Chasing His Kickass Luna Back

Abby

I bolt away from the party and up the stairs, my heart pounding in my chest. Tears stream down my cheeks as I fumble to find my room key.

I need to get away from that party, away from the chaos, away from Karl's shocking announcement. Finally, I find the key and jam it into the lock, twisting it with shaking hands until the door clicks shut behind me. I lean back against the door, taking shuddering breaths, my mind reeling from what has just happened.

It feels like a surreal nightmare, but I know it's all too real no matter how much I wish I could just wake up and find out that none of this ever happened.

I want to go back to this morning, redo everything; hell, right now I want to go back to months ago, back to when Karl first walked into my restaurant. I want to go back and send him away and tell him to never speak to me again

I stumble to my bed and throw myself onto it, burying my face in the pillow as sobs wrack my body. How could Karl make an announcement like that, especially in front of everyone?

It's a lie, a cruel twist of the knife in my already wounded heart. The idea of us being together again and starting a family, especially when I know I probably can't have kids, feels like a cruel joke. Amidst my despair, my wolf's comforting presence whispers in my mind. “Karl must have had a reason for doing this, Abby,” she says gently. “He always has a reason, doesn’t he?”

I sniffle and wipe away my tears with the back of my hand. “I don't doubt that he had a reason,” I murmur out loud under my breath, “but he should have talked to me first, gotten my point of view, my permission, before blatantly announcing it to everyone in our pack. Now, if I pull out of this, I'll just seem like the bad guy once again, and everyone will hate me.”

“That's not true, Abby. They won't hate you.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “You think so? First, they thought I was a cheater, then a washed-up ex-Luna turning myself into a servant by running a restaurant, and now they believe I'm the fraud who poisoned everyone at the Alpha gathering. If I tell them I'm not with Karl, they'll see me as a no- good floozy who took advantage of him for his help and then dumped him.”

“They won't think that,” my wolf says, but I can hear the uncertainty in her voice.

“Listen,” I mutter, “I'm well aware of the fickle nature of people, and I know how this will end. I'm trapped, and it's all Karl's fault. I mean, how could he do this to me? I thought he changed, that he was becoming better, not just a cold Alpha who only thinks about himself.”

My wolf falls silent. I can still feel her comforting presence, but I know that she’s run out of things to say. That's because it's true; Karl has used me, taken advantage of me, and for what? After everything we've been through together, he would do this?

As I continue to cry into my pillow, my thoughts drift back to earlier tonight, when Karl and I were alone in the forest.

It was a moment of vulnerability, of opening up to each other. I allowed myself to set aside my inhibitions for a little while because I thought that maybe, just maybe, things would work themselves out.

I let myself be weak. I let him comfort me with his words and with his body. I let him ruin my dress on the snowy ground when now I know I shouldn't have done any of it.

And now, it feels like he took advantage of my feelings for his own gain. He must be using me to look good for the election, I'm sure of it.

I should have stayed home, in the city; I should have let this all blow over and I never should have spoken to him again.

But no. I'm a fool who really thought that he had changed. I let my broken heart get the best of me. I let him use me.

I'm not sure how long I lay there, sobbing into my pillow. My makeup must be a mess and my hair is likely a wreck. But at some point, I hear a knock on my door. I have a feeling I know who it is.

"Go away!" I call out, my voice choked with tears. “Leave me alone!”

There's a silence, and I think that he must have gone away.

But then I hear the sound of a key in the lock, and the door swings open. Karl steps into the room, the skeleton key to the house in his hand, and his expression is a mix of concern and determination. "Abby, we need to talk,” he says. “Please.”

I bolt upright, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. “Get out,” I growl, my eyes flashing with anger. Even my wolf is furious inside of me, lending me her strength and fury for a split second. "Abby—"

"I said, get out!”

Before Karl—or even I—can react, I'm bolting to my feet and rushing across the room. I begin to pummel his chest angrily, my teeth bared and my jaw clenched.

“You fucker,” I growl as I beat my fists on his chest. “You're an asshole! I can't believe you!”

Karl doesn't flinch, nor does he react with anger or frustration. Instead, he calmly reaches out, pulling me into his arms. My anger begins to turn into a feeling of helplessness, and my hands fall back to my sides.

He continues to hold me, stroking my hair as I sob. “Abby, I have a plan for this,” he says softly, his voice filled with sincerity. “A plan that will benefit both of us. Please, just hear me out.”

I push against his chest, trying to free myself from his embrace. “I don't want to hear it!" I snarl. "You've already done enough! I want to go home!”

But Karl just continues to hold me firmly, his voice unwavering. His embrace is too strong, and I'm helpless in his arms. There's no use, and now, I just feel weak and exhausted. “Abby, you have to trust me,” he says quietly. “l wouldn't have done this if I didn't think it was the best course of action for both of us. Please, can you just hear me out?”

I lift my gaze to meet his, my heart pounding in my chest. The last thing I want to do right now is “hear him out’. I don't want to hear a word that he has to say.

And yet, as he holds me in his strong arms, I can't deny the way my heart aches at the sight of his soft brown eyes. His gaze is nothing but apologetic, and despite my tears and my anger and my heartbreak, part of me still trusts him.

Part of me wants to believe that he didn't do this out of pure selfishness, that he had some sort of plan, some sort of reason behind why he put me on the spot like this tonight.

“Fine,” I huff, finally managing to use the last little bit of my strength to shove myself away from him. “I'm listening.”