Page 93 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
“You are the first woman I have ever cared about.”
How is that possible? How has a man like Lucian—powerful, daring, devastatingly attractive—never cared about anyone before? How have I become the exception?
“You can fight it all you want, but you are mine.”
I think back to that first night when he burst out of the shadows to save me from the pack warriors. The way he looked at me then—I thought he was just a mercenary taking pity on a helpless female, but maybe it was something else altogether.
Then all those dead animals I kept waking up to…Could it have been Lucian?
The sound of splashing water carries from the stream, and I envision him washing Andrew’s blood from his skin. He killed a man for me today. Not in the heat of battle or self-defense, but because I asked him to. Because Andrew had hurt me.
I should feel guilty about that. I should feel responsible for Andrew’s death. But all I feel is a grim sense of closure, like a chapter of my life has finally ended the way it should have.
“I’ll wait as long as it takes for you to believe me.”
Believe what? That he cares about me? That I’m somehow dear to him? That this isn’t just another elaborate manipulation designed to get something from me?
After Andrew, I don’t know if I can trust my own judgment anymore. How do I tell the difference between genuine feeling and skilled deception? How do I know if what I see in Lucian’s eyes is real or just another pretty lie?
But even as the doubts swirl through my mind, I can’t forget the way he spoke about me to Andrew. The tone of his voice when he called me precious. The fury when he talked about what Andrew had done to me. That wasn’t for my benefit; he didn’t know I was listening. That was just truth, raw and unfiltered.
After my mother passed away, I don’t remember anybody caring about me. I was a child who needed comfort, who was grieving, but I was punished for existing. I learned to smile through the pain and the vicious words spoken to me. I taught myself to let the cruelty slide off my back. But deep inside, I was breaking. Andrew’s kindness made me crave a different life. I wanted to be loved. I wanted someone to tell me I mattered.
But in the end, I was still nothing.
Andrew reached in and crushed the remaining jagged edges of my heart into rubble. He showed me my true worth. Someone who couldn’t be loved, who didn’t deserve to be loved, who was a burden on society.
So, why is Lucian contradicting what I finally accepted? Why is he acting as if I matter to him?
“I’m scared, Luna,” I whisper wearily. “How can Lucian want me? My own pack didn’t want me. Andrew didn’t want me. He has to be playing some game, right? If I let him sleep with me, maybe he’ll grow bored and throw me aside.”
I’ve never taken a man to my bed. I was too busy trying to survive in my pack even to think about it. And with Andrew, we only met up for a brief time every few weeks, and he never pushed, so I never asked. But now? I don’t even care. After everything I have been through, my body is just that: a body. If Lucian wants it, I don’t care. I’ll just wait till he realizes what everybody else did, and when he discards me, I’ll leave quietly.
My eyes are wet, I realize, and I rub them, laughing bitterly.
The splashing from the stream stops, which means Lucian will be returning soon. Clean, blood-free, ready to continue whatever this is between us. I look down at Luna, who blinks up at me with those knowing, amber eyes of hers. Then she purrs and nuzzles deeper into my arms, offering comfort.
I close my eyes and rest my chin on top of her head, murmuring, “It’s just going to be me and you again soon, I guess. Don’t get too used to him.”
I feel an ache in my chest, which I ignore.
Chapter Sixteen
Lucian
“Why are we in a human town?” Astra asks as we walk down the cobblestone street, her green eyes taking in the bustling marketplace around us. “The forest would be a more direct way to the capital.”
I adjust the bag on my shoulder, eyeing her carefully. She has been like this for days—wary, distant, always looking for the catch. “I don’t want you sleeping on the ground anymore.”
Her eyebrows furrow. “I can handle sleeping rough.”
“Not anymore.” I stop walking and turn to face her fully. “Besides, this is the first time you’ve left your pack settlement. You should see what the world is like.”
She opens her mouth to argue, but curiosity wins over stubbornness. Her gaze drifts to a street performer juggling fire, then to merchants hawking wares she has never seen before. There’s a hunger in her expression—not for food, but for experiences beyond the confines of her isolated upbringing.
Through the mating bond, I feel her emotions like echoes in my chest—grief, hurt, and underneath it all, a desperate longing for something she can’t name. It’s why I chose this route insteadof the faster path through the woods. My mate needs to heal, and she can’t do that surrounded by trees that remind her of everything she has lost.
“Come on,” I say, placing my hand on the small of her back. She stiffens at the contact but doesn’t pull away. Progress.
