The Human Luna's Goodbye의 모든 챕터: 챕터 131 - 챕터 140

Elara's POVOrion reached for me, confused, trying to pull me into a hug like this could all be undone with enough gentleness. "What's wrong with you, Elara? I'm not trying to blame you. You don't need to act like this, it's beneath you, isn't it? I only feel for you."His voice was thick with concern, even cracking slightly. Whatever was left of the old mate bond let me feel that he genuinely meant it, that underneath all of it he actually believed himself to be comforting me. That only made the shaking worse. Cold sweat soaked through my gown.My mind had stopped working entirely. Every rational thought burned away by pure animal fear. All that came out of me was screaming. "Get away. Get away. I never want to see you again... please... I just want to live."A tear dropped from his face onto my arm, and even that felt like an intrusion I couldn't escape. "I love you, Elara. You know that. Even for love's sake, you should be calm right now, shouldn't you

Orion's POVI left Golden Crown territory with nothing. No Elara. No answer. Just the sound of that door closing behind me, final in a way I hadn't braced myself for.She hadn't looked at me once after she woke. Not a glance. I'd sat at her bedside, held her hand, and she'd looked straight through me like I was furniture, like six years and a daughter and everything we'd built together had never happened at all. Samuel got her eyes. Samuel got her voice. I got silence and an order to leave.I drove without any real destination, just distance, mile after mile of it, until the White Moon border came up and I realized I'd been heading home the entire time out of pure instinct.Argent finally stirred. He didn't hold back."You did that to her," he said. "You walked into that room and started interrogating her before she'd even stopped bleeding. Answer me honestly, Orion. Was that pain necessary? Was that something she should have had to bear right afte

Elara's POVI understood exactly what Mia was afraid of. She was a smart, sensitive child, more perceptive than most adults I knew. She understood Samuel loved her genuinely. She also understood that neither of us could promise every single wolf at Golden Crown would accept a child with no blood tie to their pack at all.Samuel crouched down until he was level with her eyes, patient, unhurried. "Mia. Do you trust me?"She nodded."Then give me a chance," he said, steady. "Let me protect you. I'll prove you didn't trust the wrong person."She still hesitated. This time, even I couldn't quite name what was sitting behind her eyes. It wasn't distrust of Samuel. It wasn't uncertainty about what came next. It looked closer to longing, something wistful I hadn't expected to see on a face that young.I didn't let myself dwell on it too long. Mia was clever, sharper than most kids twice her age, but she was still five. She needed me to make the fina

Elara's POVSterling and Mia talked happily for a long while before he finally rose to leave, well past the point I'd expected him to say goodnight. At the door, he told her, "Today's our first meeting. I've decided you're my friend now."Mia nodded, serious about it. "You too. My friend. And my grandpa."He laughed. "Well then, starting tomorrow you're living here with me. Thirteen long years of us, more or less. Which means we'll actually spend more time together than you will with your mom and dad, since they'll be off working, and the job of looking after you belongs to me now."Mia's face fell slightly. "Mom, are you not going to take care of me anymore?"Before I could answer, Samuel jumped in. "Baby, Mom's always going to take care of you. But you're old enough for preschool now, and I thought maybe Sterling could handle drop-off, pickup, helping with your group projects, and cooking your meals. What do you think?"Mia's eyes lit up.

Elara's POVBreakfast wrapped up warm and easy, the whole table still laughing when we finally cleared the plates, and the three of us, Samuel, Sterling, and I, walked Mia to preschool together. Sterling made a point of pulling her teacher aside before we left."Take good care of her," he told the woman, whose nametag read Ms. Alvarez. "Not her feelings, I mean her body. Beyond keeping her healthy, I want you treating her exactly like any other student. Not my granddaughter."Ms. Alvarez smiled, kind and unhurried. "You can count on it, sir. Every child at Golden Crown gets treated the same. That was your rule to begin with, wasn't it?"Sterling nodded, satisfied, arms crossed with quiet approval. The entire time he spoke with her, he kept Mia's hand in his, checking her expression every few seconds, reading her comfort level like it mattered more than the conversation itself. It wasn't performance. It was real, and watching it settled something warm in m