Elena – POV
I was not going to look at him.
Not even a glance.
He could stand there all broody and smug with that open shirt and that damn tie hanging loose like he just rolled out of soone’s sheets—but I wasn’t going to acknowledge him.
Let him stew.
Let him wonder.
Because I was pissed.
No—furious.
How dare he leave like that? After the way I threw myself at him, like so heat-crazed little wolf in the middle of a full moon rut?
And I didn’t regret it—that was the problem.
No, what I regretted was the way he left. Like it didn’t matter. Like I didn’t matter. Just a little tease, a morning distraction, and then he ghosted like I was a one-night heat-fix.
Now here he was.
Lurking in the dining hall like a sexy plague.
I could feel him watching . Every damn second. The weight of his gaze, dragging over , hot enough to sear. Like he was daring to look. Daring to acknowledge him.
But I didn’t.
I ripped my bread into tiny pieces like it had personally betrayed , stabbed at my food like it owed money, and kept chatting with the warriors beside about absolutely nothing important.
And yet my body knew he was there.
Tightened.
Reacted.
Rembered.
My skin still tingled from this morning.
My thighs still clenched from the dream, the way he’d teased and touched and whispered filth in my ear. And worst of all, I wanted him to finish what he’d started.
But no.
Not again.
Never again if I could help it.
I chewed like my life depended on it, forcing down every emotion, every mory, every sinful flicker of desire like it was poison.
And then—
The seat beside shifted.
No.
I didn’t even need to look.
I knew it was him.
The scent hit first — darkness and spice and everything I didn’t need ssing with my already fucked-up head.
"You didn’t wait for ," Damon said smoothly, voice low and teasing.
I didn’t answer.
He leaned in, close enough that his breath ghosted over the shell of my ear.
"I would’ve made you breakfast, you know. You seed hungry."
I stabbed a carrot with enough force to crack the plate beneath.
Still didn’t look at him.
"I an," he continued, tone dripping with wicked amusent, "I heard all that moaning and thought, damn, I should’ve stayed. Could’ve helped with that tension."
Still nothing.
"Oh, co on, Elena. Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it. You were practically begging —"
I stood abruptly, my chair screeching across the floor.
Every eye at the table turned.
Damon looked up at with that maddeningly calm expression, like he expected to lash out and was already amused by it.
I leaned in, keeping my voice low but venomous. "You don’t get to flirt with after leaving high and dry. You don’t get to tease like it didn’t an anything. You don’t get to look at like you own when you haven’t even earned the right to touch ."
His smirk faltered.
Only slightly.
But it was enough.
I turned on my heel, ignoring the pounding of my heart and the trembling in my fingers, and walked away—head high, spine straight, fury simring just beneath my skin.
Let him chase.
Let him work for it.
Because if he thought I’d fall into his bed again so easily, he had no idea who the fuck he was dealing with.
********
I needed air.
Not because the dining hall was suffocating — though it was — but because he was in there. Damon. Sitting with his smug expression and that loose tie like he hadn’t all but abandoned this morning right after stoking a fire in my core and walking away like I didn’t matter.
I hated him.
God, I hated him.
And maybe, just maybe, I hated how much I still wanted him.
The sun was low, casting golden streaks across the training grounds. The warriors were mostly clearing out, laughing, stretching, the kind of calm that only ca after blood and sweat had been wrung dry.
And then I saw him.
Luca.
He was just ahead, walking toward the opposite edge of the clearing. Alone.
"Luca!" I called, jogging slightly to catch up. "Hey—Luca!"
He stopped for a heartbeat, then turned his head, just barely. I caught a glimpse of his face before he dropped his eyes and picked up his pace, angling off toward the woods.
I frowned, confused.
"Luca, what the hell—?"
I picked up my pace, closing the distance quickly. I grabbed his arm just before he could slip behind the weapon sheds. "Are you seriously ignoring now?"
He stiffened under my grip — not like a guy who didn’t want to talk, but like soone terrified to.
I saw his eyes then.
One of them was swollen — not quite shut, but purple and black around the edge, ringed with red like the punch had happened recently. Too recently.
"Oh my God," I breathed, reaching up before he could turn away. "What happened?"
He flinched before I touched him, stepping back. "It’s nothing, Luna."
Luna.
He hadn’t called that before. Not even during training. We’d been on first-na basis. Teasing. Easy.
"What did you just say?"
He bowed slightly, avoiding eye contact, shoulders tense like a soldier expecting lashes. "Forgive . I didn’t an to be disrespectful."
"Luca..." I whispered, heart thudding. "Who did this to you?"
He didn’t answer. That alone was the answer.
"Was it... was it Damon?"
Another pause. Too long. Too careful.
My blood ran cold. "Did Damon do this to you?"
Luca looked at — really looked at — and I saw it in his eyes.
Sha. Pain. Fear.
"I didn’t know you were the Luna," he said softly. "I swear. I wouldn’t have accepted the training if I had. I wouldn’t have—"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" I snapped, stepping closer, voice climbing with each word. "I asked you to train with . It was my idea!"
"I know," he whispered. "But Alpha said... I shouldn’t."
Alpha.
That did it.
My fists clenched, nails digging into my palms. My wolf rose like a scream in my chest, fury pounding in my skull.
Damon had done this. Not just the bruise — he’d used his rank, his power, to cow Luca. Humiliate him. Threaten him.
And why?
Because he saw talking to another man? Because I dared to laugh? Because I was trying to forget how he made feel and Damon’s ego couldn’t take it?
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to calm down enough to breathe.
Luca stepped back again, lowering his eyes. "I’m cancelling our session tomorrow. I’m sorry, Luna."
That title again. Like it was a curse word now.
"Luca, none of this is your fault," I said quickly. "I’m sorry he did that to you. You didn’t deserve it."
He nodded, but didn’t say anything else — just turned and walked away, slower this ti. Limping, even.
I didn’t move for a few seconds.
I couldn’t.
Because the anger was molten inside , ready to explode. Damon had crossed a line — not with , no — with him. With soone who didn’t deserve to be dragged into our ss.
And that?
That I wouldn’t let slide.
I turned on my heel, eyes locked in the direction of the Pack House.
If Damon thought walking away from this morning was a power move, he was about to find out what real power looked like.
Because I wasn’t just angry.
I was done being patient.
And the Luna?
She was coming for her Alpha.
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