The Alpha's Forgotten Luna의 모든 챕터: 챕터 21 - 챕터 30

I had not given him a chance. Not truly.Tonight had been courtesy. A shared meal. Civil conversation. A father trying carefully to exist in the space of his children. That was all. It was not forgiveness. It was not reconciliation. And it certainly was not the reopening of something I had sealed shut with deliberate force.To give him a real chance meant touching the parts of me that had survived things I do not speak about.And I am not ready.“With Vineclaw negotiations, with you coming here….” I had told him quietly at the gate, “I was only being courteous, Cassius. You are here as an Alpha. I hope you find your purpose here.”“So this wasn’t even a chance?” he had asked.

My nerves were buzzing with an excitement I hadn’t felt in years.Sienna was finally coming to my residence. Not the packhouse. My residence. After three long years.Ever since she had found a small house to rent and earned her seat at the council through sheer competence, she had fought hard to stand on her own. She wanted independence. For herself. For Kane and Selena. She never wanted to feel like she owed anyone shelter or stability ever again.And after what she had gone through before arriving here, I never denied her that. I couldn’t even deny her anything. But tonight, she agreed to come over. That alone felt significant. Sienna was the ray of sunshine that walked into my dark life without even knowing it. Before she came here, I had been Alpha in title and function — steady, efficient, controlled. I led well. I negotiated well. But the darkness that engulfed my life, no one could ever save me from drawing in that. Until her.She healed something in me without trying to.Watch

She stood in my arms, sobbing for hurting me. My heart wept with her. Partially for her. Partially for myself.She was right. I am in for heartbreak when she leaves. I think I knew that the day I let myself fall. Yes.There it is. For years I told myself this wasn’t love. That it was companionship. That it was a shared trauma. That it was two adults finding comfort in each other’s steadiness. I told myself I was simply being protective.Cordial.Responsible.But if it were any of those things, my chest would not feel like it is being carved open at the thought of her leaving. If it were anything less than love, I would not feel this quiet panic at the word &ldquo

Vineclaw had finally caught up to my neck. Overthinking and Vineclaw.Those were the two things strangling me for the past week. Ever since that dinner in her backyard — the four of us sitting on that mat, Kane laughing with sauce on his face, Selena’s sweet voice— I hadn’t found another moment with her. Not a glimpse. Not a passing conversation outside council chambers.Every day I told myself I would focus on negotiations and get done with it. Every day I fail.Vineclaw was not a simple dispute. It wasn’t just about territory or pride. It was about a medicine that either killed or breathed life. It was a blessing and a curse. It was a weapon and a shield in disguise.Then there was the transport. It couldn't be carried by wolves. Toppling

I kept thinking about what she wanted to tell me in person. Her voice last night had shifted when I asked her what it was. It wasn’t distant or cold, but it carried weight. For a moment I wondered if she was going to tell me that she doesn’t love me the way I love her. I don’t think that is it. I know the way she looks at me when she forgets to guard herself. I know she feels something. But I also know she is afraid. And honestly, if I were in her place, I might be too. To start over again, to trust someone with your stability, to risk losing everything you rebuilt from nothing — that would shake anyone. I have never been uprooted the way she has, but even imagining it makes me uneasy. The fact that she survived that and still stands steady is proof of her strength.Today was not about fear. Today was the first of the two days I had asked for. The first day of loving her openly, without bargaining, without expectation. I wasn’t asking her to choose me. I just wanted to show her what c