《The Ex-Luna's Return: No Longer His Doormat》全部章節：第 51 章 - 第 59 章

~ 51 ~ ~ Darian ~ "You went behind my back to talk to her?" The desk vibrated beneath the flat of my palm as I rose out of my seat. My Alpha aura flared, and the shadows in the corners of the study seemed to recoil. "I was summoned by seven withered Elders this morning to be told I was debasing the territory," I growled, my voice vibrating through the floorboards. "And you went to her campus alone to explain my hours? You made me look like an invalid who needs his Beta to run damage control!" Kade didn't drop his gaze. He took the brunt of my aura with clamped jaws, his boots braced, refusing to flinch. Desperation, humiliating and absolute, seized my throat. I dropped back into the leather chair, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "What happened, Kade? Word for word." Kade took a slow, measured breath. "I told her the truth—that you weren't ignoring the pack, that you were working every single night until dawn just to keep your days free to sit in her classes." "And?"

~ 53 ~~ Mia ~The small parcel sat on the table in the front hall for three days, untouched.Every time I walked past it on my way out, the sweet smell of roasted almonds and honey filled the air. The postcard was still tucked under the string, carrying Darian's handwriting. I didn't open the package, but I couldn't bring myself to throw it in the trash, either.Meanwhile, Nick did not stop.Every day at three-thirty, the moment his classes ended, he showed up outside the medical building.On Tuesday, he held out a bright red pressed maple leaf inside a clear plastic sleeve. "I found the prettiest one by the chapel steps, Dr. Quinn," he said softly, standing very straight in his school blazer. "I pressed it myself inside my history book.""I have no use for leaves, Nicholas," I replied, keeping my eyes forward and my voice flat.He lowered his hands, bowed his head politely, and called out, "Then I'll bring a better one tomorrow."On Wednesday, it was a pastry box tied with a ribbon.

~ 55 ~~ Darian ~I had driven straight through the night from the northern border inspection. The Council had refused to reschedule, forcing me to handle the territory dispute in person, but the second my phone buzzed with the alert from the university medical center, nothing else mattered.When I slammed open the double doors of the pediatric ward, my heart was hammering against my ribs in pure terror. But as I reached the doorway of the private room, I stopped dead in my tracks.Mia was there.She was standing near the foot of the bed, her dark trench coat wrinkled from spending the night in a hard hospital chair. On the bedside table sat a stack of completed charts, blood panel results, and IV logs—all filled out in her crisp, precise handwriting. Every piece of equipment in the room proved that she had been personally directing Nick’s medical care for the past twelve hours.She turned to face me, her face pale and completely blank."Alpha Darian," she said, her voice cool, profes

~ 57 ~~ Mia ~The next morning, Aron’s grandfather arrived at the university clinic. He was a silver-haired, weathered old wolf named Pierre, brought all the way from the Silverleaf pack in a private medical transport.Despite his weak body, Pierre held himself with quiet dignity. When Aron introduced us, the old man reached out and took my hand. His grip was light and trembling, but his deep gray eyes lingered on my face one beat too long. I attributed his long stare to the heavy pain he was clearly fighting through.We immediately took him to the diagnostic room and began a full series of advanced scans.Two hours later, the neural scans came through on the large lightboards in my private office. Aron stood beside me, holding her breath, while two resident doctors reviewed the files.The imaging confirmed the worst, but it also revealed something strange. A large, terminal-grade mass was pressed directly against the base of Pierre’s brain stem. In theory, a delicate surgery could r

~ 59 ~~ Mia ~An urgent call had come through to the delegation annex at eleven-thirty. A small clinic near the eastern border had received two young pack wolves suffering from acute neuro-toxin exposure, and Dr. Jonathan had requested my presence to oversee the plasma exchange. We had assembled a small medical convoy, two armored sedans and an ambulance — and set out under the quiet cover of night.The road was dark and empty, winding through the dense pine forests of the eastern ridge.I sat in the back of the lead sedan, watching the tall trees sweep past in the pale moonlight. Ten minutes after clearing the main highway, a set of bright headlights appeared in the rear glass.They didn't pass or fall behind. They held steady, maintaining a precise distance behind our tail.Inside my chest, Olga stirred, her nose twitching before my own eyes could decipher the vehicle.Storm and cedar.My stomach tightened. "Darian."Before the driver could react, the black SUV accelerated hard. It