Alpha’s Rue: His Shunned Luna (Athena Enchanted) novel Chapter 377

DANIELLE

I’ve been looking for Kingston for over twenty minutes, but I can’t seem to find him in the places he normally would be. He isn’t in his room, not in his office, not in Aeliana’s room, not in the art room either, but I know he hasn’t left the house because he was sick this morning.

It’s not until I decide to go out back that I find him in the garden, crouched over a lavender bush with a bottle of gin in his hand, even while throwing up. “Hey, are you okay?” I frown, watching him rinse his mouth out with the gin. I wince at that. He has been drinking more lately, but still less than Rowan. “That is the second time you’ve thrown up today.”

“Fourth,” he corrects me, clearing his throat. “I think I’m coming down with something. My stomach is in knots, and it’s a lot.”

“You should have some lime water. It’s good for nausea.”

“Thanks, I’ll pick it up on my way back from the institution.”

“Oh, you’re going to see Aeliana again.” I smile. He has been going to see her twice every day, but he never comes back happy, he appears to die a little more every time.

“Trying to,” he groans. “She doesn’t want to see me, she has turned me away every time. She says she doesn’t want to talk to anyone.”

“She’s upset.” I quietly say, his problem sounding a little too familiar with the hell that is going on between Noah and Rowan.

Kingston sighs, “She wants to come home, but I’m scared, Dani. What if she hurts herself?”

“Give a few weeks.”

“I don’t know if we can make it,” he groans. “I mean, it’s been a week, but look at me, I’ve not been ill a day in my life, and since she’s been gone, I’ve had the sniffles, I’ve had a stomach bug. My ears were ringing the other day.”

“Hang in there,” I pat his back. “And give her time. Is she not doing better?”

“She’s eating now,” he nods. “All her meals, the doctor showed me proof.”

“She’ll be home soon,” I force a smile. Everything seems to be going down the drain since Aeliana left. “Time goes by fast.”

“Yeah.” His nose scrunches up. “Where’s Rowan? Is he still getting drunk?”

“No, he’s sleeping.”

He nods, looking me up and down as if only now seeing me since I arrived. “Are you going somewhere?”

“Yeah, that's why I was looking for you. I need Noah’s address.”

He pauses, eyes wide with confusion. “Noah Fren?”

“Yeah, I need to see her.” I swallow.

He shakes his head, “I don’t think that is a good idea, she’s still hurting.”

“I’m hurting too.”

“Danielle,” he sighs.

“I screwed up,” I painfully admit. I said some things that I should not have at the very wrong time, and now Noah won’t talk to Rowan, and he is starting to compensate the emptiness with liquor. “Let me fix this.”

My lips part, but I don’t know what to say. His assumption is right. I know Noah isn’t keeping the baby. Rowan told me about it, and we will respect her decision. “That’s something I overstepped, I need to apologise.”

“Alright, so let's say she comes back, can you handle that? Can you see them together?”

“I’ve been seeing them together,” I tell him. “I’ve watched their bond strength, I’ve watched them fuck, and I just… I can’t be selfish, Kingston. We both need him, he needs us both.”

“Be selfish if that’s what makes you happy.” He says, “Take a moment to think of what this entails and look at every possible outcome. You were scared he would love her more, you were jealous she—”

“I was,” I admit. “But only because he was alone with her, and he has proved he loves me just as much as before. He didn’t get mad at me even after I messed things up for him.”

“Okay, but—”

“If it had to be anyone, I’m glad it’s her.” I smile, “Noah is kind, and she didn’t deserve to be left out. I’m sorry I did that to her.”

He nods, “Rowan didn’t have to listen to you.”

“No, but he did.” I sigh. There’s nothing I’ve ever asked of him that he denied me, so I knew he wouldn’t be able to deny me this either. “Because he loves me, he wanted me to be happy, and he put my feelings above his own. The least I can do is try to apologise.”

“Okay,” he shrugs. “If it's what you want.”

“It is.”

“Alright then, let me put her address in your GPS.”