All Chapters of The Luna's Final Year: Chapter 11 - Chapter 17

Former Luna Evelyn was waiting at the old estate with profiles of eligible she-wolves spread across the table."Choose a new Luna quickly," she told him. "Silverpine needs an heir."Adrian swept every file onto the floor."Elena is my only mate."His voice rattled the windows.Evelyn looked at him without a trace of sympathy. "You say that now because she's gone. While she was here, you let all of Ravenport believe she was unworthy of you. You used other people's cruelty to provoke her, then punished her when she fought back."The truth drained the color from his face."You drove her away yourself," Evelyn continued. "The eight years are over. She had the right to end it.""What right?"Evelyn ordered the complete contract brought in.He knew the first page by heart. The second destroyed everything he thought he knew.[After eight childless years, either party may terminate the marriage and Luna registration. If Elena Vale files, she forfeits all Blackwood property and compensation.]H

The final file contained coastal surveillance footage.A thin woman in a hospital coat walked toward the cliff while the wind nearly knocked her over.Adrian recognized me immediately.By the time he reached the coast, rescue teams had searched for two days. They found my shoes and hospital wristband, but no body.Half a honey-candy wrapper was caught between the rocks.Adrian knew it came from the candy beside my hospital bed. He knelt in the surf and searched until shells sliced his hands open. Rescuers dragged him to shore, and he ran into the water again.For the first time, the power of an Alpha meant nothing.Police said the currents made survival unlikely. Adrian refused the presumed-death ruling and used private aircraft, boats, and every pack contact he had from the western coast to the Pacific islands.He carried my expired access card, the bag of pill packages, and the note that told him he no longer needed to fear a child.In every city, he booked two rooms. One for himself

Three months into recovery, I turned down Julian's offer to join Cross Technologies and applied to an independent game studio instead.Before becoming Luna, I had won a national game-design award. After mating Adrian, I abandoned that career and spent my life managing his schedule, solving pack disputes, and making Silverpine run smoothly enough that nobody noticed how much work I did.When I sat in front of a development screen again, I could barely remember what it felt like to work for myself.During my first week, I made mistakes in basic code. Coworkers challenged my ideas in meetings and sent entire designs back for revision.Strangely, those ordinary failures made me feel safe.They criticized my work, not my bloodline, my mate status, or whether I deserved to be loved. For the first time, a mistake was only a mistake. It wasn't evidence someone could use to punish me.Julian never rushed my feelings.He brought soup when I worked late, remembered my therapy appointments, and st

Vivian lunged just as the side door crashed open.Julian and Adrian entered at almost the same moment.Julian had responded to my emergency alert from the front of the venue. Adrian had been outside, planning to deliver the final severance documents to my lawyer after the launch. He knew I didn't want to see him and never intended to come inside.The alarm sent both men running in the same direction.One was the future I had chosen.The other was the past finally learning to let go.Julian pulled me behind him. Adrian used Alpha speed to tackle Vivian and lock her wrist before she could trigger the explosive.Security rushed in to disarm the device.In the chaos, Vivian drew a short blade from her boot."You want to protect her so badly?" she screamed at Adrian. "Then die for her."The knife drove into his abdomen.He could have dodged. I stood directly behind him, and moving would have sent the blade toward my chest.He took it without hesitation.Blood spread across his shirt, and th