First

Chapter 67

“No!….”

Horror fills Tatum’s voice as he rushes to the broken vial on the floor, his eyes wide in utter disbelief as he kneels above it.

A sharp pain squeezes his heart as he watches the liquid spill out onto the floor, the shards of broken glass look whole compared to his broken heart.

Tears tug his eyes and he blinks for the single tear drop to run down, feeling completely helpless and devastated.

Why…..

What does he do now?

Does he start all over again?

He scampers on his knees to the mattress and slashes the foam with his claws, cutting out a piece with trembling hands, trying to mop up the liquid but it’s useless, it’s just dirt now, too small to recover anything.

Wasted.

His shoulder sags and his head drops, a jarring pain hammering against

his shattered heart.

Two years….. Two years of constant effort, late nights, early mornings, time away from home, risking his life, putting the pack’s finances at risk, all for her to get her wolf back and now it’s all gone to waste in the blink of an eye.

“What have you done Leila?” He almost growls at her with all of his pain in his gaze.

A furious anger boils in his gut and he wants to lash out but how can he be mad at her? She wouldn’t do this if she knew better.

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It’s not just his sacrifice being wanted that hurts him.

It’s his chance to be with her that is done, because even if she is not hi mate, he could keep her as Luna as long as she gets her woll

Leila’s mouth stays wide open when she sees Tatum rush after the vial, the way he slashes the foam, the desperation in his movements, the pain in his eyes.

What was in there?

She didn’t mean to destroy it, she was just angry, ar grips her when she sees Tatum craning his neck towards her.

She’s expecting him to lash out, to see hatred and anger in his eyes but when he turns, Leila is shooked beyond words, regret washing over her with goosebumps covering her skin.

For the first time in their lives, she sees tears coming out of Tatum’s eyes and it breaks her, she looks up, struggling to hold back her own tears.

What has she done?

Whatever was in there must be very important, for the strong rugged Alpha she knows to break a tear, even if just a tiny drop.

He said it was a gift for her, is he really that hurt that she smashed it?

Tatum slowly gets up from his knees, not saying a word to her or sparing her another glance but he doesn’t leave the room, he sits on the bed, staring down at his solled arms like a man who just lost everything.

It’s the first time she has seen him like this and her heart aches to know she is the cause……she’s curious to know what it was and she wants to apologise but the words that escape her mouth are different.

“This is only going to get worse Tatum, just let me go, Carmela will be a

great Luna

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Jan’t that what this is about, being the perfect Luna for him but not the right woman?

Her presence in his life is always golg to lead to trouble, trouble between him and his pack, between him and his mother, him and Carmela and now between them.

It’s just best for everyone If she leaves and her life and that of her baby. is already at risk.

Who knows what Carmela is going to attempt next?

Tatum remains silent, not a word, a grunt, a scoff, not a single sound from him in response, he doesn’t even raise h. head to look at her.

“Tatum, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to destroy your gift, I’m just so I’m not needed here, nobody needs a wolfless Luna when they already have the phoenix Luna. Why can’t you just see that?”

Leila’s mention of ‘wolfless Luna’ only compounds Tatum’s grief, hitting. his heart with pain at how the chance to fix that was just wasted and he raises his head to look at her with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

“If you had your wolf, would it have made a difference, would you have stayed?”

He can’t tell her everything that he has been up to, how he has spent all the years of their marriage trying to find a cure for her, how it hasn’t been easy fighting back the pressure from the council of elders to make Carmela Luna.

But he wants to know her heart, will she stay with him if she has her wolf? Because he’ll do it all over again, no matter what it will cost him, no matter how much he will pay, he will not stop until he gets the cure

for her.

“No Tatum. I won’t,” Leila’s curt reply hits his heart with a pang. “If I had

my wolf, I would be out there searching for my own mate, so I don’t

have to suffer over another woman’s