to dwell on it too much though. It's probably just another hockey player from their time. But he's kind of handsome and has features I have dreamed of in a father while growing up as an orphan.I'm about to put the picture back where I found it and return to Cassie when something about it calls me back. I can't explain what it is, but something feels important about this picture.I glance around the library to make sure no one is watching me. Most people are sitting at their tables reading qui
Luna's POVI still can't believe what's happening in my life right now. Everything feels like it's spinning out of control, and I can't make sense of any of it.I keep remembering what Alex told me yesterday, playing his words over and over in my mind. "If you truly want to stay alive, you should beware of Coach Margret." The way he said it, with such seriousness and fear in his voice, didn't sound like he was joking or trying to scare me for no reason.But nothing about this situation makes sense to me. Coach Margret was the one who originally told me that if I joined the Timberwolves team, he would tell me about my parents' deaths. He was the one who made that promise in the first place. So why would Alex warn me to stay away from him?I wonder if Coach Margret lured me to the team without actually having any intention of telling me about my parents. Maybe he was just using that promise to get me to join. But then again, maybe Alex is the one who's lying to me for reasons I don't un
Chapter 71Meet up. Alex’s POVI look at Luna standing there in front of me, her face flushed with anger and confusion. I can see she’s frustrated that I won’t let her confront Coach Margret about her parents, but she doesn’t understand the danger she’s putting herself in.“So?” “So,” I say, keeping my voice as calm as possible. “If you truly want to stay alive, you need to beware of Coach Margret.”Her eyes widen at my words, but I don’t give her a chance to respond. I turn around and start walking away, heading back toward the field where we left the rest of the team.“Alex, wait!” Luna calls after me. “What do you mean by that? You can’t just say something like that and walk away!”But I keep walking. I’ve already said too much, and I can’t risk saying anything else right now. Not here, where anyone could be listening. I hear her footsteps behind me as she tries to follow, but I don’t slow down.“Alex, please! I don’t understand what’s happening!” she continues calling, but I for