Page 133 of King Luna

Another ring.

Noah huffs. “You don’t look okay. But I can’t feel you. Did you shut yourself out of our bond from how afraid you feel?”

I glance at Noah. The call is already on its third ring.

“No. I can’t feel anything. At all,” I say.

Noah’s eyes widen.

His rubbing on my arms doesn’t even register, but it's rapid enough to catch my stare. Noah takes a breath to speak, right when Steven picks up.

“Hello?”

His voice is so familiar that I sit frozen in place—my mouth agape.

I’m tempted to fool my brain into thinking he’s just an old friend; the truth is too horrible to bear. I just called my abusive ex. He's talking to me.

Say something, Luna,Noah mindlinks.

When I don’t move, Noah’s wolf nips my wolf’s neck in our bond, and I jolt upright.

“Uh, hello? You there?” Steven asks.

Come on, brain, speak!

But what the fuck do I even say? The last time I saw him, he was—

My wolf tightens in defense, ready to rip off that face I see above me in my budding flashback.

I want to seem tough—to be angry.

But when I finally speak, all I can sputter is a soft, “H-hi.”

Noah’s eyebrows arch in sorrow at my strained voice, coming out squeaky and small.

“What? I can't hear you,” Steven says.

“Hi,” I blurt out, filling the eerily silent room. “Hi, Steven.”

His laugh chimes through the receiver, surprising Noah and me both. Noah sucks in a tight breath. I see him analyzing me in my peripherals, but I can’t bear to look at him. I’m afraid if I do, my protective mask will fall, and my true emotions will show Steven where to strike.

But Steven is still chuckling. “This is awkward, isn’t it?”

Steven breaks my mask anyway.

I jump to my feet. A flicker of unbearable rage pierces through the numbness blanketing my mind. Noah chases after me, sticking to my side with his phone already recording.

“I don’t know what could be funny about someone possibly bragging about killing my dad, asshole.” I’m startled by the snarlin my own voice, but it only adds to my anger. I don’t sound like this. This isn’t me. I hate how much he’s changed me, again and again.

“Jesus, woman, calm down. You know I laugh when I’m nervous.”

Noah’s rage spikes.

His low growl startles me. But Noah softens when he sees me jump, hugging me close in apology.

Steven’s voice chirps from the speaker. “Uh, what the hell was that? A dog?”

I take a few hot, shaky breaths, clinging to the strings of our conversation before Steven derails it, like always. “Steven, you’re going to tell me what you know right now, and then we’re never speaking again.”

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