All Chapters of In Search of Liberation: Luna In name Only: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Michelle rose from her living room sofa as the distant purr of an engine broke the silence. The sound was unmistakable, Alpha Patrick’s car crunching across the gravel driveway. Her heart stuttered. She glanced at the clock on the wall; the hands pointed to three fifteen. He wasn’t supposed to be home yet.“What is he doing back early?” she muttered under her breath, her stomach twisting.A nervous chill crept through her even though the air conditioning hummed softly in the corner. She hated that she reacted this way to his presence. Every time she heard that car, her mind raced, her pulse quickened, and her body stiffened as though anticipating a blow.She adjusted the hem of her faded house dress and forced herself to stand still. She tried to gather her composure, though the tension building in her chest felt suffocating.The front door opened with a sharp creak. Alpha Patrick stepped inside, his tall frame filling the doorway. The expression on his face told her everything she ne

The moment she was out of the house, she began to walk, fast, her heels clicking against the pavement, her vision blurring with tears she could no longer hold back. Each step felt like an act of defiance. Each breath, a tiny rebellion.It was unfair, all of it. The laws that bound her. The traditions that said women couldn’t lead. The system that gave power only to men with dominance in their veins and cruelty in their hearts.She would have made a fine Alpha. Everyone knew it, even Patrick. Especially Patrick. That was why he hated her so much. Not because she was weak, but because she wasn’t.She’d grown up here, in these streets, among these people, in this land her father had built with sweat and blood. The forest behind the Range Pack’s territory still held her childhood laughter in its leaves. But now she walked those same paths as a stranger, a shadow.Her people looked at her and saw only the Luna. The alpha’s woman. The silent figure who never smiled, never waved, never s

The rest of the day unfolded like the slow crawl of dusk, quiet on the outside, simmering underneath.Patrick and Jason remained shut away in his office for most of the afternoon, their muffled voices seeping beneath the door, the cadence of command and strategy rising and falling like a dull heartbeat through the walls. For Michelle, that isolation was its own small mercy. She stayed in the kitchen, cleaning what didn’t need cleaning, folding napkins, wiping the same counter three times over. Every scrape of a chair or soft laugh from the office made her shoulders tighten, but as long as they remained preoccupied, she had peace. Still, peace was temporary in this house. It was always temporary.By the time the clock struck six, the sun had dipped behind the tree line, leaving streaks of orange light slanting through the living-room windows. Michelle had just finished loading the dishwasher when she heard the front gate creak open. Her stomach sank. The distinct rhythm of heels on

Rebecca took her bags into the master bedroom, humming softly to herself as her heels clicked against the marble floor. Michelle watched her disappear down the hallway, her expression carefully blank, though a part of her trembled inside. The scent of Rebecca’s perfume, expensive and sharp, lingered in the air long after she was gone. The house felt smaller somehow, its walls closing in with every second of her presence.Michelle turned away, weary and hollow. The tension in the living room was suffocating; Patrick and Jason were still seated, drinks half-finished, a muted sports channel flickering on the TV that no one was watching. “I’m going to bed,” Michelle said quietly, her voice level but drained.Patrick’s head lifted from where he reclined, his eyes narrowing. “Where are you off to?” “To bed,” she repeated, already heading toward the guestroom. “You sleep with us in the master’s tonight,” he said suddenly.Michelle stopped mid-step. For a heartbeat, she thought she h

The night still clung to the sky when Jason left the Alpha’s mansion. The air was cool, quiet, and heavy with fatigue. He rubbed his eyes as he walked toward his car, the exhaustion settling deep in his bones. They had stayed up far too late finalizing details for the summit, Patrick talking endlessly, Jason nodding along, his mind miles away.He couldn’t shake the image of Michelle’s face when Patrick had humiliated her. The way she’d stood her ground, trembling but unbroken. It haunted him more than he cared to admit.He got into his car, exhaled, and started the engine. The road ahead was empty, a dark ribbon stretching through the forest, illuminated only by the pale headlights.He shouldn’t have driven in that state. His eyelids felt heavy, each blink slower than the last. But he wanted to get home, to get away from Patrick’s voice still echoing in his skull.Somewhere along the stretch of winding road between the pack mansion and the Beta’s quarters, fatigue won. His grip loosen