Page 112 of King Luna

To my surprise, Noah fawns for me. But when I realize it’s from a trauma state, I whine.

“My sweet mate...” I cup my hand over his scent gland, protecting it for him. My every heartbeat releases a wave of soothing scent until Noah’s eyelids flutter. “Good job, sweetheart. I’m right here.”

I surround Noah with my whole body beneath the covers, cuddling his head into my chest. Thankfully, he snuggles in.

“I-it’s still happening,” he whispers.

“Okay. Then tell me anything you see, and I’ll be there with you this time. Imagine me helping you through it.”

He whines like I’ve never heard him, alighting my nerves with his fear. “I don’t want you to have to hear it.”

“Because you don’t want me to know?”

“N-no. Because I don’t want it to hurt you too.”

Immersing my fingertips into his hair, I press his forehead to mine. “It’s my choice to listen, and I want to know what you’ve been through, like you’ve been there for me. Let me hear you, love. Just me. Let my Alpha hold your Omega through it.”

A piece of our bond tightens, drawing our wolves closer. Our connection strengthens by the second as we breathe together through Noah’s pain—until his raw whisper breaks the silence.

“He’d praise my Alpha... And he hates Omegas.”

My stomach drops. Noah just said “hates.” Present-tense. Does he still know this man?

“But I couldn’t hide my Omega around him. He was ma-ad he had to train me to be the next potential top Alpha when I wasn't a pure A-Alpha. He w-wanted to prove he was dominant over me, but I was a scrawny kid. It was obvious enough already.” Noah’s voice strains, soft and pleading. “It was obvious enough already.”

My wolf nuzzles Noah all over, my face buried in his hair as I stroke my mark on his neck.

He's shaking so hard. He must be a really little kid in his flashback. It's killing me.

I swallow the lump in my throat. “Good job, sweet Omega. Keep going.”

Shit, that slipped out before I could think it through. I've never called Noah an Omega as a pet name before.

Noah’s breath tenses, and I fall still.

Oh, no. Maybe I did say the wrong thing.

But Noah breaks into gut-twisting tears, his pained cry tearing at my soul as he nuzzles closer. “I didn’t know what the Alpha-domination stuff was. I thought he was telling me the truth about how the world worked. That Omegas are weak and owe everything to Alphas. Subservience, children... Sex.”

This strikes my heart deep. I squeeze my eyes shut, cuddling Noah even closer. That sounds just like what Steven thought about women. What he used as his reason to assault me.

“I’ve got you, gorgeous, and I hear you. You’re doing so well. Follow the rest of the flashback through.”

“I-it... It changed over time. He switched from verbal to physical, and I couldn’t fight him. I was too scared. Too Omega. Then he—”

Noah shakes his head, hiding from the rest of his story as he groans into my sternum.

“You’re okay. I’ve got you right here,” I say.

“Then it got s-sexual.”

Noah's gutted cry makes me sob with him. All I can do is stroke his hair, riding the waves of his anxiety as his side of our bond burns in pain.

“He said, if I’m r-really an Alpha, I’d fight him back. But I fawned. It's so embarrassing, Luna.”

My blood boils to unhealthy levels. Shielding Noah in a hug, I breathe through it with him, stroking his wet cheek. “My sweet Omega... I didn’t know how much you really understood me. I fawned too, love. It's not your fault,at all.He was an adult. We're all taught to submit to adults, but especially as Lycans who are taught to submit toAlphaadults, and I'm sure he fucking knew it. He knew exactly what he was doing, and you didn’t.”

All Noah does is whimper.

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