Page 113 of King Luna

And my wolf takes over. “I’m going to protect you for as long as I live. Is he in our pack? Is he here, at the Summit?”

“N-no. My dad almost killed him before kicking him out. I’m so afraid he’ll come back. That I’ll freeze again, and I won’t be able to protect our pack.”

“Whether you freeze or not, it doesn’t matter. I’ll fight him for you. He’s never coming near you again.” My voice shakes with rage, but thankfully, Noah isn’t afraid. He burrows against my scent gland, dousing himself in my protective musk.

“L-Luna...”

“Who is he, love? Are you comfortable with telling me? I want to protect you.”

Noah swallows hard, burying his face from me until his voice is muffled against my shoulder. “You know w-who he is. The whole pack does. Older wolves that remember think I just couldn’t handle m-my training. Some think he only hurt the other Omegas, and I was too weak of an Alpha to protect them.”

My gut fills with too many emotions to bear, washing waves of nausea over me. “You’re not talking about Mason, are you?”

“No. Mason is a year older than me and wasn't in my year’s training.” Noah’s breath rattles as he readjusts his grip on my back. “I’m talking about Mason’s dad. Jack Hart.”

Chapter 25

Jack fucking Hart.

Thoughts flicker past my mind a mile a minute, instance after instance of Jack’s name piling up. This explains so much. Why the Elders acted odd about Noah’s anger around Jack and Mason. Why Lilian was so scared when Mason stalked us. Why a man finally faced a consequence for abuse—Alpha Ritchie kicking Jack out to protect his son.

But most of all...

I jerk upright. “Jack has aserioushomicide motive, Noah!”

He holds his breath.

“This is the clearest proof we’ve ever had. He could’ve killed your dad! Our dads.”

My body burns with the thought, so Noah’s resulting silence stings.

But when he bursts from the covers to face me in the light, he’s dark red and grimacing like I’ve never seen him—a picture of fury.

“Jack is too proud for that! He’d challenge my dad face to face like a ‘real’ fucking Alpha.”

I’m so shocked by Noah's fierce tone that I can’t speak. Not only his tone, but how ridiculous it was of me to think this was appropriate to blurt out. What was I thinking?

Noah’s chest flexes, his rib cage stiffening in distrust. “I know because that’s what he used on me. Do you not believe me either?”

“What? I’m on your side! Of course I believe you.” As tears prick my eyes, Noah’s face falls blank.

He jumps off the bed, his breath coming out in short bursts as he staggers away from me. “Ugh, I’m such an asshole. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I’m so fucking sorry.”

I swipe my tears away, wishing we could go back in time to our cuddle ball. “I don’t like being yelled at, but no, I really screwed up, just now. I shouldn’t have said something so drastic, especially not throwing that on your plate while your PTSD symptoms are heightened. Our dads are an incredibly sensitive topic too, so I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. It makes sense you’d be mad, and you should be. I’m so, so sorry.”

“No, I don’t care if it’s a symptom. I shouldn't yell. I just broke my fucking pact with myself to never do that to my mate, and I—”

Noah groans, scrubbing his face hard until he meets my eyes with a bright red face—his swollen eyes overflowing with hot tears.

His voice crackles. “I just don’t want to be this way anymore, Luna.”

My heart breaks, pushing a sob from me. “My love, it’s just PTSD making you agitated. It’s not you.”

Gripping his hair, Noah squeezes his eyes shut tight. “I don’t want to have PTSD! I don’t want to have to tell anyone what happened. I don’t want to think about him... I don’t want to...”

Noah rubs the base of his palms into his eyes for a while. When he finally stops, the exhaustion digging beneath his eyelids ages him.

His stare drops to my arms wrapped tight around my stomach. “You look scared. Did I hurt our pup? Did I hurt you?”

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