Alpha's Discarded Luna (Talia) novel Chapter 16

alia’s POV

I was taken to the city hospital by the paramedical staff, and released after check–up.

I was signing the discharge papers when Imema was wheeled from some minor procedure, Aires by her side.

He noticed me and paused, like remembering something inconsequential.

“Ah, Talia! You called earlier. What happened?”

Before I could speak, one of the nurses collected the papers from my hand and offered on my behalf, “She was kidnapped, poor thing has been through a lot today.”

Aires looked at me, as if waiting for me to confirm it, when Nick popped up behind him.

“Really? Now you’re even wrapping the hospital staff in your clever schemes? And if you were pretending to be that smart, at least you should have thought it through! Is this how a kidnapped person looks? You don’t even have a scratch that wasn’t already there.”

Imema, from her wheelchair, offered a weak, forgiving smile.3:29

Chapter 15

“Luna Talia, if bringing my herbal tea was too much trouble, you could have just said so. Please don’t make up such horrifying stories.”

Within seconds, my traumatising reality was lost somewhere between Nick’s sarcasm and Imema’s display of generosity… painting me as a hysterical, attention–starved mate.

Aires’s gaze was already moving back to Imema, because in his mind, this matter wasn’t even worth asking me a single question.

And now, he is bringing it up as proof of my manipulation?

“It wasn’t a lie-‘

“Really? And who paid the ransom for your kidnapping? You have no other family, do you? Then? Talia, just admit that you got bored of your act and couldn’t be bothered to keep it up.”

His words burn me from the inside out.

୮

“If you had bothered to investigate for a single second, everything would be crystal clear in front of your eyes. But admit it, Alpha Aires! You don’t want to, and that’s fine. Since you want to believe that this is a game, then meet me at the Pack Registry tomorrow at nine. We’ll make it official, and get a

divorce.”

Malia!”

13:29

Chapter 15

He growls in warning. “I have no patience for your drama. And I despise females who use divorce as a weapon to get their wish. I have already been lenient regarding your recent behavior towards Imema. Do not mistake it for my weakness.”

A smile touches my lips, realising that I’m standing on his weak spot.

“Fine. If not my wish, then how about your precious Imema’s wish? If you want her to have a peaceful existence, you’ll sign the divorce papers and break the bond between us, so that there are no ties between us. The longer you delay, the more unpleasant her life will become. I have nothing left to lose, Aires. She does.”

He looks at me like I’m a misbehaving hound, barking at shadows. “Talia, we have been over this. My friendship with Imema is not a threat to you. Is it necessary for you to indulge in this pathetic jealousy?”

r

“I am not jealous of the ghost of your past, Alpha. I am disgusted by the shadow she casts over my life. So tell me, do we finalize

this?”

“Finalize?” A cold smile appears on his face.

“Be realistic. If we go through the Werewolf Council, I hold the power as the Alpha. No one has even seen you as the Luna apart

3/7

13:29

< Chapter 15

from once or twice a year… and if you want to threaten me with the human courts, think again. In their eyes, you have no profession, no independent standing besides being a housewife. What will you do? How will you live?”

He takes a step closer, asserting his dominance. “And of course, when you can’t prove financial solvency, you won’t get Aeson, either. The Pack Council would never grant custody to an Omega with no wolf, no income, and a history of instability. A smart woman should know her limits… push too far, and you will have nothing.”

A chill passes through my spine. It’s nothing new, but hearing it from his mouth shakes me from head to toe.

All my years of service, of silently taking care of him and his family are seen as deficits. They have left me helpless in his and in the eyes of the law that favors Alpha power.

But I refuse to be broken on his terms.

I meet his gaze, my determination getting stronger.

eyes,

“No profession, no income.. you’re forgetting, Alpha, that before Aeson’s birth, I had both those things. I had a career that commanded respect and a salary that afforded me independence. It was you, your mother and the Perseus family who said no caretaker could be trusted, and my foremost duty way to my son and my pack. So I quit, only to have my son 13:29

< Chapter 15

snatched from my hands as well.”

He frowns, clearly unimpressed. “You call that a career? Teaching at a kindergarten? And what could that small salary of yours do? You were better off staying home with Aeson.”

“At least that career was my own!”

I fire back, “And the salary was enough to make sure I was never

2

a beggar at your table. Enough that your family couldn’t call me a gold–digging parasite to my face. Enough that your friends wouldn’t have dared call me a housewife if I’d had my own

means.”

When Aires was bedridden, all my attention was taken up by his care. When he began to recover, I took up a position at a nearby kindergarten within the pack locality, teaching music to young

pups.

I planned on reviving my skills and working towards my mother’s dream again… but then, I fell pregnant. I gave up the stage, the music, my name, for the good of the pack.

And that sacrifice became the chain they now rattle in my face.

“Since when do you care about the idle gossip? They mean no real harm, especially Nick.”

The irony is so glaring it almost makes me laugh. “No harm?3:29

Chapter 15

And what about you, who are so offended on Imema’s behalf over a few sharp words? Will you really call Nick’s open hatred harmless? Are you blind, or do you simply not care to see it?”

I take a step forward. “If gossip is so insignificant, Alpha, why does

my conversation with Imema warrant your fury? Why not just laugh it off as ‘harmless‘? Or does that standard only apply when I’m the target?”

His confusion hardens back into impenetrable stone.

“Talia… are you determined to walk this self–destructive path?”

There is a threshold of pain. Once that is crossed, you feel nothing at all. His words, which once pierced my heart, now harmlessly bounce off its frozen surface.

“I am determined to be free of you. Nothing will change that.‘

99

He stares at me for a moment, as if trying to find the hysterical woman he expects. But he finds only my reflection in his cold

eyes.

“Remember this conviction of yours till the end, then.”

He says finally, “Do not come crawling back to me later, when you realize the cost of your stubbornness.”

blet out a laugh. As if he has ever been the one to court on…13:29

Chapter 15

“I would rather sleep in the gutter than crawl back to your feet, Alpha Aires Perseus.”

His jaw tightens.

“Be careful, Luna,” he murmurs. “A wise person leaves themselves a bridge to retreat across. Don’t burn the bridge to your only option-”

I hold his gaze, “You misunderstand, Alpha. I’m leaving this island forever. And you will never be a destination I will return

to.”

Coin Package: get more free bonus

7/7