Hudson’s POV
Christina: [I’m not telling you who to have dinner with. Just... two photo leaks in a row? Watch your back next ti.]
I stared at her ssage, relief flooding through . She wasn’t pissed about Rowan Hale after all.
"She’s being reasonable," Lycaon murmured in my mind. "Our Luna thinks clearly."
[The guy who took them is in custody already. We’ll figure out who paid him,] I typed back.
Christina: [Good.]
I hesitated before typing my next ssage. [Did you see what I posted on social dia?]
Christina: [Didn’t know you even had an account. Hold on.]
My pulse sped up as I waited. Lycaon’s tension matched mine, both of us wound tight waiting for her reaction. Would she get why I did it? Or would she feel cornered?
Then—
Christina: [You announced it? Publicly? Without asking first???]
I went stiff in the backseat, gripping my phone harder. Those three question marks felt like claws digging into my chest.
She was mad. She hadn’t said it outright, but I could feel it in her punctuation, in the way she spaced her words.
I should’ve waited. Should’ve talked to her first.
Dominic had tried to warn , in his diplomatic way. But in the mont, it felt necessary. Urgent.
I’d wanted to kill all the rumors. The fake stories. The Rowan Hale bullshit that kept sticking to like a bad sll.
Lycaon growled low. "She should get it. We were protecting our bond."
"A bond she doesn’t even know about," I reminded him silently.
The car rolled to a stop.
Gino turned around slightly. "Alpha Hudson, we’re here."
I looked up, montarily lost. Outside the window, the Sunset City Hotel entrance glowed under bright lights. A fountain sprayed next to stone angle at the entrance, water running over marble.
But I couldn’t move.
I’d pushed Gino to race through two territories to get here. Now that I’d made it, I couldn’t make myself open the door.
I hadn’t told Christina I was coming. She was already irritated. If she saw in person, that irritation might turn into sothing much worse.
My fingers moved across the screen slowly.
[Are you mad?]
Her response ca fast.
[I’m surprised. This was a big deal. You should’ve ntioned it. We agreed to keep things quiet for now.]
I stared at her words, jaw tight. She wasn’t screaming. She was being calm, logical. Sohow that made it worse.
"She doesn’t get it," Lycaon said, frustration creeping into his voice. "Tell her why we did it."
I typed, thumb pausing before I hit send.
[Things are different now. I want it out there.]
Christina: [You posted that because of Rowan Hale? You didn’t want her na connected to yours again, so you threw this out to shut people up?]
She’d gotten close to the truth. Too close.
[That’s part of it, but not the main reason. I wanted to tell people I’m married. To you. I want everyone to know that you and I are together.]
Nothing ca back.
I waited, watching the minutes tick by in silence. Five. Then ten.
Lycaon paced restlessly in my mind. "Why isn’t she answering? She’s Our Luna."
"Only on paper," I reminded him bitterly. "For now."
I ran a hand down my face and typed again.
[I didn’t tag you. No one knows it’s you. That’s not really going public. I’m not trying to trap you. If you’re not cool with it, I’ll delete the post. Just don’t be mad, okay?]
Still nothing.
The last thing I wanted was to push her away. Our relationship was still fragile, walking the line between contract and sothing real. What if I’d just blown that delicate balance?
What if she decided this was too much? That I was demanding more than she’d signed up for?
I couldn’t handle the silence.
[If I ask properly this ti—can we go public?]
[Would you be okay if I tagged you in my next post? As my wife?]
After what felt like forever, she responded: [Let think.]
[Okay,] I sent back, though nothing felt okay.
The car had been sitting at the hotel entrance too long. Gino cleared his throat and said again, "Alpha Hudson, we’re here."
I didn’t answer right away. My fingers stayed locked around my phone, not wanting to lose this fragile connection to Christina.
Finally, I let out a heavy breath, pushed the door open, and got out.
A guy in a suit walked up imdiately.
"Alpha Hudson, welco. I’m Ned Camacho, hotel manager."
"Dominic said you were expecting ?"
"Yes, Beta Dominic called, though he didn’t say why you were visiting."
When I didn’t explain, Ned shifted nervously.
"Which room is Christina Vance in?"
"Um, let check real quick." He jogged to the front desk, spoke quietly with the clerk, then ca back. "Miss Vance is on the sixth floor. Room 608. Should I call her room?"
"No." I headed for the elevators.
Ned hurried after . "Alpha Hudson, I could—"
"No."
The man stopped, smart enough not to push an Alpha.
I rode the elevator alone, my thoughts spinning as fast as Lycaon’s restlessness. The ride up was too short for to get my head straight.
When the doors opened, I found room 608 and stopped.
I didn’t knock.
Instead, I leaned against the wall next to her door and checked my phone again.
Still nothing new. Her last ssage was still: [Let think.]
My thumb hovered over the screen. She was probably asleep by now. Or pretending to be.
"Knock," Lycaon pushed. "She’s our mate."
"She needs space," I argued silently.
"We drove all this way!"
"And maybe that was stupid."
I stayed frozen, staring at the tistamp like it might magically update. It didn’t.
I’d given her the choice. Now all I could do was wait.
I stared at the door, fighting every urge to rip it off its hinges. Every instinct told to go to her, to ask straight up: "Is this still just a contract to you? You said you’d give us a shot."
We’d been tangled up in each other’s lives for months now. Still, she hesitated.
Did she still want Niall Granger? That pathetic excuse for an Alpha who’d rejected her?
The thought made Lycaon snarl. "She’s ours now. Our Luna."
"Only if she wants to be," I reminded him.
I rubbed my jaw, trying to stop the downward spiral.
I didn’t knock.
I just stood there, silent, waiting for nothing.
The phone screen dimd; I tapped it alive. Then again. And again.
The hallway was quiet except for the distant hum of the elevator. The carpet under my feet absorbed every small movent.
I tried to tell myself she just wasn’t ready. If she didn’t want to go public yet, that was fine. It ant she didn’t feel secure enough in what we had.
That was on . I’d fix it.
I’d give her more ti. More reasons to trust .
Tomorrow. Or next week. Or whenever she stopped flinching at the idea of being mine completely.
Soday, I’d announce it proudly. To the dia, to the board, to every pack in the region.
That I belonged to her.
I looked down at the screen again. My reflection stared back—tired, worn out, pathetic.
I shouldn’t have co. She didn’t need here. She was safe.
I could go ho. No one would have to know.
I straightened up, turned toward the elevator.
My phone buzzed.
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