Page 131 of King Luna

I flip between rage, grief, and terror all at once.

Then I finally settle on the same sense of doom I’ve felt all day.

“He’s not lying.” The words sting like acid coming out, forcing me to grip a fistful of my skirt. I suck in a desperate breath. “He’s terrible, but not that terrible. He thinks he's a good person—by his standards.”

Noah bites the inside of his cheek, struggling to keep his breath in check. He breaks our stare, lifting his head toward the ceiling with one hand on his forehead. As he frantically paces, I grip the bed sheets, barely able to tether myself to the earth.

“No matter what, he’s fucking with you. What asshole would drop that on a grieving person?” Noah stops dead in his tracks. “And without any details! What’s the drunk fucker’s name? Steven said the dude was old, but that’s it? What a fucking dick.”

My stomach sinks lower when I realize exactly why Steven did it this way.

“It's because he wants me to reach back out,” I mutter.

A sudden calm falls over Noah as he freezes in place, but the way he’s gazing at me unsettles me. Like he has an idea—one I’ll hate.

My skin crawls. “W-what? What are you thinking?”

Noah flashes his incisors—halfway between a grimace and a snarl. “I’ll call him with your account!”

“What?!”

“And with access to his new account, I can finally track him. He probably doesn’t know his photos can be traced.” Noah reverts to mindlink.Dave, this is an urgent lead about Steven Barrett; track the username "stbarrett92" and get back to our Luna and I as soon as possible, please.

On it,Dave says.

I choke out a gasp. “Noah! Finding Steven isn’t important right now.”

“Yes, it is! For all we know, he’s the fucker who killed them! He already hurt you!” Noah growls. “And why is he forcing his way back into your lifenow?Attempting to weaken you today, out of all days? What if he’s here, acting as a spectator wolf with a fake-ass name or something?”

I groan as I curl over my burning chest, unable to bear sitting upright. Noah rushes to my side, smoothing my hair out of my face.

He softens his voice. “I don’t have to call him now. But if I do, I can record everything he says, then I can tell him to leave you alone.”

I sigh. “He won’t talk to you. He’ll only talk to me.”

“Fuck. Well, then calling isn't an option.”

I blink a few times, adding up the pieces. “No, you’re right. I should call him. Ineedto—”

“Shit, no—” Noah groans, but I reach for my phone. “No, I shouldn’t have put that idea in your head—”

“My love, please, just listen for a second.”

Noah freezes, fear creasing his forehead.

“You’re right. But I know him best, and thanks to how much he manipulated things, I know exactly how to twist our conversations back to safety, like my life depends on it.”

As expected, Noah’s frown darkens. “Because it did.”

Placing my hand over his taut forearm, I soften my voice. “Here’s what I need.”

Noah swallows hard, his wolf pausing in his pacing in our bond. He stands, enraptured with me, just like Noah’s human eyes staring deep into mine.

I can’t bear to hold his gaze; if I look too closely, I’ll see too much of our shared pain.

Rolling my shoulders back, I steady my voice. “I need you to sit with me, and I’ll call him. You can’t say anything or he’ll stop talking—trust me.”

“Then can you at least use me as a threat?”

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