Page 162 of King Luna

My heart twists. Grasping my hand, Noah gives me a soft smile.

“What if he’s not ours to fix, and he’s his to fix?” Annika mutters.

I blink a few times, absorbing her words. When our focus turns to her, she smiles.

“You said it perfectly when you got here. We can give him the opportunity, and it can be his choice whether or not to take it. If he doesn’t, he’ll be trapped learning and re-learning the same lesson for the rest of his life.”

My shoulders soften. “You’re right. Maybe this isn’t our problem to resolve for him anymore.”

“You get this too, don’t you? What it’s like to have to make this decision?” Waimarie whispers, stroking Annika’s hand.

Annika doesn’t answer, ducking her head.

Tracing Annika’s pained stare, I hold her hand too. Noah and Waimarie follow suit, the four of us creating a web of comforting touch until we burst into giggles together.

Before I can ask more, a sharp knock on our door straightens our backs. Noah shifts his weight to get up, but the door flings open, startling Annika, Waimarie, and me into a gasp.

Viktor grins in the doorway, excitement racing through his eyes. “He shifted back, the minute you left!”

My stomach drops. “Mason?”

Noah rises, his eyes wide. “What? What’d he—”

Viktor’s groan cuts Noah off. “Greenfield, you better deal with that asshole before I break him in half. He’s the most fucking annoying creature I’ve ever seen!”

Biting my lips, I’m tempted to laugh. Noah and I meet eyes, just before he fetches his suit jacket with a groan. “Here I come.”

But I catch Noah’s arm. “I’ll go with you. I just need to change.”

Noah’s eyes darken. “You feel up to it, Luna?”

“Well, there’s no better time than now, I guess.”

Noah nods, striding to my suitcase to dig through it. Despite the dread creeping up my throat at what we’ll find when we finally see Mason, my shoulders soften; Noah really is treating me as his equal, accepting my decisions like we’re two top Alphas, leading the pack together.

Once I’m clothed, an army of our allies walks at our sides, Reid, Tane, Viktor, Annika, and Waimarie following us to the confinement dens. But the closer we approach, the faster Noah’s breath races.

“Hey.” Reid’s hand settles on Noah’s shoulder, rubbing him as I massage his hand.

But Noah turns from us, gripping his hair. “I can’t. I’m sorry, Aliya. I have a really bad feeling about you going in there.”

“Bro, she’s ready. Look at her.” Tane’s hand on Noah’s back makes him flinch. But as Noah and I meet eyes, my stomach churns.

He’s not okay.

“It’s not just my badass Luna I’m worried about. It’s Anni and Waimarie, and—” Noah’s voice catches, and my heart lurches through the blank space left in his words; he’s been gravely hurt by both Harts now.

I soften my voice, easing Noah’s clenched fist open. “Let me ask you something. Is this a trauma response, or do you think there really could be something dangerous he’s planning by luring us in to look at him?”

Noah’s eyebrows warp as he thinks it through, his eyes racing across the tile. “I don’t know. There’s no way to know.”

Breathing out a sigh, I nod. “Okay, so maybe, maybe not. Since I trust your wolf, how about this: you and Reid can go in first to assess, and the rest of us can join you afterwards.”

Gritting his teeth, Noah drops his head. With a shrug, he sighs. “I’m probably going to need Tane and Vik in theretogether to calm me the fuck down while I know Reid can protect you out here. Otherwise, that sounds fine.”

Stroking his back, I smile. “Okay. See you soon.”

Bouncing on his heels, Noah finally lifts his head. Haunted eyes stare back, strained to the point of sinking further into his skull.

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