All Chapters of The Human Luna's Goodbye: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Elara's POVThe sharp pain in my jaw jolted me back to reality before the daydream could pull me any deeper.His grip was inhuman. I could feel the bone threatening to buckle under fingers that didn't understand the concept of "too much" for a human frame. A broken sound escaped my throat, and hot tears pricked the corners of my eyes.Orion flinched. He released me instantly, dropping his head as his jaw tightened with something that looked a lot like self-reproach."I'm sorry. I forget sometimes—the difference in strength."As he spoke, he braced both hands against the tempered-glass counter. The glass splintered under his palms like it was nothing.That was the first time I truly understood the sheer violence of werewolf strength. It was the first time I felt genuinely, hopelessly small.I reached out, wanting to touch his face—to offer some comfort for the anguish written in every line of his body. Something deep inside me needed to soothe him. But I pulled back. Shy. Ashamed of the

Elara's POVI stood in the entryway of the Alpha Mansion and took one long look around.Five years. And all it had left me with was this crushing weight on my chest.Today was the day I got my daughter out of here.After breakfast, I packed what I needed and left Mia with Grace—one of the house staff I actually trusted—then drove into the city to see a property agent.By noon, I had signed a lease on a furnished apartment in the heart of Newland, three kilometers from the Memorial Hospital. Walking distance on a good day, easy access on a bad one.That afternoon, Mia and I moved in.We spent the night settling in. The next morning, I took the full five million dollars and drove back to Dr. Landon.The apartment had cost eight hundred thousand, and that had come from my own savings—money that had nothing to do with Orion. The remaining balance was everything Victoria had advanced me.I told Dr. Landon I'd pay whatever it took to get that match back. I told him if the hospital redirected

Elara's POVFor the first time in five years, I arrived at the White Moon Estate not as the help, but as a guest.I wore a black Dior dress. For Mia, I put her in the Elsa gown she never got tired of.We stood in front of the full-length mirror together, and I looked at her—round cheeks, pale gold hair—and thought she was a thousand times lovelier than any fairy-tale princess.Margaret had called it a themed cocktail event. I wanted Mia to feel comfortable enough to play with the other children.As for me—the designer dress was my last courtesy to Margaret. The final gesture. After today, I was done dressing for her approval.Celeste was there. I hadn't expected that.Wasn't her daughter supposed to be dangerously ill? Funny how that maternal devotion had a convenient off switch.I walked Mia through the entrance and into the main hall.The most prominent couch was already occupied—a dozen or so ladies from the smaller packs were clustered around Margaret and Veronica, competing for at

Elara's POVI don't remember walking to Lily's room.I only remember pushing the door open.Orion was standing by the window. Margaret sat on the edge of the bed, Lily's hand in both of hers. Veronica was dabbing at Celeste's eyes.Warm. Tender. A picture-perfect family portrait.The room went white for a second. I swayed on my feet.Orion looked up and registered my face, surprised."What are you doing here?"There it was again—that note of irritation, pulled straight from a script he'd been running on autopilot. "How many times have I told you to stop following me?"I turned my head slowly and let my gaze settle on him. All of him. That face I had loved through everything.Why did he look like a stranger to me now?My hand found the water glass on the nightstand without thinking. I only registered the sound: a clean, sharp crack as it hit the floor near his feet, water spreading across the tile.Every head in the room turned to me."The marrow." My voice surprised me. Steady. Comple

Orion's POVInside me, Ares stirred. Not the low, restless stirring I was used to—this was something louder, something with teeth in it. A sound that wasn't quite a growl and wasn't quite grief but lived somewhere between the two."She is not coming back," he said. "You have broken her. That is what a broken mate looks like, Orion—not tears, not shouting. That is it. That empty face she wore when she handed you those papers. That was it.""You don't know that," I said."I do." He was brutal about it, the way he always was when he had run out of patience for my certainty. "I have always known. You are the one who chose not to see it."I sat in the quiet of Mia's room and tried to locate something to hold onto."I didn't know the marrow belonged to Mia," I said, out loud, because the accusation had been sitting in my chest since Elara first said it and I needed to hear my own defense."Raymond told me a donor had been identified for another child. That was all he said. He didn't tell me