Alpha's Discarded Luna (Talia) novel Chapter 15

Chapter 14

Talia’s POV

“Desperate cries-”

“Yes, how can I forget! Pretending to be kidnapped just to lure me out during Imema’s surgery? Do you know how much embarrassment I had to face because of your cheap tricks?”

The moment Aires accuses me of using cheap tricks, something inside my chest caves in.

It feels like invisible blades are twisting inside my chest, stealing my breath.

Each attempt to fill my lungs with oxygen feels like a shallow, painful gasp. I bury nails into my palms, and don’t let go.

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At least the pain is a distraction, it keeps me standing on my own two feet.

Cheap tricks? That’s what he thinks..?!

Have Imema and Diana convinced him to think that my whole life, my pain, is a performance for his attention? But how can someone possibly accuse their mate of something so horrible?

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My mind drags me back to that day… the day he still refuses fo29

Chapter 14

believe happened. The time when my life was in danger, and he couldn’t be bothered to spare a few moments to even hear about it.

Last time, I was at the farmer’s market, just by the pack border. Aeson had thrown a massive tantrum that morning, declaring the vegetables limp and stale. When I tried to offer him some berries instead, he tossed them aside, calling it tasteless and bland.

He had stayed hungry for three whole hours, making my anxiety spike even though I knew why he was acting this way.

The day before this, Imema had seen Kaela bringing the groceries for me and had casually mentioned in front of Aeson that only a mother who cared would pick the fruits and vegetables herself, otherwise what’s the big deal about asking the maids to get it?

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I knew she was provoking him unnecessarily, but at the end, I couldn’t bear to see Aeson upset and had gone out in a rush.

I was busy picking the vegetables, checking a batch of tomatoes at a store when a hand grabbed me from behind.

A knife pressed against my throat, and everything paused at that instant.

Agan was holding me against himself, shaking from head to3:29

Chapter 14

toe. His eyes were red and bloodshot, and I could smell the adrenaline and fear on his breath.

“Stay still! Stay very still, or you’ll pay with your life.”

He dragged me into a narrow alley, yelling his demands at the police who were already gathering at the opposite end of the alley.

“STEP BACK, RIGHT NOW! Let go of the lady-”

“NO!!”

The blade slipped slightly. I felt a warm liquid trail down my neck.

Blood…

The police was still far, moving cautiously. If it had been any ordinary werewolf, or even a human, maybe, they would have had some time to be rescued.

But since I don’t have a wolf, my blood doesn’t clot easily. And more than that, I was worried for Aeson, who was alone at home. In that moment of desperation, I called out to my captor, hoping to get through to him.

At first, he was distrustful of me. But maybe it was the alcohol thag made him spill everything to me, in fragments.

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Chapter 14

He was a broken man, hollowed out by a financial scam, who had lost everything.

He lost millions of dollars, tried his best to fix it, and still failed.

He lost his house, his family, and still, the creditors didn’t stop attacking him. The society had already shunned him, and he had grabbed me without having a proper plan, just hoping that the police would agree to give him some money in return for my release.

At that moment, I felt like I had the solution within reach. He was doing all this for money, right?

I told him my husband was wealthy. The words came out before I could even think, and I told him one call was all it would take. I could help him. He could pay his debts, see his family again.

He looked at me hesitantly, like I was very obviously lying. Which hostage would offer to do that?

But desperation has a way to make people listen.

A police helicopter passed by, and he pulled me behind a dumpster, into a dilapidated building which had lost half its roof after being abandoned.

But in the end, he let me make the call.

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<Chapter 14

I remember it clearly, my hands were shaking so badly that I almost dropped the phone the moment he picked up my call.

“Aires, I’ve been kidnapped—”

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I heard a frantic, overlapping voice in the background. crashing, we need the Alpha’s signature now, it’s Ms. Volkov-”

His voice cut over mine, sharp with fear and urgency. “Talia, I have to go. Imema is being taken for emergency surgery, I’ll call you back.”

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone, and the man stared at me.

The hope I had sparked in him was fizzling out, but it didn’t die completely yet.

Something about what I had said, had finally convinced him that I wasn’t lying.

And so, we waited.

Two endless hours, we sat on the dusty floor of a vacant storeroom inside a filthy, abandoned alley while the police officers were trying threats and persuasion to convince him to let me go.

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Chapter 14

The man calmed down, and started telling me about his wife, his daughter and the perfect family he once had.

He had made an investment to give them a better life, but it had left him with nothing.

“I know I’ll go to prison. Even if I pay the money back. But I want my wife and daughter to live their lives without the shadow of my debt.”

I didn’t know when a tear rolled down my cheek, commiserating in his misery… or maybe, admiring him for thinking about his family even now.

Outside, the negotiators droned on, talking about taking strict measures against him.

But by now, his panic had morphed into a strange sense of resigned calm.

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gone

“All my life, I have fantasised about being rich. But being rich doesn’t guarantee happiness either, right? If I had according to my plan, you would have been dead. I only lost money, but you almost lost your life.”

I was speechless at the look of mercy in the eyes of the stranger.

He checked his watch and signed. “The time for my deadline is

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Chapter 14

up, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll surrender and let the law take its course. Thank you for talking to me, lady. Go on, get out of here.”

“Are you really going to release me?”

He nodded, stepping forward to untie my wrists as he mused.

“If I have mercy on you, maybe someone will treat my wife and

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daughter kindly too. From today, I’ll consider you as my sister-”

BANG!!!

A gunshot rang in the small space, interrupting the last sentence he was ever going to say.

His body jerked, and warm blood splashed across my face.

My mind went completely blank.

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It wasn’t the first death that I had witnessed, but it was definitely the one that had shaken me up in an unexpected way.

Police rushed in, hands pulling me away from the floor. Paramedics swarmed me, someone kept asking if I was hurt, if I could hear them. Eventually, the shallow cut on my neck was bandaged.

Ang in all this, Aires never called back.

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Alpha’s Discarded Luna