Alpha’s Rue: His Shunned Luna (Athena Enchanted) novel Chapter 381

Gamma Hartley frowns, “Excuse me.”

“You’re not…” I trail off, looking for the right words. I turn to Aeliana and catch her smiling. “Well, you know what I mean, Sir,” I tell him, shifting back to Aeliana. “Why does he think you're not taking visitors?”

“Because every time I see him, he walks away from me, and I can't take that anymore, Damien.” He swallows, “I want to get out of this place, and I have to see him break when he chooses not to sign those damn papers, and that's not fair to me. I’m losing my mind in here, I’m becoming one of them.” She huffs, motioning to one of the patients who seems to be having a dire mental struggle.

“Come on,” I force a smile. “You are supposed to be getting better.”

“I’m not,” she says with a frustrated groan. “And I won’t get better. These fucking doctors are sick, manipulative and selfish. They’re hurting me, D.” Her voice drops. “I’m losing Lumi, it's bad enough that I rarely let her out, but she’s locked in here with me, and they’re drugging me.”

“Drugging you?” Gamma Hartley chimes in.

“Yes,” she nods. “Every single night I have to take these strange little white pills, and when I don’t, they forcefully inject me.” She tells us. “I just…I wish I had never come back.” Her gaze falls.

“Don’t say this.”

“It's how I feel,” she shrugs. “And that fucking weirdo Kingston entrusted with my mental health encourages me to speak my feelings, and this is it.” She drols her hands in defeat. “I want to leave. If I can’t stay here, then I want to leave the pack as a whole.”

I pause, “You’re not serious.” I tell her. Aeljana would never leave my brother, but the dread in her tone convinces me otherwise.

“I am,” she affirms. “I’d rather live the rest of my life without him than waste it here,” she swallows. “I mean, it's no different, I don’t see him anymore.”

The thought of her leaving and how it would break not just my brother’s heart but mine, my parents', and all others who have grown attached to her has me spiralling. I don’t want her to leave Mooncrest. My brother won’t survive losing her because this time she won’t come back, and if there is one thing I know about Aeliana, she’s determined. Be it today or three months from now, she will indeed leave so she never faces this again.

“If I can get you out of here, will you promise not to go back to him?” Gamma Hartley asks.

“What?” I gasp.

“You can't go back to him, dear.” He tells her, fully ignoring me.

“Gamma Hartley,” I groan, resisting the urge to slap him upside his head since he is older, but the stupidity makes it hard not to. “Sir, have you lost your mind?”

“Yes,” he proudly nods. “My daughter is suffering here, she is not getting better, and that bastard just told me they might have to keep her longer.”

Aeliana doesn't gasp, she doesn’t react at all. It's like she has heard it before. “They mean forever.” She says.

“We were together in confinement a few days ago, and she told me her story. The reason she's here is that she murdered her mate, his mistress, and their two sons.”

“What?” He gasps. “They let you around such people? What if she hurts you?”

“She’s harmless,” she shrugs, fully confident and convinced the crazy lady is sane and will not hurt her. I understand she has been here a while, and people tend to get desperate, and she, in particular, makes panicked decisions, like the time she kissed someone in my club. “She was only…see, the thing is that the family tried to cover up her son’s death after the boy drowned in front of the twins, who pushed him in and could swim. He wasn't getting justice, so she retaliated.”

“Oh, that's logical.” I frown, trying to make sense of the information that she is giving us.

“Not really,” her nose scrunches up. “It's highly questionable, but I mean, I understand her.” He says, quickly glancing at the lady again. “They just stood by and watched while her son lost his life.”

“Maybe let's not speak to her anymore.” Gamma frowns, his face just like hers. I’ve never seen any resemblance, but they stare the same way.

“You can talk to her yourself, Dad.” She sighs. “Ask her, she will tell you. She told me they keep people here because of the money, and if one leaves, they come back even worse because they become addicted to what they can only get here.” She tells us, her eyes shifting between us as she talks. “It’s like they condition us, and the only people who leave are the success stories, they only leave to make the institution look good.”

“Gamma Hartley, she has a point.” I tap her shoulder. “Some drugs can be addictive.” I tell him, “Even those sleeping pills.”