Page 8 of King Luna

I love you too. I’ll be back... After brushing my teeth.

With one look at Amy, we cling to each other, Amy letting out a desperate squeak as she suppresses her laughter. Biting my lips, all I can do to keep from torturing poor Noah another minute is to turn my best friend around with frantic waves, rushing her deep into the den where we can settle ourselves in peace.

Amy flips around with a sly grin. “Did you notice yet?”

I freeze. “Notice what?”

“You shifted.”

Amy’s rising smile evolves into giggling, but I cringe, gripping my bare stomach. “Holy shit, I didn’t even think about it! Are you sure the baby’s okay?! I just went crazy on poor Noah’s back!”

Amy laughs, bringing me in for a hug. “Hi, Aliya’s OCD: I’m not answering that. Didn’t the Pack Doctor basically prescribe you to shift as many times as possible in your first trimester?”

I grimace. “Maybe...”

Amy laughs, releasing me to head to the back of the den. I follow her, fetching two sets of spare shirts and sweatpants for us before we get to work, gathering stray rocks for our newly forming rock wall. We’re building a small enclosure in the den’s furthest depths, creating a sturdy surrounding for the nesting blankets I’ll continue piling up until my wolf is satisfied.

But ten minutes into our rock collecting, I can’t focus; even with Amy’s back turned, her scent calls out to me, a sadness crawling across my bones as if she’s aching for help. I don’t wait for her to turn around, slipping my arms around her from behind and huddling into her back.

Amy sighs, hugging my arms around her waist. “I’m sorry.”

My gut sinks. I hadn’t realized she was this upset, but with how low her tone has dropped, I’m afraid of what she’s thinking. “What’s wrong? Is something going on with you and Kira? Or my sweet niece?”

Amy turns, releasing herself from my grasp with a weary chuckle. But she can’t even pretend to hold her smile as we meet eyes. Her eyebrows lift, contorting in sadness before she withdraws her gaze from mine. “No, sorry, it’s just—”

“Oh,A. What’s wrong? I’m here.” I let out a helpless sound, rubbing her back as her scent erupts with a heavy, stinging sadness.

But Amy tilts away from my touch, grasping my hand instead. “No, it’s really fine. I didn’t want to make this about me.”

“What? What’s making you so upset? I haven’t seen you like this since— Well...”

My breath catches as Amy’s expression warps. Her silky hair swoops across her features as she ducks her head, obscuring her distress from me. “I don’t feel like I have the right to be upset about this.”

I swallow hard. “About Steven?”

Amy shakes her head, but in my heart, I know this “no” is in denial of the horrors Steven caused, rather than in answer to my question. This is absolutely about Steven, and it guts me.

“I’m so sorry,” Amy chokes out. “I’m sorry I didn’t protect you more, especially if he was one of these Alpha-domination Lycans.”

My stomach sinks to the floor. “Oh,babe.”

“I know we had everyone to help at the dress shop, but seeing you back in that state with Mason stalking you, and knowing there are more of these guys out there... I’m really scared of you going to the Alpha Summit. I wish I could go with you, but maybe that’s thinking too highly of my capabilities. I didn’t even protect you just now.”

I groan through the ache in my chest, gathering Amy in my arms. “That’s probably because you’re not pregnant and overprotective, so your rational brain saw that it was Noah. Plus, you did protect me, keeping me from approaching the den the second you felt something was off, and investigating it yourself despite the possible dangers. Then you also had the courage and kindness of a best friend to still let me see that someone left a ‘disgusting dead thing’ here, even if you knew it would freak me out.”

Amy sputters out a laugh. “Well, still.”

Swiping her tears off with her head hung low, Amy dissolves back into overwhelm. Her quivering lip claws at my heartstrings.

“You mean to say that still, you couldn’t be there the day Steven showed up,” I whisper.

Amy simply nods.

A piece of my broken heart rips back open, memories flooding my mind. All I can do is stroke Amy’s hair as she fights back tears, just like she held me as I sobbed on her couch all night long for a week after Steven broke in. Nothing felt safe except this woman aching in front of me, misunderstandingherself as “too late to be the hero” when really, Amy was the only person in the world who could save my life that night. And she did.

“He wouldn’t have let you stop him,” I whisper. “Especially if he was a wolf, and knew you were a wolf. What if he went all the way and killed us both?”

Amy’s voice wobbles, tearing my heart in half. “I guess, but—”

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